Adventures in stain

It's almost time to get our floors into shape. We toyed with the idea of just doing a clear stain on the hickory because the multiple shades in all of the pieces look pretty cool. After living with them unfinished for months now, I think we're past that idea and onto the world of stains.

The top row in the photo above is an oil-based gel stain. Very stinky, and the dry time is long. The bottom two rows are all water-based stain that are also low-VOC (nice, because we'll be living in the house while we're staining it). 

I think the winner is going to be the dark walnut (bottom right above, and very bottom right on the photo at the top). It has a nice warmth to it without being orange-y. 

Now to get the guts up to start sanding. 

Flooring: The hardwood

Well, here it is, the start of our hickory floors!  We went with a tavern-grade (or 'rustic') floor -- which means that these are all of the off-cuts and damaged pieces.  Most of the pile is full of shorts, around 12" in length, but there's the odd long piece that we've come across as well.

We decided on hickory since I'm a little challenged in the 'no damage' department.  It's inevitable that a plate will be dropped or a scratch to appear, thanks to me.  Hickory is one of the hardest hardwoods out there, so it should stand up nicely to the abuse I can inflict.  And, as a bonus, since we want a floor to look rustic and worn-in, all of my future accidents should add to the character of the floor.

The pile (one of many)

Around one of the windows in our bedroom

The scene

Sanding and staining are next up on the to-do list...I had ideas of using a dark stain, but now that we're seeing all of variety of pieces we're thinking of something a little less drastic.

FLOR musings...

Checkered Past (Laurel and Lime)

FLOR tiles look like such a great idea for so many areas around the house. There are so many designs to choose from, and these are my favorites:

Shirt Stripe (Stripe a Pose)

Corrugated Rib (Brook)