ARROYO OUTDOOR Tiles, custom pavers, bullnose step pavers, more ARROYO OUTDOOR has also developed a bullnose step paver that also comes. go over existing concrete steps for outdoor and garden restorations or for use. … Stairs at WOODWEB39s Knowledge Base Advice on using the steel rail on a steel staircase as a form for clamping. Tips and techniques for setting a newel post in an existing concrete slab floor.. There39s more than one way to bullnose the end of an open …

Tags: Amc Flights, Arroyo, Concrete Floor, Concrete Form, Concrete Slab, Concrete Steps, Hawaii, Knowledge Base, Newel Post, Paver, Restorations, Slab Floor, Stairs, Steel Rail, Steel Staircase, Tiles

Interior designer Ted Tuttle, formerly head of interior planning for Nordstrom, added high-fashion warmth, countering glass, white walls and polished black concrete floors with rich wenge and oak tables, paneling, casework and upholstered seating in …

Tags: Ash, Casework, Concrete Floor, Concrete Floors, Dd, Ew, Fashion, Ff, Flo, Glass Walls, High Fashion, Ign, Ing, Interior Design, Interior Designer, Interior Planning, Lan, Loo, Lot, Ly, Mak, Nordstrom, Oak Tables, Paneling, Pl, Polished Concrete, Rt, Seattle, Seattle Times, Shed, Ss, Stuf, Stuff, Ted, Tuttle, Upholstered Seating, Warmth, Weng, Wenge, White Walls, Wit

The final design includes a 4500-square-foot open floor plan with dark mahogany doors and bstairs/b, bsteel/b balcony and bstaircase/b railings painted silver and concrete floors. Silver and glass accent pendant and mobile lighting finish out the … An upstairs game room includes a bcustom/b-made pool table by Boessling bCustom/b Pool Tables. A small side library houses a spiral bstaircase/b that leads to a lookout tower. The home sits on just under 3 acres and includes a pool and a …

Tags: Accent, Accent Lighting, Ads, B Pool, Balcony, Br, Bs, Concrete Floor, Concrete Floors, Custo, Cutting, Cutting Edge, Dark Mahogany, Doors, Floor Plan, Game, Game Room, Glass Lighting, Houses, Library Houses, Lighting, Lookout, Lookout Tower, Mahogany, Mahogany Doors, Mobile Lighting, Ncl, Open Floor Plan, Paint, Painted Floors, Pendant Lighting, Pi, Pool, Pool Table, Pool Tables, Railing, Railings, Spa, Spiral, Staircase, Stairs, Upstairs, Wit

Okay, I seriously need your input, and FAST!!! Please help me, and leave your thoughts below (yes, even you lurkers….PLEASE!!)

Well, it’s not really a matter of life or death, but this next week, I will be working on the concrete floors in my little condo. I’m getting them prepped right now, and I will be painting them.

So the question…

You know how concrete foundations get cracks in them? Well, that’s what mine has done. So should I fill them, so that the newly painted floor is nice and smooth? Or should I leave the cracks? Do the cracks add character and interest?

Please…oh PLEASE…let me know your thoughts. I’ll be starting tomorrow.

Thanks so much!

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I don’t have children, but I’ve heard more than one woman say that if a woman truly remembered the pain of childbirth, she would never have more children. But somehow, once the pain is over, and her baby is in her arms, she forgets the pain.

Well, that’s about how I feel about DIY sometimes. No, it’s not as painful as childbirth, but I’ll tell ya…halfway through the day yesterday, I was about ready to throw in the towel. When I finished working last night, my arms and hands hurt so badly from the seven hours of scraping my floor on my hands and knees.

But I know the result will be worth it. And eventually, I’ll forget the pain and embark on yet another DIY project.

So would you like to see my progress so far? It’s not that impressive, but after seven hours of scraping, I would like someone to see it!!

Here’s what I started with yesterday morning. See how the paint has worn away in areas? That’s the whole reason I’m having to refinish my floors.

Living room floor, showing the worn areas

Small eating area, with baseboards removed. The blue tape
Marks where future cabinetry will go, and other random markings.

My postage stamp-sized kitchen, with some cabinetry
and oven removed. I couldn’t move the fridge because there
was nowhere to put it, so I’ll just have to paint around it.

And here’s what it looked like after seven hours of work:

Beautiful, huh?

I wound up with two large piles of paint. I just didn’t have
energy to pick it up, so I’ll have to do that this morning.

Well, that’s it so far. It’s not much to look at, but hopefully the “after” will be very well worth all of the effort.

Oh, and thanks for all of your input on the cracks! I received many comments here on the blog, as well as many e-mails, and so far, “don’t fill” is winning by a landslide. That sounds fine to me…a little less work.

So today, I’ll start with a cleaner/degreaser, followed by a cleaner/etcher. Then if there’s time, I’ll prime the floor and be ready to paint tomorrow.

Happy decorating!

Tags: Aa, Amp, Baseboard, Beautiful, Blog, Blogger, Blogs, Blogspot, Bord, Border, Bp, Br, Cabinetry, Chi, Childbirth, Cleaner Degreaser, Concrete Floor, Cor, Cracks, Decorating, Div, Div Style, Diy, Diy Project, Dy, Eb, Ec, Eco, Ell, Etcher, Feedburner, Ff, Fri, Fridge, Hands And Knees, Hot, Image, Img, Img Src, Iy, Jpg, Kristi, Landslide, Living Room, Mail, Met, Nature, Onblur, Paint, Pg, Photo, Pi, Piles, Png, Postage Stamp, Pot, Random Markings, Reason, S1600, S400, Seven Hours, Signature, Sized Kitchen, Sounds, Spa, Span Style, Uto, Wit, Woman, Worn Areas, Ya, Yd, Yesterday Morning

So here are my floors after day two:

Well, what do you think? Can you tell the difference? Maybe a little? No? I didn’t think so.

You know, it’s very disheartening to work for ten hours straight, and end up with my floors looking just like they did when I started this morning. But looks can be deceiving. The floors were cleaned, etched, and primed. Ready for paint tomorrow!

Happy decorating,

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Well, there’s a reason that I’m posting this at 12:45am. Yes, I just got through painting my floors. I’m beyond exhausted, but only a few touchups, and then the clear topcoat to go. I’m so ready to be finished!!

So here’s the progress so far:

The paint is still wet (and drying randomly in places),
but you can at least see the color.

And the hallway. Some paint is wet, some is dry.

And the living room. You can see hints of what’s to come.
I had wanted the difference to be more subtle, but got tired
of messing with paint. Oh well.

So that’s it so far. I’m really ready to be done and move back in. I miss my little condo!!

Happy decorating,

Tags: Aa, Blog, Blogger, Blogs, Blogspot, Bord, Border, Bp, Br, Concrete Floor, Cor, Decorating, Div, Div Style, Dk, Dy, Ec, Eco, Ell, Ew, Feedburner, Ff, Hallway, Hot, Image, Img, Img Src, Jpg, Kristi, Living Room, Nature, Onblur, Opco, Paint, Painting, Pg, Photo, Png, Pot, Reason, S1600, S400, Signature, Sting, Topcoat, Touchups, Uto, Wit

Hello all! Sorry for the long absense…it definitely turned out to be longer than I had planned, first with the computer trouble, then the crazy, busy work on the condo, and then moving my Kristi Linauer Interiors office, and in the midst of all of that, having to fit in some actual work. Wow…it’s been busy! The days have flown by as if it’s been just one short weekend.

But the great thing is, I’ve made so much headway on my little condo. I hope to show you my progress very soon! I’ve alrleady shown you my painted concrete floor, but since then, I’ve installed wainscotting and cabinets in my little dining area and living room. I’ve only painted part of it, so as soon as the painting is finished, I’ll share some photos with you. I’m very excited!!

Anyway, moving on…

I wanted to make you aware of this fantastic new book that’s coming out (should be available on Amazon on the 15th), called A Girl’s Guide To Decorating, by Abigail Ahern. Actually, to call this an actual “book review” may be a stretch, since I haven’t actually seen the book yet. But from what I know of Abigail, her store, and her work, this book is sure to be a hit!

Abigail owns a fantastic store in the U.K. called Atelier Abigail Ahern, and I’ve featured some of her gorgeous items before on the blog (right here). As an interior designer, Abigail will share many of her design tricks and insights with us through her book, and much of it focuses on DIY (you know I love that!), and budget-friendly design. Here’s a peek inside:

I can’t wait to get my hands on this book!

Happy decorating,

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Today, I finished my floors. Oh my…this past week was one of the longest of my life. I was beginning to think it would never end. But in fact, it is finished. Wow…that just feels good to say (or, to type).

So here’s how the design on my living room floor turned out:

Once I got all of the painting finished and the thousands of touch-ups taken care of, the design still seems a bit…blah. It just seemed to need a little more umph. And then, I remember this guy, and the power of a Sharpie marker. So, I went to the store, purchased a couple of Sharpies, and got to work on my floor, outlining everything with black. It took about three hours to outline everything, but it did the trick. I love the design, and the black really seemed to bring it to life. I know you can’t really see it in the pic (sadly). But hey…you’ll just have to come visit!

Well, obviously one of the next jobs will be replacing baseboards, but I think I’ll rest a little first.

So the other day, after posting the pic of my living room floor before the tape was removed, I had someone ask, “Is that supposed to be like a rug?” Then yesterday, while I was working on the floor, my parents came to see my progress. My mom commented on the uneven edge on the far side, and I explained that I painted it that way to perfectly contour around the built-ins that will go there. She replied, “Wouldn’t it look more like a rug if it was straight?”

You know, it certainly would. However, I don’t really think my goal was to make it look like something. I mean, let’s face it…there’s no disguising the fact that it’s a painted concrete floor. I never meant for it to look like a rug, and I certainly never thought I was going to fool anyone into thinking it was a rug.

To be quite honest, I don’t really like things that are meant to look like something else. Faux finishes? Nope. (Now decorative painting is another thing.) Trompe L’oeil? I’m not a fan. Murals? I could do without.

So my goal was just to bring some visual interest to the floor without having to use an area rug. Trust me, with a big black dog and two furry cats in 800 square feet, I need cleaning to be as easy as possible.

Well, I’m certainly glad this week is over. Tomorrow will be back to business as usual, and I really look forward to posting about something other than my floors!!

Happy decorating!

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