Floored....

 

Herringbone Floor Completed....

Believe It or Not, Dear Readers, during the week I only managed to add a few pieces to the back edge of the herringbone floor. But the results were so encouraging that I really wanted to complete it over the weekend! Of course, the weekend is full of so many necessary tasks, it wasn't until late on Saturday that I could make any real progress. And then I quickly used up all the pieces I had already cut to size. But the remaining area to be filled was not too big so I had high hopes that I would get it done!

Here you can see how close to done I am!

I cut another ten sticks... making 70 more pieces.

And they turned out to be almost exactly how many I needed!

Here I have finished gluing! 

Even all those Teensy Tiny corner triangles!

See how tiny that one on the left by the door is?

And those tiny ones along the back wall?

(I almost didn't bother trying....)

I am so glad I did them!

There were five leftover pieces....

Which I used to make a stain sample...

So I could see how this wood took the stain.

Here is the test stain... dark walnut.....

Which went on well if you wiped it off fairly quickly.

 

So I got started....

(No dithering here....!) 

I know some of you will think it is way too dark...

 and wonder why I am ruining that beautiful floor...

But it is supposed to be an Old And Aged floor... 

and the colors for this room would not agree with a paler floor.

(Like with the green paneling in the room below... 

you will have to take my word for it!)

I only stopped to take the one picture...

 the process required quick work 

to brush on the stain in a small area

 and wipe it off rather quickly.

But oh my goodness...!

 In the right light it looks gorgeous!

The way the light reflects off the different directions of the wood grain 

is one of the special parts of this flooring pattern.

I added one coat of polyurethane varnish to seal it.

I don't want a glossy smooth finish... it needs to look old.

And all those cracks where my wood pieces 

don't quite align properly add to this effect!

I had to put the walls in place (temporarily) 

and add some of the furniture... 

just to see how it looks....

Well, Dear Readers, I don't know about you...

But it is so much better than I expected... 

I am Floored!

I just Love the way this turned out!

 

A Stirring Tale...

 

Of Rescue...

You May or may Not recall, Dear Readers, that this Dollmaker's Studio project is a hodge-podge of leftover and lonely pieces mixed with Special kits (Sandra's kit that inspired the project) and Artisanal creations (the beautiful ook arched glass door on the ground level) to name a couple. It is also a venue for ordinary salvage, in this case a batch of coffee-stirrer sticks from work which were about to be tossed out because they fell on our floor (where barn boots regularly tread). I looked at them and thought "I can probably use those"! So they came home with me. I thought they would make a great rustic floor in some project or another. But there are not too many of them... and I belatedly realized that not all coffee-stirrer sticks are the same dimensions or type of wood. I had no idea what "make" these were, so what I got is what there is to use. It needed a small-ish floor area to work... and one where a different type of flooring one room to the next would not matter. So I started to test these pieces in the upstairs room. And because this is a small-ish project, but one filled with fancy details, I wanted the floor to be special too. I had long wanted to try a "herring-bone" floor, and this would be the perfect place to give it a try.

Here is the interior (sorry for the dark view...!)

with Sandra's alcove placed at the back and the window seat at the right.

(Neither are firmly attached yet.)

The space is about 9 inches by 13 inches give or take a little.

And with the morning sun hitting the spot!

So I started to cut some stirrer-sticks to see if this might work.

At one inch sections, I get seven per stick.

But I have to cut them by hand... and the stirrers

 are not identical or perfect in their dimensions.

(But I think that will add to the charm of the end product!)

Here I have laid out a very tentative section

 to see how the spacing and size will work.

I think they will look lovely!

But I have a LOT of cutting to do!

I estimate about 85 sticks will be needed.... 

each making seven pieces...

And there will be the inevitable spoiled and wrong length ones.

I think this is about twenty sticks.

I think this is about forty sticks.....

I made a system of cutting five sticks at a sitting....

Measure, cut, sand.... each one making seven pieces.

And since I spent so much time in my

 RL Garden these past weekends,

 I did not get much else done!

But it is a start!

I love it, Dear Readers, 

that the sticks that fell on the Floor by accident...

Can become the floor by Design!

A Stirring rescue all around!