Painting Wood Flooring

So let's talk about painting old, wood floors. As soon as we moved into our home, I was itching to do something about the navy blue, painted floors in the master bedroom. They were chipping, they appeared dirty and most of all, they made the room look so drab even with all the natural daylight. I held off until I researched it enough to know I could tackle it. Painting floors as your first DIY seemed a little dicey...

I thought maybe I would get down to the wood and find something nice - what I found instead was layer upon layer of oil paint (some possibly lead based considering age) with ho-hum wood underneath. Then I found love in a hopeless place (loves me some RiRi). I took comfort in the look of Scandinavian painted floors:

Source: Fry Dog Design

Source: Country Living

Source: House to Home Blog

So I set out to figure out how to do it! One unique situation was that I was painting over an already existing finish and oil at that. Many of the tutorials online show you the process if you were dealing with naked wood. So I figured I'd try an hybrid of a bunch of how-tos... 

Back in the Groove

Hello, blog world. It's been awhile but we're back in action. I took some time off DIYing to pursue wedded bliss. My guy and I got hitched! In DIY style, we made our wedding day unique with tons of crafted decor. I took a breather (literally) from priming oil walls to work on our wedding DIYs. And I'll be sure to share some with you! Here are some shots from our day and plus, some sneak peeks of what we've done with the house:

Prep in the master bedroom

Remembering my grandmother and grandfather

Outside our fave antique shop 

Fab Finds: Kitchen Style

This kitchen is consuming my creative mind... and I'm loving it! Today I went casually window shopping (virtually, of course) for some knick-knacks and other elements I'd love to see in my new kitchen transformation. While I'm still working on the big details, like color and cabinet style - I needed a little break from the major decisions to look at some cute things. 

As you can probably discern, I'm going retro! I think it would fit with the age the home and the rest of the design ideas I have for my other spaces. A paint color I am loving is Benjamin Moore's "Jamaican Aqua." You can see it as the top circle - being such a narrow space with limited natural light, I think this is the color. I plan on accenting with mainly red - mainly that beauty kitchen aid, as I'm definitely throwing that on the ol'wedding registry with high hopes! Here's my trusty sources:

Porcelain Elephant tea pot, $19, Oren's Daily Roast
Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer, $499, Sears
Acctim Delia Metal Clock,  £16, Amazon.co.uk
As Far As the Eye Can Tea Towel, $24.99, Modcloth
DII Pink Mixing Bowls, $11, Amazon.com
Westmont Light Fixture, $85, School House Electric
Nigella Measuring Cups, £27, Amazon.co.uk

House Tour: Part 2

Let's take a quick "jaunt" up the stairs and take a look around the second floor of our abode... (again, these photos we're taken during our first tour):

While the stairs may look like a sleek black in this shot, do not be fooled! In actuality, they are an icky navy blue that has seen a lot of rugged wear. More shots to come. All the walls here are oil as well :( But the potential is there - I'm envisioning wainscoting and a creamy yellow much like the lovely Sandra's from over at Sawdust & Paper Scraps... maybe I can find a way to faux the lovely wood stairs and railings.

Source: Saw Dust & Paper Scraps