department of the interior: home decor

I put cork tile in my parents' condo several years ago and it's holding up great aside from some UV fading around the windows where it gets direct sunlight. No noise issues, great feel. Like with a wood floor, standing water and grit are the biggest wear issues.

You can absolutely get hardwood or laminate floors that sit atop of an insulating underlayment. They're called "floating floors" or "click-lock floors", and they're installed by first putting a sheet of soft foam underlayment cut to the size of the floor, then putting interlocking planks above them. The planks snap together and hold without being glued to each other or fastened to the underlayment. Wood flooring of this type usually is made of a somewhat thin layer of wood over substrate or of engineered wood, both of which are less expensive than traditional solid wood floors. They're not particularly expensive, but you (or an installer) will need a saw to cut them to fit the room. This is one example (not specifically recommending that brand; just using it because it describes how they're installed).

I've also installed "resilient plank flooring" which is a fancy name for interlocking vinyl floors, and these can be cut with a knife, a good paper cutter, or a real tile cutter (which looks like a paper cutter). The better ones look like a reasonable facsimile of wood, stone, or marble, at least if you don't look closely. Finally, there's stick-on vinyl tiles, which are cheap and easy to install (though I don't know if they will pass "full coverage" rules as there usually isn't a padded underlayment).

As for where to buy, the big-box stores like Home Depot or Lowes are usually cheaper, though selection is smaller and the quality sometimes lower. Probably worth checking out real flooring stores as well; the better ones are competitively priced, sometimes higher quality, have much wider selection (especially of off-the-beaten-path styles), and are stocked with people who really understand flooring.

All that said, I don't think wall-to-wall carpet is ugly at all. There's some great looking carpeting out there with interesting patterns and textures, not just the plain solid color cut pile that many ppl think of when they hear "wall-to-wall carpeting".

i think a good wool carpet can be great. i don't find it hideous at all but why don't you look at sisal, coir or seagrass? I love these (although they can be very expensive, i dare say you can get them fairly cheaply).

my friends have sisal and i love the kinda rough but smooth nubby feel of it underfoot although it can take a bit of getting used to.

http://www.alternativeflooring.com/collection/naturals

^that's a uk site but i dare say you can easily find it where you are.

http://www.happyhomesfurniture.co.uk/gallery/large/GPC20109483_CoirFruit_N_Fibre.jpg

that's coir.

I'm not usually a whiny baby but I find a lot of sisal coverings to be painful in bare feet. I still like the way they look, but a) ouch, and b) they trap a HELL of a lot of dust and grit under the weave. Also forget ever getting crumbs out after they sift underneath.

I've never used them because mostly they're expensive (by my standards), but I have a permanent interest in Flor carpet tiles.

Imo if you already have wood floors, no modern interlocking system is going to look A FRACTION as good mostly because they're made out of cheap fake or reconstituted wood. Might as well just by a lot of area rugs from overstock.com.

*Some of them* are made of cheap wood or an overly thin veneer, and those indeed can look cheap. But the better-quality floating interlocking wood floors i've seen are nearly indistinguishable from nailed-to-the subfloor wood planks when installed, except that there may be a slight "give" when you walk on it from the soft padding underneath.

Most of the older houses in my area have the original builder-grade cheap oak floors still in place, which by now are usually worn and pockmarked. I've seen refinishing attempts, but they never look as good as just plopping a new, smooth, polished wood floor on top, which also gives you the chance to upgrade to a more interesting species of wood such as cherry, maple, or heart pine. At least for a co-op or condo, it seems to me the easiest and least expensive way to an attractive floor.

Personally I don't find it to be a great substitute for 100-year-old aged wood with patina, not to mention that old "builders-grade" oak from 1910 is different from current standards, but if you like the new look then ymmv.

Hmm I like that coir -- is it as rough as sisal? I'm concerned about texture because we have a toddler who is going to be running around with tiny soft feet.

But I really hate that bushy high-pile stuff a lot of people with kids seem to install

planning on hanging lots of pegboard in the kitchen, fuck the haters

i finally got around to stripping the kitchen's dreadful vinyl wallpaper. need to figure out the paint colors for the wall & the pegboard. have been fantasizing about maybe doing one panel of pegboard in tumbling blocks pattern but don't want to make things too busy.

pegboard gives me fond memories of my grandmother who had a cozy and wonderful kitchen so YOU GO GIRL

also have you seen the Julia Child kitchen from her PBS show? PEGBOARD CITY

pegboard is the best, hanging some in my (currently under renovation) apartment!

Yaaay pegboard! I don't have any but maybe someday.

So we have possession of the new place now, and we're taking til the end of the month to fix it up and move. Repainting everything, so we have to make some choices about paint soon. Also have to carpet at least two rooms (bedrooms - co-op rules). A little overwhelmed by all the choices, especially with all the design sites showing all these "accent colors" on trim, single walls, etc. Also there's the thing of making the color "flow, since we have a semi-open plan between the foyer/dining area/kitchen/living room (there are sort of archways between them). We still have the bright orange cubitec shelves, which I'm attached to, but having giant bright orange shelves is definitely something you have to tailor your design choices to.

contrasting trim >>>> accent wall paint

Ok, paint colors that go with this kitchen, go:
http://postimg.org/image/99io65jav/

argh damnit
http://i.imgur.com/oFQVbqr.jpg

Oh and this is the nook attached to the kitchen (from the kitchen) and we want to maybe do two-tone paint that goes with the kitchen, and then back wall of the kitchen same as the darker of the two tones:

http://i.imgur.com/ItQbqYF.jpg

(not our stuff in there)

One of these glass-look tile backsplashes that Home Depot sells below the wall cabinets. They're actually large, inexpensive stick-on tiles you can cut with a knife or scissors to fit your wall and stick over the existing tile.
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/38/3890b081-d91b-4bff-a2bb-7fd31bc30d8a_300.jpg
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/fa/fa3dd3e9-9f16-44a7-938d-d465acadf571_300.jpg

If the kitchen gets daily sunlight I like high-contrast color schemes--a lot of white with a primary color, checkerboard floor tile schemes, kinda retro, red enamel accessories, etc. If the kit is low-light, obv something softer. Would keep the chair rail white semi-gloss, but put two soft shades of the same color on those walls with the slightly darker one on the bottom. That back room should be painted the LIGHTER color, not the darker, because it looks like it's dark enough in there already.

What's in the nook?? What a strange layout. Possible pantry opportunity??

I think you're lucky to have the white 4x4 bathroom tiles, at least they can be cleaned and won't clash w anything.

Was it perhaps a maid's room?

No, then the doorway would have a door and not an arch. Hm.

Sorry, I think I'm not explaining clearly. It's basically an eat-in kitchen that's partly closed off by a doorway. This is the view from the foyer: http://i.imgur.com/kfdYvoN.jpg

So it does get sunlight, and as you can see, I think it would make sense to have the back wall of the kitchen pick up a color in the eat-in area.

Oh I was reading the foyer as the "nook" but I get you now. Nice.

I want to know what I DIED would do.

H liked the idea of some combo of two from the fourth column from the left (the one with "ice mist" "sea foam" "ocean air" etc., mainly the lighter ones

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vc5C1FFyuHE/UBK9VZ-T5HI/AAAAAAAACPU/hE6oxvB-4Ls/s1600/Benjamin-Moore-Color-25.gifp

I'm not sure. She's usually better at this than I am.

At first she thought Ocean Air + Ice Mist, but I think the Ice Mist is too white and will just look like the trim. But Ocean Air + Sea Foam seems too samey maybe?

and also I'm not sure about that scheme at all, but I have no fucking idea where to go. I actually woke up at 4am unable to sleep with the benjamin moore color fan spinning in my head. Probably just anxiety of actually having bought a place, I usually don't put this much thought into colors.

All I know is I moved into a place with a pistachio green kitchen once and I thought it would be terrible but actually I kind of liked it.

I'm kind of having trouble seeing around the terrible furniture layout in that EIK tbh.

Yeah everything in the place was like that. Terrible furniture layout, tons of clutter, dirtiest carpeting I've ever seen, walls were dirty and splotched up. Bland samey paint on all the walls. I feel (hope) we got a good deal because the place just looked bad so it sat on the market.

I like warm colors, not cool ones. So I'd prob make the kit white with a contrast color...say, pistachio green, and maybe accessories in red or yellow. Then I'd make the EIK flat white on top, semi-gloss white on the chair rail, and the contrast color from the kit on the bottom. That's what I'm throwing out there.

Although when I say "flat white" I don't mean a winter white, I mean like a verrry slight almond or something, because I think the only things that should be WHITE-white are the ceiling and whatever trim is in your design scheme (if you want white trim).

argh, I'm starting to hate the little nook all of a sudden. Buyers remorse.

we have honey colored wood floors and honestly i cant fathom any color but something from the disney kids line looking acceptable with this jaundice color. any suggections? Im strongly leaning toward a pure white with colored tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. this is all open plane btw which adds a degree of difficulty.

I have two questions:

1. If I got with a thickened cream white colored paint (no noticeable yeallow or grey tones), painted the main rooms in the alone but then dressed the wall with some large colorful striking original abstract artwork, would that take some of the coldness away?
2. All of our trim is "cream" (not white like supermarket cream). More a yellowed ivory tbh. I absolutely despise this color. Id really REALLY like a bold color for the trim, but also dont want the place to look like a day care or kris kardashians black and white Calabasas monstrosity. Any ideas?

okay 3rd question:
3. Its perfectly acceptable to paint the outside of you front door a semigloss black, right? I've seen some lime green doors popping up in the hood and as much as I was horrified at first, i now really love them. would not work for our house though what with the clashing shade of green siding :\. So black or maybe charcoal?

ahh and a fourth:
4. what is a good alternative to track lighting? we have a ton of it because our living room, hallway, office and dining room have ceilings up to 30-ft high but to me they just feel like annoying flood lights that serve little purpose. Is it time for lamps? ugh.

oh my fucking god. check out the before and afters here. I know some got stainless appliances too but a lot didnt, just some new cabinet hardware. total cabinet transformation for less than $200. Gahhhhhhhhh. Im SO in love with the espresso. I want to call in sick to work today to do it! FUCK YOU HONEY COLORED WOOD. YOURE OUTTA HERE.

http://cabinets.rustoleumtransformations.com/testimonial-gallery.php

holy crap

you can use it on furniture too! I have the ugliest most hideous oak coffee table that i could totally refinish with this stuff

*considers*

Haha. I'm not into dark stained wood, I'd probably completely paint something before I'd darken it. But if that stuff really works, it could solve your problems, sunny.

Don't hate the nook, Hurting! You have an EIK, I'm jeal.

What if...you don't have to highlight the chair rail, although I would, but what if we flipped the colors and you put a strong color in the kitchen and then also used it on the chair rail in the nook but did the walls in there a much lighter version, or white? Liiiike...an Italian country blue in the kitchen and that same blue on the railing and some other details in the EIK--textiles, artwork, whatever.

Hmm, that's a pretty interesting idea. can you find a pic of the kind of blue you have in mind?

Uhhh hard to tell online but like Benjamin Moore's California Blue or Dark Royal Blue or Blue Macaw--actually these are tending a little teal-ish because that's what I like, but anyway...maybe?

Well, for better or worse we chose this for the top half:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f3N0sic0fhM/UR0Ca6PxpOI/AAAAAAAAAaw/3ZGB0dS7I-Y/s1600/lemonice.jpg
and this for the bottom half:
http://media.benjaminmoore.com/WebServices/prod/ColorSwatch/1633.jpg

I spent like two hours fucking around with Benjamin Moore's digital painter and capture app, which is probably not accurate as to what the color will look like anyway. this blue is a little grayer and less "resorty" than the other one and I like that the top one is going to be a warmer color instead of another blue.

really hard to tell what it's going to look like, e.g. here the bottom color looks WAY greener than it did in the app. But I think that will work if so.

Also trying to figure out how to do the kitchen wall now -- some combination of the two on the rear wall, window grille and radiator I guess.

H found me up in the middle of the night obsessing -- she has taken to calling me "Martha" ever since we started planning the new place. Why you gotta be so gendered about it, man?