Ok, you didn't come to hear about that. Sorry, I had said that we would talk about my paint storage case and what is in it, but we are going a different route. Canvas Storage and Flooring. Maybe I will be where I can get the case out and go through it next week. So... on with the canvas storage and what is going on in the art/craft room organization and redo. I am going to post step by step photos this week. Here is a picture of the canvas all hung up nice and pretty, it turned out just like I have envisioned in my head!! Love when that happens.
Now, here are the steps that I took. First, decide how many canvas you can put in one grouping and the door still open and close, or you could just put them in a closet on the wall or wherever. The thing is, you need to get a measuring tape out and see what length of belting, strapping or whatever materials you are using is going to be needed. I am using this purse handle webbing that is one inch wide and was purchased with a coupon from my local fabric store.
Then, I took and slathered the area where I was going to cut it with Fray Check or some sort of Fabric Glue and let it dry before you cut it. This will keep the ends from raveling later, you can see that mine still shows signs of raveling because I tugged on it so much to get the knots smaller.
I used the Hercules Hooks as my nails or hangers. I purchase these things at the store, and get a couple packs at a time. They are great and I have NEVER had anything to fall off the wall when using these.
Lastly, hang the straps up and slide in your canvas. Isn't that cool!!! And yes, I thought it up myself and am rather pleased with that fact! I am also thinking of hanging some shelves using the same technique, though I don't know yet. If you have questions about how these hooks work or anything, please feel free to post under comments.
Peel and stick tiles are not the best flooring around, but when you have carpet that is paint stained and rippling...well, I had to do something cheap for safety sake!! First, I cut the carpet with a cutting knife/blade and took a look underneath to make sure there were no major cracks in the flooring. IF you have large cracks, stop!! You will need to have your house professionally leveled before you do anything else. Mine was fine so I proceeded to take out the carpet, and it is heavy, so do it in sections if you are working alone like I was.
Be careful when you start pulling out those tack strips, they use strong pointy nails for a reason. Use a claw hammer and flathead screwdriver to get under the edges and get all the nails out of the concrete.
Then, take an old, really trashy towel and wipe down the concrete, get all the little pieces and dust off the floor. Tile won't stick to dust!!! Don't try to get all the tire tracks and stuff up, just get it dust free and flat. Meaning...if there are globs of ceiling and stuff stuck on the concrete you better get it up. No reason to go to all this trouble to have that tile ripple with a lump under it later.
Next, fill the little holes with joint compound. You can get it at the hardware store in a small tub. Be sure to get some sort of a putty knife to put it down with. I lost mine somewhere during the carpet removal and used a pallet knife to finish up. (I did find it in the kitchen sink later. lol) This is like icing a cake and filling the cracks. You can go back and lightly sand the filled areas later to smooth them out, I got mine flat enough the first time that I didn't bother.
I also decided to paint the walls and baseboards before laying the tiles. Might as well do it all while I was at it. The baseboards got painted to go with the door frame. I just felt that there was too much white and cream everywhere if I were to leave them unpainted. I took two different colors of Folk Art craft acrylics and a flat brush, dipped the brush into the two colors (one on each corner) and just slapped it on there. Really! I didn't do anything special except to keep the paint on the baseboards. I even let the paint get on the concrete. Seriously! It IS that easy. Here is a picture of before and after.
I hand wipe each section just before laying the tile on the concrete, yes, I just swipe it with my bare hand. Be sure that the concrete has dried completely and all the holes are dry too. Nothing like a tile popping up later cause you didn't take the time to do it properly. Also, be sure to purchase extra tiles and store in the closet for tiles that crack or get so dirty that they have to be replaced. I did that with my bathrooms over 10 years ago, and have never needed the tiles, but I have them just in case. The patterns that I used in those bathrooms have been discontinued now. Better safe than sorry.
Most folks say to start in the middle of the room and work your way out. I start at the doorway. The reason for this is that no room is square, you are going to have to cut pieces for adding at the side walls and stuff, no way around that. But, when I walk into a room, the highest traffic area...I want to start with a full sized tile and not some little piece that has been set in at the end that might pop out.
Here is a picture of the floor before and the tile after. I like the tile. Looks like a slate or marble, and it is .99 a square peel and stick. Go figure!!!
I really hope that this information will help someone decide to tackle that flooring, it really isn't that hard. And I think the payoff is great, my students and I love it!!!
That is it for this week. Hope to have the room almost finished by next week and then we will finish this Organizational Section of the blog up and go on to something else. Hope you are all having a great week and getting some organizing of your own done. Please take the time to leave me some comments, I look forward to reading feedback from my readers. - Pam
Love it... I think I used these same peel & stick tiles from either Home Depot or Lowes over old 80's vinyl in one of our bathrooms and it looks great! Just like you said, they look like a natural stone. Took me a whole day to do the bathroom floor, but the difference was well worth the time.
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