“STRIPPING”

Hah! Let’s see how many hits that gets.  Remember the STRIPS I cut from my FREE DOORS STUPID?

Well, I used them. It all started with this…

That’s right, I knocked over an almost full gallon of paint on my bedroom floor. So I scooped up as much as I could and grabbed a roller and started spreading it around.  Fortunately it was on the sub-floor which I was planning on painting anyway, but  I didn’t like the way it looked so I thought, and thought and thunked and came up with this….

That’s right, I started nailing down my strips to the floor. The doors that I cut the strips from were made of masonite so  it’s pretty tuff stuff. I cut my strips into different lengths and used popsicle sticks as spacers.

After it was all down I primed it with some of my free primer…

At this point I was pretty much doing the happy dance all over because I have always wanted painted floors but never have lived in a home that had a wood floor.

Next I painted it it all with a coat of antique white. Then I started marking off squares with a pencil…

It’s kind of hard to see but you don’t want it to be too dark…

Then the fun begins. Making tape...

You have to tape each square separately. Remember I am doing this bedroom without spending any money so I found several part-rolls of different tape.

Then I painted alternating squares a very light aqua…

Now I am really doing the happy dance. I begin calling strangers in off the street to see it. I send pictures to my kids and friends. I want to do this…

I have to force myself to let it dry overnight. Then I took off the tape…

And Voilà…

Well word began to travel and before you know it I had a house full of family to see it and since by bed is in the living room…

They all piled on to help me do the happy dance. (This is only a third of my brood.) Anyway we had to christen it with a sleep-over…

My daughter’s Mother-in-Law who is Haitian say’s that if your youngest sleeps with it’s butt in the air, then it is time for another one…

So get busy Bekah!

Anyway, back to the floor. After removing the tape and having a spontaneous party I sanded it to make it look a little more aged…

Then I very lightly rubbed some stain around the edges of each square…

And the final step… Pour a whole gallon of Spar Urethane on it and spread it around evenly and work backwards towards the door…

It has to cure for twenty four hours before you walk on it so you may as well give up any hope of talking on your phone if you leave it on the windowsill across the room…

Clear across the room!!!

PS… I posted my plight on Facebook and my knight in shining armor (my youngest son, Caleb) dropped what he was doing as soon as he read it and came over to get it for me from the outside.