Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that I put in some flooring in the mudroom? Well I finally got around to finishing the entire project. That means the floor from the garage to the kitchen is completely new. It was a helluva project and I am sure you are dying to read all about it. And yes, this is the post where I write way too much about it. Strap in folks, this will be exciting!
As you can see, the original floor in the mudroom was a laminate and while the color was not too bad, it was not great. We still had a ton of the floor leftover from the basement debacle, so we decided to continue replacing some floor. Naturally though, it made sense to paint the walls since everything would be out of the room.
In order to paint, I had to do the normal stuff like fix the holes, remove the cabinet, clean the dust, tear out the ugly trim, and all that fun crap. We used the same gray that we did in the playroom.
Once I had the first coat of paint on and was waiting for it to dry, I decided to paint the cabinet. I figured if it turned out poorly, then we would just buy a new one. I took off the hinges and handles, and decided to buy some black ones. It took three coats of white paint, but I think they came out well.
I jumped between those and the walls, but eventually everything was finished. It was now time for the fun part, taking out the floor. The blue underlayment was sticky and gross. I pulled it up and just tossed it in the garbage. Fortunately, my vinyl planks have a type of padding under them. The floor did not take very long to install. Granted, the floor in the mudroom was small.
The hard part was the steps. They were even more difficult than the entryway stairs. I ended up having to remove the linoleum, and I should have removed the boards themselves and cut the curve off. Instead, I just put the nose caps on backwards to make them fit. Yeah, I am not sure it will work out, but it is doing the trick for now. If it ends up failing (meaning they broke off causing me to fall down the steps and break my neck), then I will change it. I am not going to lie, the steps definitely tested my patience and abilities to the maximum. I used about every tool I own and ran into a different problem on each step.
Next up came the trim. Nothing can ever be simple. I bought a small trim and I used that behind the washer & dryer. But I quickly realized a problem. It was too small. It did not go all the way to the floor. Ughhhhhh. So I went to Lowes and purchased a larger trim.
But that created another problem…should I remove the trim from behind the washer? I decided to keep that trim and use the larger stuff on the parts of the room that do not touch.
The big trim ended up looking quite good. I need to paint the ends (look, I am not some trim master who rounds those ends out). I did have a small problem on the steps. Yep, those fucking steps! When I pulled the linoleum off, there was a small gap in the base and back part. I tried to use some gray silicon to hide it, but I made a mess, so I cleaned it off and just let it go. The gaps are barely noticeable.
Once that was done, I put new trim around the door to the sun porch. I did not run into any problems there and I must say that it turned out very well.
Lindsey and I hung the cabinet back up. I put the doors back on with the new hinges and handles. It was not nearly as simple as I thought it would be. Or maybe I am just an idiot. My first attempt failed because I put the hinge on incorrectly. What kind of idiot does that? After a bit of work, I finally got them on properly and I must say…they look fantastic.
Today I decided to tackle the kitchen. Okay, I did not decide. Lindsey forced me to do it. I knew I did not have time to paint the room, so I just dove right into the trim and floor removal. At least there were no steps with this project. I pulled out the fridge and stove. I was shocked with how not awful it was behind them (okay, we pulled the refrigerator out a few weeks ago because of some spilled milk)…
I told Payton this was her new sleeping quarters… A stove was here! And it’s not filthy… Nothing in the room really opens things up… Love that linoleum!
The floor was a little harder to install than I anticipated. I was used to dealing with small areas, but this was much bigger (and makes me nervous about the basement). I had to start over at one point because things were not lining up. But, after about six hours, I had it all done. Then I moved onto the trim. I used the large trim again and I honestly, ran into zero problems.
Well okay, it just took me awhile because again, not a trim master. I have to make a cut, then bring it up, see if it fits. Then I have to take that piece down to the garage and figure out which way the opposite cut would go to fit into it. I am sure my dad would have just looked at the space, measured everything and went down and did all of his cutting. He also could not make over easy eggs without breaking the yolks 90% of the time….so we all have our own skills. It takes me awhile, but I eventually got there. I did run out of trim, so I did not finish the kitchen, but I will go to Lowes tomorrow and I should be able to get it done fairly quickly tomorrow.
I think it looks great. I still hate the cabinets and would like to paint them white, but Lindsey is against the idea. Eventually we are going to do a giant kitchen remodel (not me, someone professional), so until that day, we might just keep the cabinets the way they are…I doubt it though, I think I can eventually win her over.
