Checkers, anyone?

My dear friend and talented artist, Anji Johnston, came down last week to turn my kitchen floor into a big checkerboard game. You may remember that the original kitchen floors could not be rescued from their life under three layers of laminate and one layer of carpet and had to be put to rest. The replacement, 5" wide yellow pine boards were laid down with not a flaw in sight. Most people would think that is good. I was afraid I'd made a huge mistake. Because there was no way to make the transition from antique heart pine to brand new yellow pine with stain (to my liking) I decided to have the floors painted. The color palette was chosen - brown (to help transition from heart pine) and gray - to be happy with the white cabinets and gray wall paint.
In the photo above you can see how the old heart pine and new flooring come together. We struggled a while to get the brown color correct as every brown that went onto the yellow boards turned green. The final solution was to squeeze a tube of artist's acrylic crimson red into the bucket of Benjamin Moore Lenox Tan. The grey squares are Wickham Grey on top of the Lenox Tan.
Poor Anji's knees will never be the same. The paint really couldn't be rolled on and still have the grain show through so she ragged it on. Above is a photo of the Lenox tan (doctored up) going down onto the raw wood. After we were happy with the first coat the taping began. Do you remember much about geometry? It was the only math class that I did well in. I loved my teacher, Mr. Black, and drawing all of the shapes and doing the proofs. So, I loved watching this floor evolve and helping to figure out the pattern. Then the taping began.
We could only tape one row at time, then pull up the tape and lay down the next row. After all of the squares were done and the tape removed, Anji sealed it with three coats of Coronado sealant. My fingers are crossed that it will withstand the antics of the two dogs. Stay tuned. In any case, I could not be happier with the way it turned out and can't wait for the rest of the kitchen to be complete so I can go down and start living with it. The sink is being installed today and tomorrow the stone folks come to do a template for the Carrera marble.

After Anji finished the floors I high tailed it up to northern Virginia to attend a party in honor of Eddie Ross and Jaithan Kochar at the home of Michele Ginnerty of My Notting Hill. I never imagined I could have so much fun at a party where I literally knew no one. I met so many fun and interesting people in addition to Eddie, Jaithan and Michele. Bob of Homer's Odd Isn't He was great to chat with as was Pat of Pat's Addition and Lauren of Pure Style Home. Terri of WindLost was so nice to meet as was her boyfriend, David. I know I'm leaving someone out so I apologize in advance. Of course, we all have so much in common so there was no lull in the conversations. In addition to the fun attendees, Michele's husband whipped up some delicious food and the wine never stopped flowing. Eddie and Michele

Home again home again jiggety jog. Many projects were waiting for me when I got back including painting the powder room ceiling in preparation for the wallpaper hanger to come this Friday, painting the window trim in the laundry before the washing machine and dryer show up, painting some chandelier chain to match the fixture before the electrician wrings my neck not to mention grocery shopping, playing with the dogs, oh - and doing some work to bring in some cash to pay for all of this fun.