I’m writing this post in between trips to Home Depot, specifically the returns counter. Please tell me I’m not the only one who…
a) prefers mental checklists over pen and paper checklists (oh when will I ever learn?)
b) guesses on measurements and judges size by holding said product up in the air, levitating it up and down as if the answer is going to magically drop from the ceiling and into my arms
c) can never find an isle clerk when I need one. If I’m going in for a box of 40 watt light bulbs and I’m headed straight for the light bulb isle, I will be stopped by at least 5 different isle clerks asking me if I need assistance. And when I’m looking for a french cleat and I’ve no idea what a french cleat is, let alone where to start looking for one, suddenly the place is a ghost town and I’m the only person in the entire store. Is it Just me?
Ah, good times at Home Depot!
……
Speaking of ghost town, were you one of the three hundred people who let us know on Wednesday May 1st it was, ahem, May 1st, and there was no new Cottage of the Month on our website yet? Yep, we kinda take notice of things like that around here. Days before, we had an unexplained website issue and worked like mad dogs trying to get the bugs worked out. By the grace of technology and persistence, by 10:00pm PST (technically it was still May 1st) that baby went live.
This is just a teaser pic collage, but you can see the entire feature on Kelly’s home here:
The fun flip side of it, Kelly decided to feature our home on her blog! You can check it out here. ……
We received a package the other day from our friend April at Folky Art Studio. April is a full time candle maker, and frankly a mad genius when it comes to dreaming up unique combinations and custom blends for her heavily scented gourmet candles.
We were so torn between Homestead and Rustic Log Cabin, April sent us a huge jar of each…
Meet Homestead:
Described as “Warm cinnamon and vanilla combined with the delicious dried fruit notes of apple, plum, and orange will draw you home. Many of my long time customers favor this as their signature year round home fragrance, very cozy.”
And Rustic Log Cabin:
Described as “Spicy cinnamon and oak logs blend deliciously with bright citrus peel, and warm buttery vanilla. Mid layers of baked apple compote gives life to this multidimensional fragrance. So delicious and cozy, light it up and grab a book! It's comfort time! This is not a sweet fragrance, think of it as a deluxe apple and oak type fragrance.”
Even her labels are so pretty and unique!
It would be really hard to pick a favorite, but if I had to choose, I think Homestead is pretty darn amazing. But then I have not yet sampled the other two dozen blends she also carries in her etsy shop. Decisions, decisions!
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On another totally different note, we are experiencing an issue with our “Subscribe” button. We appreciate that so many of you wish to receive blog updates, and please know we are currently trying to figure out how to resolve this issue. In the meantime, thanks for reading. We are so happy to have you here!
Before I head back to “Depot” as my friend Laurie likes to say, I wanted to say thank you to all for checking in on us during the Springs Fire last week. We have the most amazing team of men and women firefighters and they did such a heroic job of fighting this blaze. Incredibly, no lives or homes were lost.
Wishing you a wonderful rest of your week friends : )
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We’ve been bouncing back and forth between indoor and outdoor house projects these past few weeks. This warm weather’s got me ready for some serious project completing and bulky tool toting. I think I could even rock a fancy tool belt like the one Schneider used to wear on One Day at a Time.
One project we successfully checked off our “Do It” list was the flooring in our guest bedroom/office. It’s a tiny room (10 feet x 10 feet) and it works as a fully functioning bedroom and combined office space for two super busy individuals that require separate, shared work spaces.
Right away we knew we wanted to go with the Allure Flooring by TrafficMaster, from Home Depot. It’s the exact same flooring we used in our living room, dining room and kitchen. It’s vinyl, flexible, and waterproof. And it comes in a ton of different styles. We personally love the Country Pine.
 
We found the Flooring Project Calculator chart (below) to be particularly helpful when trying to decide just how much flooring we needed.
Side Note: We also plan to replace the carpet in the master bedroom and tv room, hence the mega stack of boxes on the cart as seen in the above photo with Adam.
It is recommended that you allow the flooring to properly acclimate in the room it is to be installed in for a period of 48 hours, with the room temperature between 65-85 degrees.
Let me just say, this acclimation period was like waiting for a large pot of water to boil. Those two days couldn’t go by fast enough. C’mon, acclimate already!
The old carpet had seen better days…
Adam couldn’t tear into the stuff fast enough, and Chloe (RIP) always liked to be center stage where all the action was…
 
And then there were these sharp suckers that all had to be yanked out…
Not to mention the occasional rogue nail we’d find hiding in a random corner.
It is absolutely vital you make sure you pull out all nails before installing your flooring, otherwise it will come back to haunt you later by poking up through your flooring after installation. This happened to us weeks after, and we and to go in and replace the plank, no joke.
At this point, all the carpet, tack strips and any loose nails were carefully removed, the floor was swept and ready for installation.
We installed the flooring directly over the old linoleum, being that this actually a “floating floor” product. According to the instructions, it can be installed directly over wood and tile sub-floors. However, installing directly over carpet is not recommended.
For this project we used:
First we started by measuring out the floor and planks to plan our layout. You want to make sure you stagger and vary the lengths so they start and stop at different points throughout the space.
Once you’re near the end of your first row of planks, chances are you will need to cut the last plank for a nice custom fit. Simply measure the remaining length…
Measure twice, cut once…
After making your cut, carefully press the edges of the two end planks together…
And gently press the plank down into position.
Important: It is imperative that you leave an expansion gap around the room’s perimeter (1/8”) to allow the vinyl to expand and retract due temperature change and humidity. If you fail to leave a gap, the planks will naturally expand, causing them to buckle against one another.
In our particular situation, there was a space just beneath the underside of the floor moulding, giving us a perfect expansion gap. Once the floor is fully installed, we will then run shoe moulding around the perimeter of the room, giving a nice finished, seamless look.
Making the cuts is so easy! Just take your wooden ruler, score the plank deeply with a utility knife…
Gently bend to encourage separation…
Then bend in the opposite direction…
Oh snap!
Notice the thin grey strip - that’s the adhesive layer that allows each plank to stick to the next…
Don’t forget, it’s vinyl so it’s super pliable!
And just like that, you gently press into place!
Once you’ve laid your entire floor, you’ll need to get yourself one of these bad boys:
It’s a 100lb roller, which you can rent by the hour at Home Depot. It’s a lot like pushing a lawnmower.
Rolling the entire floor out with the roller is absolutely critical. It pushes out any air pockets and gets all the seams as tight as possible. It’s easy to use, and it took us less than 30 minutes to roll out this space.
Here’s a list of pro’s and con’s for those still on the fence:
PRO’S: easy to install affordable durable, wears beautifully waterproof attractive design good warranty
CON’S: some people complain of chemical odor (we didn’t have this issue) not impervious to scratches and scuffs mimics patterns/lines/bumps from sub-flooring underneath
In summary, we are extremely happy with our flooring. We installed it in our kitchen, living room and dining room nearly 5 years ago, and we have yet to have an issue. We’ve never had a single plank lift. I think adhering carefully to manufacturers installation guidelines (leaving room for expansion and rolling the floor with a 100lb roller) has ensured a good experience with this flooring. Just two more rooms to go, and practically our entire house will be covered in this flooring.
If there’s anything I’ve left out, please leave your questions or comments in the comment section below and I will respond. Lastly, here’s a direct link to the installation instructions which you may also find useful.
Disclaimer: Our opinions are our own. We are not flooring experts. We are not affiliated with Allure Flooring or TrafficMaster. All materials we purchased ourselves, and we were not reimbursed for our opinions. We are simply sharing our own experience and our personal techniques for installing this flooring material. We cannot guarantee you will have the same results if you purchase this product and follow our tutorial.
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It’s amazing how connected the mind and body are. Lately my dampened spirits have taken quiet refuge in my bones and nerves, preventing me from lifting heavy objects and moving and rearranging furniture (one of my favorite past-times when I find myself with a few idle minutes on my hands). Sitting still has never been something I’m good at. My mom likes to call it “ants in my pants”.
We recently drove to Vegas to celebrate mom’s 70th birthday, and during the 4 1/2 hour drive, I flipped through piles of magazines like a mad woman, refreshed the incoming feed on instagram about every 30 seconds, and chatted poor Adam’s ear off the entire drive. (If you follow me on instagram, you can see pics I shared from our trip). It felt so good to get away and celebrate with my family.
With the beautiful weather we’re having lately, I’ve been finding myself in the garden almost daily. With the help of our landscaper, we’ve planted nearly a dozen trees, everything from birch and olive, to lemon and apricots, along with roses and pink jasmine. We decided to create a memorial garden in memory of Chloe. I needed a touchstone; a physical place to still connect with her.
We buried her ashes under one of the tall existing trees in our backyard, next to the fountain and the red geraniums. Large rounded grey rocks form a circle with tiny white flowers, and a candle in the center marks her grave. The peace and quiet comfort this memorial garden has given me has been such a gift. It’s brought me closure and understanding.
Thank you for your emails, cards, flowers, prayers and thoughtful gestures and comments. It fills me up knowing I’m surrounded with so much love out there. I am grateful. And to Chloe, our little girl who wrapped her tail around our hearts. Thank you for loving us back.
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I’ve sat down several times to share this with you, only to find myself staring at a big blank white screen, taking a deep breath and sighing, and walking away.
Our little girl Chloe is gone. She lost her hard fought battle to advanced kidney failure.
I don’t think I could sum up in a single blog post what these past 16 1/2 years have been like with this bright little orange spark in our lives. And what our life is going to be like without her.
Our little family of four is now a little’er family of three.
There are some days that are hard, and some that are even harder. And there are times I sit and cry in the driveway when I come home, with the realization she won’t be there to greet me anymore as I walk through the front door.
I’ve been trying to find calm and comfort in quiet, simple things.
I’ve been watching from my kitchen window as Spring’s arrival breathes new life into nature, reminding me that no matter what happens in our lives, life marches on.
The trees in our yard are blossoming at such a quick pace, the fallen tiny white petals look like California snow. It was so beautiful, I wandered out into the backyard in my pajama’s one early morning with a pair of gardening sheers and clipped several branches. I gathered them up and plunked them into one of my favorite old vessels.
I’ve also been catching up on some of my favorite reading, which I sometimes feel guilty doing. Like I should be doing something more productive with my time. But I find the photography and articles so inspiring, I tell myself it’s research.
And I’ve been crushing hard on cotton.
Anyone that knows me fairly well knows I’m a wee bit obsessed the stuff. Imagine my delight when I landed two dozen REAL cotton stems this past weekend from a fellow dealer.
So yeah, the stuff you’ve seen all around my house up till now…manufactured (fake stems).
This here is the real deal. Crunchy, flaky, billowy and fabulous…
I’ve also been clutching tightly to my chest Sibella Court’s latest book, The life of a Bowerbird.
I’ve been carrying it around with me every place I go ever since I I first met Sibella.
You can find me reading it in the kitchen while waiting for my veggies to roast in the oven, out in the garden as a welcome distraction to pulling stubborn weeds, and most often, while lying in bed late at night trying to clear my mind before falling sleep.
I’ve found it’s the near perfect antidote to chasing away the blues.
Have you ever loved a book so much that you can read it front to back, back to front, and each time you crack it open, it’s new all over again?
I also finished a bookshelf project that I started working on after the New Year, but only recently just completed. Sometimes I need to remind myself it’s okay to loose yourself in a project, even if it takes you a week, a month, or half a year.
This is just a little teaser. The rest I'll share with you in a future post.
We are so pleased with how it turned out.
 I want to thank those folks who were concerned about my absence.
Only a few weeks before Chloe took ill, we both had our own share of (scary) sickness and doctors and scans and tests. Thankfully, gratefully, we are doing okay now.
I want to ask a small favor: After you’re done reading this post, please go hug someone you care about and let them know how you feel. Sometimes it takes a wake up call to make you realize what a brief and precious gift life really is.
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Before we get started, I’m guessing you’ve seen February’s Cottage of the Month, Marian’s gorgeous home…
You’ve seen it, right? Ok, for those of you that haven’t seen February’s feature, simply click here and the page will open in a new window.
Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you…go ahead.
Gorgeous right? Told you!
Marian is amazing at everything she does. Love that lady!
A while back, a number of you chimed in, asking if there was a way to collect all your favorite COTM images and view them all in one convenient place, without all the clickety-clicking from one month or one year to another. Well, thanks to Pinterest I came up with a great solution!
I created a community board on Pinterest specially for Cottage of the Month fans:
In addition to that, I also created a “Pin It” button that appears on every single Cottage of the Month page, from Feb 2006-Feb 2013!
Here’s how it works…
Become a contributing pinner. Want to be a contributor to the Cottage of the Month board? Everyone is invited to join in! Simply email me {Jennifer@theoldpaintedcottage.com} with the subject of your email “Pinterest Contributor”. Give me your user name on Pinterest and I’ll send you an invite. That’s it! You’ll be able to pin as many COTM images as you like. Currently there are over 50 contributors to this board, and over 6500 followers, and we’d love to see those numbers grow!
Pin your favorite COTM images. As shown above, on every single COTM feature page (years 2006-2012) I’ve added a little “Pin It” button. Simply click on that button, a new window will open, and you can select any image from that page you wish to pin to the Cottage of the Month Pinterest board. Easy-peasy!
It’s so much fun to see everyone’s favorites, and you can comment directly on the pins themselves, which is always fun too. Looking forward to collaborating on this board with you guys!
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