Monday Makeover: Bamboo and Hale Navy!

Hope you all had a great weekend!  I am back with an update on Elias' room redo...New flooring and some paint.

On Friday, Nate with the help of my dad (and Eli's supervision) put down a new floor.  We used a bamboo just like the one in our nursery.  We would like all the bedrooms to match so it flows throughout the upstairs.  Plus, for a real wood floor this was the most cost effective for us @ $1.98 sq/ft.  The color of this bamboo is called "spice".  Just like any hardwood, not every piece is exactly the same color so it gives it dimension and depth throughout the room.


                             BEFORE...                                 AFTER...

Here are the guys in action and the process of laying it down.  It took them about 5 hours of solid working from start to finish.  

Nate (and Eli) removed the baseboards with a little tool that is designed to help pull it out from the wall.  We kept the boards so that we can reuse it at some point or give it away. We are putting new baseboards in that are 6 inches thick because it will go with the board and batten molding.

2.  They cut and laid paper down that is designed for hardwood floor installation.  It acts as a barrier between the sub flooring and hardwood. 

3.  Dad and Eli carried the wood from downstairs.

4.  Installation time!!   They started from outside wall and put spacers on the outside so they would be evenly spaced when starting.  In the beginning, they had to drill the holes and hammer the nails in by hand because it was too close to the wall.  Once the first row was complete they were able to use the nail gun and compressor which made the process quicker and easier.

When they made it to the corner by the door, they had to use a hand saw to take the bottom of the molding off so the floor would fit underneath.

Here is the hand saw they used to remove the bottom of molding on both the bedroom door and closet door molding.

 Tools for installing hardwood: Compressor (we owned) and nail gun that we rented at Home Depot.

 

5.  Every time they would lay the next piece down they would use the rubber mallet to pound the edge of the board to make sure it fit snug against the other one.  Once it was tight, they would nail it in and proceed to the next piece.  All bamboo pieces are the same length so they randomly cut pieces at the beginning of each row so the floor would be staggered and not uniformed. 

We put the chop saw in the hall so they wouldn't have to run up and down the stairs from the basement.  It was a mess but made it much more convenient for them.  I was the cleaner upper with the vacuum nearby :)

Finished Product!

 I am so pleased with the outcome and it looks professionally done.  Thanks hubby and dad!! It saved us a lot of money by doing it ourselves.  Next step of the process is the first phase of painting.  This is where I come into the picture.  

In a recent post I put a mood board together for Eli's room (here), and I posted a wall color that I liked.  The paint was Benjamin Moore.  I liked the color but didn't want to spend that much so I went to Lowe's and asked if they could make me the color.  They have a list of Benjamin Moore colors in their system and they were able to match it perfectly.  It is called Hale Navy and I had them make it with the signature 2 in 1 Valspar paint and primer duo.  The coverage is actually very impressive and the price was almost 1/2 of what I would have spent.  I decided to do the top part of the wall in the navy blue and the bottom is going to be white on the board and batten molding.  That project is next on our list so stay tuned!

Here is the Hale Navy wall color.  It took 2 coats, but the first one actually covered quite well.  I just wanted to make sure it was completely covered with no streaking in places.  I trimmed out the top, corners, and around molding first and then rolled the room.  It went pretty quick considering I only had to paint half the room at this point.

                           Before color...                       First coat of color...

 First coat, cutting in...

2nd Coat of Paint...The line is messy because it didn't need to be exact since molding is going up and will cover it.  There is going to be a 6 inch base board, 4 foot molding on top of baseboard and 5 inch molding on top with a small shelf around room.

Next up on the list is the board and batten for the wall.  We should be putting that up soon so I will make sure to take lots of pictures and put up a tutorial on how to in case any of you would like to attempt as well :) 

Happy Monday!!