Floors!

We are no longer walking on bare wood floors in the kitchen. Hooray!

Last night, Nate finished installing the Marmoleum Click squares. I'd say "we" if that were true, but I was happy to be in a supporting role, tuning the radio to his preferred house project soundtrack (the classic rock station), opening boxes of floor tiles, and saying, "Good job! That looks great!"

I can't remember if we posted a photo of the floor as it looked after we removed the tile and all of the junk underneath. 

See the water damage from the dishwasher and, we were told by owner #2,
a frequently overflowing bathtub just beyond the hallway, 
thanks to owner #1 who sold in the late 1980s.
We are the fourth owners, in case you're keeping track.
Oddly, owner #2 now lives a few houses down. This is the longest caption. 

See the outline of the old pantry wall, which was removed in the 
Great Kitchen Renovation of 1989, according to building permits in Village Hall. Nate had to build it up a little to get a level-ish floor before putting down the Marmoleum tiles. 

The pantry used to occupy the space where the refrigerator is now.
Where was the refrigerator before? Unsure. In an unremodeled house down the street that I toured when it was for sale last year, the refrigerator is on the landing to the basement,
so it's anybody's guess. 

We used the recommended layer under the Marmoleum tiles. It serves as a moisture and sound barrier, and is appropriate for floating floors. 

I think it looks like an exploded bean bag chair that someone tidied up between layers of plastic.

After removing the dishwasher, we spread out the barrier over half of the floor and trimmed it appropriately. Then, Nate started in a corner and began putting down the tiles, clicking them together for a seamless finish. 

Marmoleum is a cool product: it's eco-friendly, quiet, easy to install, and I think it goes with the clean retro look we are after in the kitchen. The best part is that Menards just started carrying it, so we were able to get it during one of the 11% off sales and put the savings toward other things we needed for the remodel. We selected Concrete as the base color and three accent colors: Lemon Zest, Chartreuse, and Adriatica. Lemon Zest matches the pendant lamp (which you will see later), Adriatica coordinates with the color of the island, and Chartreuse...we just loved. It works, I think. We have fun in our kitchen and want it to feel like a fun, lighthearted place. The floor choice helps a ton.

Nate set up the jigsaw outside to cut tiles as needed.

Action shot! 

We stopped once reaching the halfway point Sunday evening, partly because it was too dark to use the saw outside anymore, and partly because we were too tired to deal with disconnecting and moving the stove at that point.

Pops of color! 

Halfway done! 

We finished up last night. 

Figuring out the last little bit!

Looking from the hallway to the outside wall. 

Looking from the upstairs door toward the range.
Island (the half that is in place) is on the right! 

I absolutely love the floor. It's quiet, nearly pillowy to walk on (especially after that hard tile), and looks better than I thought it would. We no longer see light from the basement through cracks in the gross hardwood subfloor, and the dehumidifier in the basement isn't nearly as loud with a proper floor in place! The kitchen feels much more finished (imagine that) and clean and bright. Perfect.

We didn't have a pattern in mind when we started, instead opting to just pop in the color tiles randomly for interest. This could have been a disaster...but I like the way it turned out. 

What's left:

• Trim boards - make or buy, paint, install
• Window repair (us or contractor?), then paint window sill and trim
• Cabinet doors and drawer fronts - make and paint
• Backsplash tile installation, perhaps before Thanksgiving (!!?)
• Paint basement and upstairs doors 
• New refrigerator and range

The end is in sight, friends!