The floor that kept on taking

When we moved into this house, the laundry room had ancient peel and stick tiles.  There were a few spots where they were starting to lift, but after the sunporch roof disaster, there was a whole area which wasn't happy.   We decided that it was time to replace the floor.  

We took off the floor trim which turned out to be warped 1 x 3 boards - not sanded, planed or shaped in anyway, just nailed on.  That meant the trim needed to be replaced and not only around the floor but the door and window casings as well, because they too were 1 x3 boards.  None could be salvaged for other uses. 

 Once the trim was off, we realized that the wallpaper was peeling in places, so it was stripped, the walls spackled and primed.  None of the wallpapered walls in this house seem to have been coated with primer first, so taking off the paper has been a horrendous job, requiring both manpower and a steamer.  I supposed we could have just painted the walls, but they aren't horribly straight in places, so we're matching them with the hallway, by putting in wainscot. 

A couple of weeks ago, we went flooring hunting.  At the store which sells the "good" stuff, we found a huge remnant piece of vinyl flooring, which cut our costs nicely, considering the room is an irregularly shaped 13' x 17'.   It's a laundry room, so pattern wasn't really that important.  Really, I wanted something which looked a bit more old fashioned than many of the huge tile patterns currently available, so I was happy at finding this one.

Finally, this weekend, the guys started sizing the flooring and cutting out the intricate maze of details to make it fit.  Then they started lifting the old tiles.   Gosh it was nice to see the old tiles go.  They never seemed to come clean and were so dark that even in the bright room, they seemed to absorb the light.

Last night, I noticed that the guys were taking a break, so I wandered by the laundry room and saw this!

Totally awesome!  I love the new laundry room floor!   It's much lighter feeling and doesn't weigh down the room.    Last night, it still felt like a bright room but this morning was even better.  It is light, bright and airy feeling!

Hopefully, soon I'll be able to move my table and sewing machine back into that corner on the left and be able to sew happily and comfortably.  My sewing room is only 9' x 9', so always feels cramped for some reason.