When we bought our house in 2004, I put down cheap peel and stick tile in my sewing room. It served its purpose, but was tired and worn out and just plain ugly in spots! I have patched and repaired and tried to make it work for the last few years.
The floors in there are uneven and a bit “dippy” as my hubby calls them. He went to the basement and since it’s not finished down there, he could look up at the bottom of my floors. He said they set the 2×4’s too far apart and that makes my floor feel squishy when you walk on it. It sort of feels like it’s giving way when you walk on it. If we tried to put in click and lock as the floor is, it would break the edges off where the floor sags down. So a regular click and lock or hardwood flooring would only work if we put down a plywood subfloor. Not gonna happen!!
Searching for something to work on these strange floors of ours, led me to find this flooring from Happy Feet International. They are flexible vinyl planks about 1/4″ thick and just stay in place with gravity. It’s almost like putting together a puzzle on your floor. If you’d like to read more about it and how we did our “AWFUL” living room and kitchen floors, check out this post I did back in 2017. It gives all the details of how wonderful this flooring really is!
Perfect flooring for Imperfect floors
My dream came true on Saturday evening when I finished putting down my new Loose Lay, Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring. THANK YOU to a VERY special someone who provided the funds for this to happen!! I wish you could see it in person…I’d have you take off your shoes and scoot your bare feet across my new smooth floor! It is more wonderful than I ever imagined it could be.
My hubby was the “cutter”…the person who uses the big vintage shears he bought at an antique shop and cuts the 1/4” thick planks off where they go against the wall. I can actually cut them, but it takes me twice as long as it does him.
(These pictures are from when we did Rebecca’s room… a few months ago.)
So I did all the laying and marking where to cut the planks and for the most part, my hubby sat in his recliner with his legs propped up and did the cutting. We had a pretty good system going. :o)
I worked all day Friday and had to quit around 9:00 p.m….my “cutter” fell asleep!! :o)
Then I started back up again Saturday morning, went to a baby shower in the afternoon, and came home and worked again till around 9:00 p.m. and it was all finished…
…and glorious…
…and beautiful…
…and clean…
…and my heart beat just a little bit faster when I’d look at it…
…let’s see if yours does too…
Remember this is a drawing of what the floor plan looks like and how it looked a month ago…
…and then I decided to paint it Agreeable Gray instead of the gold Pecan color it had been for 15 years.
…and I tried to brighten things up…
Here are a few more shots (some panoramic) of what the room looks like “almost” empty… we left a few of the bigger pieces in there WHILE WE WAITED FOR THE FLOORING TO COME IN! (It took 31 days to get here!)
Here are a few panoramic shots of the room… a bit distorted, but you can see how that bookshelf sticks out in the middle of the room…
…and then… NEW FLOORS…
It’s kind of an optical illusion when you look across my living room floor and into my sewing room now. Since the planks are the same color, we decided we need to put a piece of trim to go on the edge of where my floor steps down into my room. It would be easy for someone to think it’s all one level floor and it’s not… there is about a 4″ step down into my room.
I started at the doorway and made sure my planks were parallel to the ones in the living room…
When I got to the edge of the bookshelf, it was this crooked… so I had to do some special cutting of the piece that went next to the wall…
But then I went around the corner and it looked nice! Back on track…
…around the bookshelf and onto the other side… the same thing on this side too… another special fitted piece…
After I passed the register in the floor, it was pretty smooth sailing back in that slanted corner… and onto the area in front of the door… (sorry for all of those who wanted me to paint the door… another time!) :o)
Somehow I missed an outlet but it will be behind a piece of furniture, so I’ll leave it for now… The trim is just laying there on the floor…I had to “decorate” and see how it was going to look…
I have some of my pieces moved back in there, but I can’t put them in place until I get my trim put down… I’m hoping to get that done tonight… but I’ll be doing that by myself too as my hubby can’t get down on his knees…
It looks wonderful in there and I hope to get my trim finished and things back in place very soon! You don’t know how BADLY!!!
I hope you enjoyed that quick run down of how things happened in my sewing room. My hubby is especially thankful that THIS is not like THIS anymore!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Congratulations, Jeanne, on a job well done!! Your floor looks SO pretty!! And I can just imagine how the entire room will look, once you have the furniture back in place! Bravo!!
This weekend WE had a large project going on, too–we contracted with a friend of our son’s to take care of the overgrowth of ivy and blackberries that were threatening to swallow the house (well, not Quite that bad, but they certainly swallowed parts of the rockery and fence!). He had someone else helping him for 3 of the 4 days he was here, and boy, did he Work!! But things are looking nicer than they have in Years! It was only three years ago we had someone come in and cut down all the blackberries and trim back some of the ivy, but that stuff grows Fast! I don’t think they had sprayed anything over the blackberries, either, and Jon did, so hopefully we won’t see anything for at least a couple of years. Then it shouldn’t be quite so difficult to get it back under control as it was this time.
Now we are talking to Jon about painting the exterior of our house….
How wonderful everything is looking, Jeanne! Not the last couple of pictures, but the flooring in the sewing room! I am so happy for you that you can now see the end of your hard work and waiting come to reality! I was thinking of you all weekend, hoping things were progressing, and it certainly was!
I think now you can, in addition to writing a book showing all your doll dresses you have made, can also do a renovation book! You certainly have the skills and someone that knows how, (George), and you surely have made the case believable!
Just think, in another week, you will be happily sewing away!
Looking very good! It is so rewarding to get a big project finished, now the fun time putting all the furniture in it place. Then happy sewing!
Enjoy!
Sylvia from NH
Congratulations on finally getting the flooring in and put down, it looks great! I hope dear hubby is doing well. 😀
Your room is nearing the finish line, Jeanne. I know you can see it from your vantage point. I trust that this week will be a joy to you. Your “new” sewing room is here before the heavy heat of the summer takes more energy and you can joyfully sew away in your “new” environment. It was a wonderful blessing to be able to acquire that flooring-blessings to the donor of those funds.
Enjoy!
Blessings.
Jeanne! Wow… what a great looking room you have now! 16 years is a long time to wait! So very happy for you❤️
Was the room originally a sun porch? Love all the floor space you have, wonky walls and all:)
You are ALMOST ready to begin sewing again.. and your models and we will be thrilled to see some action!
A job well done 🌹🌹🌹🌹
A dream come true! I’m so glad you have the same flooring going from the living room right into the sewing room. It just makes both rooms come into place. How exciting it will be to finish the trim and move in. Definitely a moving in party should be planned. I’ll bring lemon cake. I hope you got a pic of George in his recliner snipping away. If I had that space for my sewing stuff, I would be such a happy camper. What an amazing accomplishment you and George have completed. Whoopee!
I finished a doll dress for a friend, and now I need to put it in a box and get it to the post office. I think we need to have Charlotte’s people head down here to northern CA and tackle the blackberry/ivy still growing in our yard. I sprayed after doing the fence line, but a lot is coming back. It will need further spraying even though I don’t like to do that. Lots more to go here. Yesterday, we hacked on a tree at the other house. In my opinion, that tree needs to go. Lots of decay. But, it is so expensive for tree removal not sure when it might happen or how. Very little clearance on the side of the house to remove it even in sections. We’ll see as it is the only shade there. Sad.
Congratulations, Jeanne, I’m sure you must be over the moon with your new flooring. It will certainly be a joy to sew in there now. What a wonderful blessing to you.
That was a good system to have George in his recliner to cut the flooring, would work just great.
Looking forward to seeing the first dolly creation in your new space. I’m guessing Kirsten is the lucky one.
The floor looks great!! I imagine you are working on the finishing touches right now. What a great project. You must be so excited to be moving back in there!!
It looks wonderful and will be a joy for you to work in there. Plus, re-organizing your sewing items will be fun.
Full steam ahead, Jeanne. You are amazing !
Beautiful floor, Jeanne. I know you are anxious to get everything back in place. I think I have you beat on the peel and stick tiles. I put them in one of the bathrooms in 2000 thinking it would be a temporary fix, and they are still there! That project is on my to-do list.
Dear Jeanne, the room looks wonderful. I think you can start a new TV series: Fixer Upper – Doll Edition (laugh).
I look forward to seeing the room all set up.
I saw your previous comment about celebrating dolly Daddy’s Day. Well, David got a card from all his dolly daughters with each of their names on it and a gift card for Lowe’s. When he saw the names he wandered how I made sure I didn’t miss anyone. I said I wrote their names while I was looking at them. But I did have one memory lapse. I have two mini AG dolls, Molly and Julie. I couldn’t remember Julie’s name and was about to go look it up when it came to me. Remembering their names is mental exercise.
Dear Barbara, ahhhh, that was so sweet of you. It sounds like David was very happy and proud to be a dolly Dad (laugh).
I often forget my dolls’ names. When I do, they just roll their eyes and say, “really Mama?”
I bought a doll from a women who was selling her mother’s collection. The mother had each doll on a stand and at the feet of each doll was the doll’s name. I thought that was a great idea and vowed to do the same. Uh, that was two years ago and I have not done this at all. I certainly could be working on it now though (laugh).
Oh, Jeanne! I too am excited for your new sewing studio. It just keeps getting better and better in there. Considering the creativity you exhibited when things were less than perfect, I can’t wait to see what comes out of that room now.
I finished an outfit for Lolla today. She needed some summer clothes. I made a pair of shorts and a top using one of the Trentsation patterns. I love those patterns, especially the one with the shorts, top, dress and pinafore. It fits several of my dolls and they all love it so I use it often. I’m going to use the same pattern tomorrow to make a dress and pinafore for my MA Lissy. I’m finally getting my house under control so I will be doing much more sewing. Unlike a friend I once mentioned who said she was a “procraftinator”, I cannot sew when I have something I know needs to be done hanging over my head. It tends to burden my creativity.
I love those Trentsation patterns too. Very cute styles. 🙂
I was so surprised to see your floor! You continue to amaze us with your talent and ability to accomplish most anything! Wondered how George was going to lay a floor with his knee just having surgery.Never fear…Super Jeanne is here! It looks so nice! Worth waiting for ! Glad it was easy for you to work with🤗
Ow to see it with all your equipment and storage in place!
Love it Jeanne! I need to learn how to do that quarter round trim too