Put a cork in it

As promised to myself I started on the kitchen floor this morning. I was up with the chickens, fed the cat, went for groceries, got breakfast, (first day of vacation guilty pleasure McDonald's breakfast) came home, ate said breakfast, put away the groceries and then got on with the kitchen floor. First lets have a peak at the many faces of my floor

 

This what the kitchen floor was like when I moved in. This lino will not come clean anymore and I really do not like it. I was very very lucky because the Carpenter and Busy were flipping their first house and they had been to a flooring auction. The left over laminate tiles from their project were mine for the taking. I love free things and this tile was perfect for my kitchen and sewing room.

I could not install this flooring myself so I did a barter with a friend and he agreed to install my floor in exchange for a quilt for his Mom. S came along for a learning experience as she was thinking of putting laminate into her house.

This is the finished result and I loved it. I loved this tile, it was easy to clean, looked nice, felt good under the feet. It was perfect as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately it was not to be. My house is 110 years old. There is not a level surface in the place. Like me, this old lady has lots of sags and curves and she doesn't do rigid very well. Too may of the locking edges were broken in installation. Combine that with  the wonky floor underneath and  over time the laminate began to pop apart, the edges started to chip and it was just a mess. Up it came. It made me sad but I still have this tile in my sewing room where it seems to be holding together.

Flash foreward to today. Oh look, can that be faux cork flooring peaking out from under the fridge and stove? Why yes it is. Oh yeah the little white blob on the floor, those are the legs from my stove. They popped off in the moving and I dread trying to get them back on by myself. I have to though, I sorta need to cook food, maybe I will try and do that after a nap.  Every bone in my body wants to run to the nearest store and buy a new stove but I think that solution is a little radical at this moment.

Flexible laminate flooring in a cork finish now graces my kitchen. I am tickled pink, purple and blue about it. This was my labour for Labour Day Weekend. I started at 10:30 this am and worked until 4:00 pm when my shoulders gave out and my back said "stop it already". I cannot be on my knees, its impossibly painful for me, so a project like this is done with me on my tummy flopping around like a fish and it gives my back and shoulders a real work out.

I am not completely done as you can see. I have maybe two feet left to finish the kitchen, then just the laundry room and its a done deal. This will finish the kitchen as far as I can do it. I want to pull out all the cupboards and reconfigure them but that is not even on the horizon, so for now this will be considered done. 

Now I am going to ingest a pound of Ibuprofen and have me a little sleep. When I get up maybe I will be able to face fixing the stupid stove. ARRRGH!!!!!

Linda