Basment Hallway Flooring Update - Two Years Later

Hello everyone, and Happy Valentine's day. We didn't really do anything special as far as treats go for the kids this year. Braxton doesn't like anything sweet and we are trying to give Kaley a minimum amount because of that. So we kinda skipped the goodies part this year, and I;m sure their teeth will thank us. But remember, tomorrow all the candy will be half off! Best part in my books.

I decided to write about how well the flooring that we put down in the basement hallway has held up over the last two years. Two of the top posts on this blog are how we spray painted our counter tops and how well our spray painted counter tops have held up. Since this is a very similar situation, I thought it would be worth sharing.

In case you can't check out the original post about the hallway, here's a reminder of the hallway when we finished our basement renovation in 2014.

We used peel and stick vinyl flooring hoping that this would be a better solution to carpet and tile. We did not want carpet because our Bernese mountain dog (Motley) likes to lay at the bottom of the stairs and we knew that it would be a gathering spot for hair. As well as the cats spend time in the laundry room and tend to leave us hairballs in this area too. So carpet was out, and we didn't want tile because we thought it would be too cold on our feet. This is similar to what we purchased.

Well after just over two years, I have to say we are very sad that the floor did not last at all. The flooring has been destroyed between the largeness of Motley and it being a very high traffic area. The kids and I spend about half of our day downstairs, and when they go to bed Luis and I hang out in the rec room.

As you can see there are sections all over the flooring where the facing of the flooring has peeled right off. There are quite a few spots in this one area at the bottom of the stairs, which is Motley's favourite place to sleep when we are in the basement. His nails just rip the facing right off the base and then the traffic rips it further.

When this happens we usually just cut the raised portion off the floor, if it doesn't fall right off itself, and hope that it doesn't rip any further. Usually it does stop ripping any further, but we have put a remnant carpet (from the rec room) where Motley lays hoping to stop anything further.

And this is just a portion of the missing flooring. There is some in the bathroom and a large portion in the doorway to the laundry room. We figure the traffic of us going in and out started a rip and the cats finished it off one night when they were bored. 

After all of this my opinion is that this flooring is either not meant to withstand a 120 pound dog continuously walking on it or not great for areas with high traffic. I would definitely opt for tile if you have the option, it is not that much more expensive and will probably last you a much longer time.

We will be ripping this out and replacing it with tile when we can because the tile flooring will be an improvement as far as we are concerned. This flooring is cold on the feet as well, so that's not an issue anymore. And it looks terrible now with all these rips, so anything would be an improvement. 

Hopefully I was able to help you guys make a more informed decision regarding peel and stick vinyl flooring. If someone has had a great experience I would love to know, maybe we chose wrong or installed it wrong (though we followed the instructions perfectly).

Kerby   

Linking to:
eighteen25 - Show and Tell #14 
Ginger Snap Crafts - Wow Me Wednesday #286 
Two Chicks and a Mom - Funtastic Friday #114 
Tatertots and Jello - BFF Link Party 2/17/17 
Naptime Creations - Create, Link, Inspire 2/27/17 

Triforce Tray Update

Hello again everyone and welcome back. See, I told you I was doing stuff. It just gets so hard to get on the computer anymore without having a child in my lap "helping" me type things. It's better to just not play that game.

I don't think I ever mentioned it here, but anyone who knows us can tell you that we are a gaming family. Luis is a gamer, he enjoys playing video games of all types. I am a part-time gamer, I will play or watch Luis play a game that I am interested in. We have games that we play together, and games that we play individually. It's not for everyone, but it's what we like to do. Everyone likes different things, this is our thing that we do together.

A few years ago we had a gaming related incident that involved a broken controller and a broken tray that I used in the basement to coral the remotes and controllers. These incidents are completely related. 

The broken tray has been sitting in our crawlspace for years while I tried to figure out how to fix it or what I was going to do with it. I decided it would be nice to use this tray on the couch when we are having a snack so that we don't have to lean over to the coffee table. I know, first world problems. And since we have redone the basement with gaming related decor, I thought it would add a nice touch to incorporate this with the tray as well.

I thought long and hard about what I was going to put on the tray, whether it was going to be a recognizable symbol from a game or from a show. We love having game related things in our basement that most people will think is just nice decor, but people who play the game will get what it is about and appreciate it more.  In the end I chose this triforce symbol because it was easy and is from a game that I love and have played many times myself. I like easy crafts, makes it that much more satisfying when you finish it quickly.

First I sanded the tray lightly, then I did a few coats of spray-paint in a glossy white to cover the finish. I was hoping that I could cover the crack with paint and not have to do anything else. Unfortunately the crack was extremely noticeable, so we had to come up with another plan.  

I couldn't really get a good picture of the crack with the white paint, so I took a picture of the bottom to show you the crack and the previous finish. I couldn't find my before picture of the top of the tray, and don't mind the toddler foot. Though Braxton's foot makes this tray look huge if you thought that was my foot.

We decided to use the same kind of wood that we used for our coffee table update, but the oak instead of MDF. This stuff is fairly inexpensive and is easy to work with. I think this sheet, which we only used about two thirds of, was roughly $8.

Luis cut it to fit inside the tray and used clear paintable caulking to fill in any gaps. The inside of the tray is angled, so cutting the wood to fit perfectly was almost impossible.

Once the caulking set for a few days, I gave the tray another few coats with a semi gloss white paint. I did the whole tray, not just the wood insert and this helped blend the two paints together. The spray paint acted as a primer for the old stain colour, so it worked out perfectly.

Once the base paint was finished I traced the triforce shape onto roughly the middle of the tray. I cut out a cardboard triangle to use as a stencil, and the triforce is just four triangles. Easy peasy. I used a Martha Stewart gold paint to fill in the triforce and it took about 5 light coats to get good coverage. 

The finish of the gold paint isn't flat, I chose to let the gold paint have different tones so that the triforce looked a little more metallic. It would have taken another 5 coats for the gold to be the same flatness, and I think it would have made it look a little boring. This way, it has more depth. And once I was happy with how the gold paint looked I gave the whole tray a coat of semi gloss Mod Podge. This will seal the tray against any spills or condensation from drinks.

I am so happy with how this turned out. It's nice to have the option to use a tray for snacks and drinks after the kids go to bed. Or even for entertaining, not that we do that a lot anymore. Kids are exhausting.

Hopefully this gives you guys some inspiration to update things the way you want to. It doesn't have to be the latest trend or look a certain way as long as you like it and it functions for your family. For the longest time I struggled with what I thought I should do and what I wanted to do. In the end, I need to let what makes us happy be what's in our house. We have to live with it, not anyone else.

Kerby    

Linking to: 
Tatertots & Jello - Link Party Palooza 12/16/16 
Ginger Snap Crafts - Wow Me Wednesday #288 

Kid Friendly Coffee Table Update

Hello everyone and welcome back! I have been busy getting things done, now comes the hard part of actually being able to edit the pictures and write a post. You'll have to bear with me, as you have been all year. The busy season is about to be upon me, and I don't know what I'll be able to get done or show you guys.

But today I have a kid friendly update to solve the "what to do with the glass inserts" in your coffee table problem. We struggled after Braxton was born with whether to buy a new coffee table or not. Ours was in great shape still, but had four glass inserts that we KNEW were destined to be broken if left in the table. We just couldn't justify spending upwards of $300 to replace a perfectly good coffee table.

Enter a cheap piece of wood and some paint.

Luis found a solution with thin MDF boards that he cut to size to fit in the inserts. It didn't look too bad, but after two years they looked like they were super dirty all the time. There were tons of food and water spills that you could plainly see, and they couldn't really be cleaned. I decided to paint them white and add some fun kid elements to each section.

In the above picture I had painted three of the four inserts with a white outdoor door paint. I know it's unconventional, but I needed something that would repel liquids and I had it on hand. I'll save myself $20 whenever I can, and this paint worked perfectly. You can see some of the staining on the unpainted insert.

Once these were painted and ready I headed to Micheals and grabbed these paint pens and a set of stencils. These paint pens are so much cheaper than the Sharpie versions, and actually worked much better in my experience. And I chose this stencil because it had letters, numbers and shapes. Perfect for kids.

I chose to use each section as it's own learning tool, four sections with four things to learn. Letters, Numbers, Shapes and Colours. I used pencil with the stencils first and just eyeballed everything. It's not perfect, but it works. I wasn't too concerned because it's such a temporary solution, the glass will come back once the kids are old enough. I just wanted something that would look nicer than stained wood.

I struggled at first with how to do the colours section. Big shapes with the colours written on it in a different colour? Try to incorporate shapes and colours together? In the end I decided to spell the colour out with the actual colour. I think this worked out the best because know they can associate the word (and spelling) with the actual colour.

I think it turned out great and more importantly the kids love it. I did the shapes first, and I wish I waited as I don't like how they turned out. But honestly, Braxton doesn't care and it's not worth the sanding, painting and re stenciling.

After the paint pens had cured for a few days I just put a thin layer of glossy mod podge over each board to make sure that the paint doesn't run when water gets dumped all over it. It's going to happen, let's not kid ourselves people.


And that's it! I know my coffee table looks amazing with bumper pads all over it, but those things are life savers. And eventually the plan will be to paint the actual coffee table because it is so beat up now. The stain is almost gone in some places, and the pads are ripping the rest up. Once we are ready to put the glass back in the table, I will start that update.

Hopefully this gave you guys some ideas for saving a glass insert coffee table for when your kids are a little bigger. Is wasn't too hard and took a small amount of effort, and it's a great way to incorporate learning tools into a room without making it a playroom.

Kerby  

Linking to:
Ginger Snap Crafts - Wow Me Wednesday #284
Naptime Creations - Great Things to Make for Kids 1/31/17
eighteen25 - Show and Tell #14 

Rec Room Wall Update

Hello there, can you believe that the warm weather already took a turn? It's been chilly here for a few days, seems like Spring is teasing us. I just have to believe that warm weather will come.

We have been doing a lot of little things around here the last few days, and today I have a very easy but great way to spice up a blank wall. Here is the only blank wall we have in the rec room:

Playroom Mural

Hello there and happy Friday everyone! I've been busy painting and I am so glad to show you what I've been up to. I have finally finished the mural in Braxton's playroom!

I've always wanted to have a playroom that I can paint a mural on, I used to look at pictures and think "I want to do that". It's a weird thing to want to do, but I am weird that way. Anyway, this playroom has been the best thing we have ever decided to do. Braxton loves that room and spends about 85% of his day in there playing with his toys and reading his books. I love that I was able to add something personal to his room for him.

I chose the two walls that were not visible from the rec room, mostly so that the playroom didn't look too busy. First thing was to paint the sky, which I just drew all willy nilly by hand. I used the Behr colour Rio Sky, it's a great light grey-blue:

Sorry for the bad pictures, it's hard to take a good picture in a room with no windows/natural light at night (and also please excuse the wet paint in most of the pictures as well. I have limited time to paint, so it's usually late at night).

After two coats of the sky, I painted the grass a darker green. The original wall colour it just too light to be part of the mural. I chose Sage Brush, also by Behr:

I decided that I would also use this colour for some trees, so I drew those in as well. My mom came in the day after I drew these and said that she liked my clouds. Alas, they are not clouds just very cartoon-ish trees. I decided to keep the mural simple, and I thought that I would draw everything they way I used to draw when I was younger. It is for a playroom after all:

After two coats of the Sage Brush, I went into my stash of paints and mixed about six different greens and white for a darker colour to finish off the trees. Again I did two coats of the darker tree colour and had a ton of paint leftover, so I decided to put some bushes in the grass. I was trying to break up the light green area, and I think it worked out pretty well:

 
I used a brown I also had in my stash for the tree trunks. I wanted the trunks to all be a little different, so I did a few styles. I love how the "y" trunks turned out. I wanted to add an evergreen tree in as well because they are very common around us and keeps things interesting. Four of the exact same trees on each side might look a little boring.

Here is a picture of each wall:
 

If you didn't notice before there is a tree wrapped around the corner. I had no idea how to make each side looked balanced without being crowded, so I took a chance and used the corner as the centre of a tree. I think I worked out great:

I cannot express how happy I am to have this done and with how it turned out. It's like a weird bucket list item I can cross off. Here's one more picture because I am just that happy with it:

Maybe down the road if I feel really ambitious I will try to add a squirrel or bunny into the mix. If I'm ever feeling wild and crazy maybe I will try to draw some apples into the tree. I know, it's hard to keep up with this wild girl.

Have you guys painted any murals? They are a lot of work but look so good and are more than worth it in the end.

Kerby

Linking to:
A Night Owl - Monday Funday 2/15/15
Naptime Creations - Create, Link, Inspire #216 
I Heart Naptime - Link Party Palooza #85 
Ginger Snap Crafts - Wow Me Wednesday #197 
A Handful of Everything - Great Idea Thursdays #90 

DIY Growth Chart

Hello there everyone, I decided to do a night visit with you guys. Today I want to share a project that I have been thinking about forever. It's literally been pinned on my Pinterest for 4 years, and I have been waiting for the opportunity to make it. 

Rec Room Before & After

Hello everyone, today I thought I should share the other half of the rec room with you guys. And since I've shared every other part of the basement, it's about time.  I shared the built-in's with you guys here, which was one side of the rec room.

Like I mentioned before, this renovation was fueled by the need to have an animal free zone for Braxton, which would also be baby proofed so that we would have some peace of mind. So most of the updates that we made had this as our number one goal. Before I get too ahead of myself though, here are a few before pictures (sorry for the bad quality, they were taken almost five years ago):

Braxton's Playroom

Hello there everyone, I know I shared a few posts about our basement renovation. If you're new here, you can catch up here (Half Bath), here (Office), here (Stairs) and here (Built-In's). But I haven't shared the main reason for our renovation. 

One day Luis and I were talking about how cluttered our house was going to get once Braxton started playing with toys. We don't have a small house, but it's not big either. So this was a concern. We have a huge crawlspace under our main floor; it's about 40 feet by 40 feet and only 4 feet tall. So tons on space, but not really livable. We joked that we should take a portion of the crawlspace and make it into a playroom since Braxton will be short for awhile and won't care. That's when the joking stopped and the planning began, it was actually a great idea.

So that's how the whole renovation started, by wanting to build a small playroom for Braxton. Funny how talking about something so "out there" can actually lead to a great use of space.

This was the crawlspace before:

Basement Built-In's

Happy Friday everyone, can you believe how cold it's gotten in just a few days? The white stuff finally made an appearance a few days ago and I am in denial that winter is almost here.

The biggest change we have made in the current basement renovation has been in our rec room. Here is a quick picture of how it looked just a few months ago:

basement hallway & stairs - before & after

Happy Friday wonderful people! The weekend is almost here, so sit back with a nice coffee (or tea) and enjoy another basement update from yours truly.

Today I want to share the rest of the hallway and stairs. This update is mostly cosmetic as it was just a little drywall, a new light fixture, some paint and new trim, along with an update to the stairs I refinished here. 

But first, a look back to how this area looked when we bought the house:

closet turned office

Hi everybody, hope your ready for another big, picture filled post!

Today I want to share another basement update. Across from our half bathroom downstairs we had a closet. It was a huge closet, but mostly full of junk and unused. Here is a picture of the closet before our first renovation.

half bath before & progress

Hi everyone, earlier this year we decided to do a complete gut job on our basement. We are still working away, but I want to start sharing some progress with you.

Back in 2012 we did a basement renovation in our hallway and rec room, but I never really showed you guys our downstairs half bathroom as we never really did anything to it. You can see the first basement renovation here (Please note that the pictures are still edited to the old blog name).

Our downstairs bathroom is pretty darn small. And before we started our latest renovation, the door would swing into the bathroom. So closing the door was a dance between the vanity, the toilet and the door. It usually involved straddling the toilet to close the door. Very welcoming.

downstairs bathroom update

Hi guys!

Today I just have an update about the downstairs bathroom. I mentioned before here that I had some hyigene items that I needed to move from the upstairs bathroom.

This bathroom is in serious need of a makeover, but it will have to wait!

Here is a quick before

(please ignore the paint brush - I didn't notice it until right now!)

And after a quick redecoration. It's not much, I just grabbed what I had around the house that wasn't being used.

And a shot of the items that were moved. Before I moved this all down here, the space was empty. I am ashamed to say that, but it's true.

But not anymore. I am happy that I found a place for all of our "sometimes" products.

Have you guys completed any mini-makeovers?

K.



the great crap cleanup - laundry room

Hey there!

A few weeks ago I linked up to a party going on a Lovely, Crafty, Home. I joined up three different areas in my house that I started to pile crap in. If you missed it you can check out my original post here. If you have already viewed the horrors you must think I am brave.

I felt we all should stop hiding the truth - we all do it! I am sure that some part of your house has piles of randomness all over it.

But back to this post, I have an update!

This is

The Great Crap Cleanup - Laundry Room Edition

(snappy title, eh?)

First a before picture.

I decided to tackle the easiest room first. I know, pretty good strategy.

All of this stuff was from the upstairs bathroom from after the Reno. I ran out of room, and needed to move it into the downstairs bathroom. Once I got my buns in motion, it was pretty easy to clean up.

you & me wall art - my take

I'm back! Did you miss me?

I saw a great art idea at Little Lovelies that I just had to try! It called You & Me wall art. Allison pinned this print here from Castle & Things. 

(source)

Isn't it just great? I just love it (get it?). When I first saw this, I thought it would look great with my gallery wall in the basement. So, I pinned it and forgot about it.

Don't we all?

Before & After - Basement Stairs

Hello all, and Happy Thanksgiving to those that are celebrating it!

Well I thought I would show you another B.I.B. (before I blogged) before and after transformations that I did in the house. I am telling you its BIB so you will excuse the lack of pictures.

I think every person in existence was inspired by Sarah's stair transformation here. Seriously, my inspiration to do anything around my house. I started thinking....if Sarah can do it, there's a pretty good chance I won't fail horribly at it too! No seriously, that's what I thought!.

First, I think I will show you my after, then start with the before.

Gallery Wall

Well hi there!

That's right, I followed the trend. I put a gallery wall up in the blank wall in my basement. Two months of planning, gathering the frames and printing the pictures.....and I finally have it up!

I got the frames from all over the place. The largest one was purchased from Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon, I think it was regular $29.99. The other two glass panel frames were from Wal-Mart, I think they were around $30 together. The rest were from the Dollar Store.

First thing I did was lay my frames out to see how I wanted them to look. This was a fun step to do with multiple animals in the area. Let's just say that there were paw prints on my frames after this step.

Before & After - Rec Room

Hello, Hello!

And how are you all on this wonderful weekend?

I thought I would switch things up a little, and do a before and after post. We moved into our house almost 3 years ago now. Now you need to understand that it is a fixer uper is the most literal sense of the word. Almost ever single area of the house needed to be redone, including the outside.

One of the most significant changes was the basement. Here is the before picture (Warning: if your hair turns white from the sheer terror of the picture, please don't blame me!):