There’s just nothing like an empty room.
Well, except for an empty room with a little girl in it, playing with her brother’s cars.
If y’all follow me on Instagram, you may know that Ryan, Oliver and I were recently weekend warriors! We tore the carpet and padding out of my studio and replaced it with 6″ wide pine planks.
So. Much. Fun.
And you think that’s fun for a compulsive-designer, type-A, 30-year-old?
Try being six and getting to wield an automatic nail gun!
He felt amazing. And super serious.
And that pencil in his ear? Yeah, that was his idea.
Now we are left with an empty room and a hammock (it’s been his stand-in bed for weeks!) and endless possibilities!
Should we paint the floor?
Leave it unfinished with just the coat of water-based polyurethane I put down?
Should I turn more of my hairs grey and try to stencil a cool rug on the floor?
I think we definitely want a desk in there – he is loving drawing during rest time.
And he absolutely needs a comfortable place for reading – and some shelving to keep favorite books close by. (Have I mentioned that my August non-reader is now reading chapter books?! What????)
I think it’s time for a pinboard.
And a nap.
Because being a weekend warrior – plus mother of two – is hard work!
We’re adding onto our house – and like you, I’m dreaming up a million and ten questions and possibilities. The fun!!!
Such fun! I love all the possibilities. Fabulous plank floor. Very nice job.
~FringeGirl
Raechel,
We did this in our house, and I was adamant that we were not going to lay down a bunch of polyurethane (largely because of the VOCs). So, my sweet husband put down a water-based tinted sealer (Sherman Williams) and it looked so beautiful. But, it was a disaster! The floor was too soft, and if something hard dried on it (i.e. food), when I went to scrape it off, some of the floor would come off with it. The floors were easily scratched and dented, which sort of added to the character, but I had to clean them on my hands and needs with a brush to get the grime out of the cracks. I hated those floors! In the end, I think the only real solution was 4 or 5 coats of nasty, VOC filled polyurethane on top. I’m not sure how much traffic you’ll have in this space, but if it’s much, you’ll likely regret only 1 layer of water based sealer. Also, I recommend choosing something that you can live with for a long time, because sanding and resealing those floors, is a pretty time-consuming-exhausting, might I say, horrific job.
PS: I might also mention: do not decide to fill in the cracks with wood filler then seal them—> bad, bad plan leading to bleeding feet.
Hopefully, you can find a better, long-lasting solution than I did! Whatever you choose, I’m sure it will be beautiful.
i love the floors!! and that pencil behind his ear is a killer – what a handsome man!
was this an expensive project? we’re considering new floors for a room and looking at different options that fit within our price range.. and these look fabulous!
Good question, Jennifer! The room is roughly 12×12 (144 sq ft) and the 6″x8′ pine boards (each covered 4 sq ft) were roughly $10/ea. So we spent about $360 in lumber, $20ish on waterbased polyurethane, and the other tools we already had. We did my daughters room a while back and I did a tutorial then if that helps!