In December 2010, my then pregnant sister, Melanie, and her hubby, George, purchased their first home.
It had previously been owned by an older couple so it needed some updating interior work! As my little nephew was on his way, they chose to focus on a few of the basics, the walls and the floors. Today, I’m very excited to share her first ever before and after guest blog post!
Here’s what the kitchen floor and walls looked like before:
Mel says: First we tackled the wallpaper on all the walls of the house. For the kitchen floor, we removed 3 layers of vinyl. Most of it came off in strips, but some parts we had to use a little work. Use a razor blade to cut long strips in the floor, then pry up with a flat shovel. A shovel with a long handle works best to get the most leverage, making it easier to remove.
We painted the walls a new, light tan color. Before applying the new floor, we screwed down the sub floor to stop squeaks. We also under cut all door jams so the new floor tiles could slide underneath.
We put in DuPont 10 mm laminate tile floor. Tip: leave about a 1/4 inch gap around the walls to allow for expansion.
To finish, we put in white 4″ colonial base molding around the edges of the room. We also added butterscotch oak moldings to transition our hard wood floor in the living room and a customized oak stair nose to finish off the step in to the dining room.
It looks great, Mel!
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