Before

After

A Story of Restoration
My Lounge floor
I have finally managed to complete the floorboards in my lounge.  What a transformation.  I am so pleased with the final colour and finish and it now blends in nicely with my Dining Room.   There is still    more work to do in this room so keep watching for future updates.

Bringing original floorboards back to life

Last section of blue carpet

I have lived in my Victorian property for 10 years now and I could not bear to look at the horrid lounge carpet that I inherited any longer, it had to go.  A few weeks back I proceeded to remove sections of carpet to reveal the original floorboards beneath, which appeared to be in a reasonable condition and just required some care and attention.  There were only two damaged boards which would need sections replacing and I just happen to have salvaged a few pieces from previous projects around the house.

Floorboards revealed

The floorboards just required a good clean because they had been covered with floor-covering.   I used Nitromorse and course wire wool to clean deep into the grain of the wood then followed this with hot soapy water and a scrubbing brush and the boards came up to a reasonable standard for staining.

Cleaned floorboards

Working in sections and around the furniture situated in the room I have started the process of staining the floor with a coloured varnish and stain in antique pine.   There are
still a few hours work left yet to bring the
floor to the required standard and each section
requires 3 coats of stain with 16 hours drying
time between coats.  Below is a picture of where
I am to date and it is my intention to complete 
the whole project during the course of the next
week, so watch this space for the finished product.

Staining begins

From Shabby to Chic in a weekend  
Take one Footstool

Being a lover of all things old and traditional pieces of furniture I could not bear to discard my footstool to the scrap heap so I decided to give it a revamp with some paint.  Firstly the stool was given a light sanding down and a base coat in "Verde Antique" from Kevin McLoud's Fired Earth collection.  This was then left to dry for the required time before moving on to the next stage.         

I strategically brushed on  petroleum jelly in different areas of the stool before proceeding to the second coat of paint.   I used "Stone Ochre" from the Fired Earth Collection for the second coat and this was then rubbed over lightly with fine sandpaper when dry to remove the top layer randomly, revealing the "Verde Antique" colour beneath and giving a distressed finish.   

I decided to decorate the top of the stool with a pretty stencil design using "Grape" and "Georgetown Lime" toned down with black.   Voila..... now the stool will be proudly displayed in my kitchen for all to see.