Its a go for...Concrete Painted Floors?!! (I think)

In the past, I have mentioned that I want dark (really dark) wood floors like you see below. Where you see the hash marks above, which is what I always refer to as the main living areas, is what we would like to cover in wood. We also thought about including our master bedroom as dark like the one you see below...

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Well, we have priced it first at what we really want and then at what would be practical. Neither one is really a cost effective choice for us right now. So I got the idea to paint the concrete?!!! Just to live with for now because the white "Triple B Threat" (blah, boring, and builder grade) carpet in not working for us with four young kids. Well, a few things run through:

1. How safe it will be?
2. How commercial it will look?
3. How maintainable it is?

I just really would like to know your opinions on this to help me out a little with the decision we have made.

We have already decided to go for it, but not before I do lots of research, in July! This is what I do know I am looking for:

1. A finished look
2. More of a matte and not too glossy
3. Nothing marble or inconsistent
4. Not too industrial

So here is where I just did some research on the look that I am going for:

So now you can get a feel of what I am wanting. Now lets take a look at some photos of really cool painted floors:

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I am a sucker for anything black and white and I would do this in a heart beat if I knew that I could live with it for a long time. But for now I will just dream of what could be...

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This, I have always loved! The stenciling added so much character yet it did not overtake the room like the black and white would. Just the right amount of charm!

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This steals my heart. I actually appreciate the glossy effect in here because it looks like you could walk on water. Aqua in this white kitchen is just sooooo...right!

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This is so rustically pretty to me because the floor actually looks like poured concrete with a gentle white floral stenciling on top. I love it!

So please give me your opinions on what I should do or think about if you have been there done that!

UPDATE:

 

Orange Sofa , pleeeez!

I am in the market for an orange sofa for my family room! I love color and orange is one of my favorites next to purple, of course! But on the real, I think that orange is just the right color for my taupe walls. Here is one of my first prospects:

Its the Zoe sofa from Lazy-Boy. I stopped by the showroom in Brandon on my way to my daughter's basketball tournament in Tampa. Its by 90" wide by 37" deep by 39" high. I found a fabric (Linato / C949415)  that will work with my drapery fabric I found a few weeks ago. I used the tool on the site to recover it in the fabric I like!

Please read about this fabric here! I plan to make it to the closest Boca Bargoons to find out who make this fabric. If I want this sofa I will have to wait  8-12 weeks for it to arrive since its being custom made!

Since I am such a visual person and La-Z-Boy did not have a swatch that I could take home with me, I went to our resource room at work and found an large orange swatch to take home with me and test it out. I love it! This picture is poo, but I promise it looks great!

Oh! The lamp shades int he pic above are form Goodwill for $5 a piece. I go them yesterday! They are very large vintage lamp shades, that I plan to hopefully use for my lamp project seen here. You can also  read about where I found the side tables here.

Back to my sofa search, I checked out the reviews on this, boo-hoo only two! I like to have at least five to read. Here is my priority list in my search for a orange sofa:

1. Size - at least 90x36
2. Style - transitional
3. Quality - very well built for longevity
4. Comfort - not too firm
5. Color - orange pleeeez
6. Price - $1000 to $1500 price range

Do you know any good sofa options to suggest?

I love Craigslist

I got this nostalgic American farm table and four ladder-back chairs with woven cane seats for $25 on craigslist. It needs some TLC.

I got this about a year ago because I wanted to take it on as a DIY project. Its the only thing beside my BBQ grill sitting on my back porch. Here is my inspiration:



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When I think of the outdoor living space, I want it to be an extension of your home interior. But I want to think of this as a vacation retreat at home.



House Beautiful

Colors that come to mind are turquoises and yellows. I have always adored this Jonathan Adler mid century dining room. The yellow painted Chinese Chippendale chairs are like sunshine. It makes me happy.



Off White



Blossom Yellow

 So my plan is to do a distressed finish on the table in a off white and yellow for the chairs. The off white shown above is Farrow & Ball's Pointing and the yellow is Forsythia Blossom. I am going to take the existing woven cane off and have it redone after its painted.

Tonic Living

I love this P Kaufman fabric called Tempo Mambo. Doesn't the name just say retreat!?!?! I would like to make a seat pillow with this fabric. 

Paint Strokes

I used to paint all the time. I love painting, but I can never find the time to put myself into that mindset because I can loose myself in time and phase everything out. Here is some canvas art I dug up after cleaning out a few things from the garage.

For me the human body is so dynamic and so beautiful. Especially a women. She is nurturing and sensual. She wears her heart on her sleeve.  She is able to love blindly. She gives all of herself to everything that she loves and does not hold anything back. The color of her heart sets the mood for the rest of her surroundings around her. Her beauty is more than skin deep. Her eyes do not lie.

New Beginnings Continued...

July this year will make three years that we have been in our humble abode! My husband and I always mention how much we love our home. This is our first home and both of us worked very hard to get here and still are working very hard to keep it.

It was brand new built in 2007 by a local builder in a brand new subdivision. My husband is the one who actually found the house. He even viewed it two times before he even took me to view it. We were originally looking to build. I was already in love with another model that we viewed during the Parade of Homes. I was just going to tweak a little bit had we decided to build of course. But I gotta say he really had to talk me into our current home. It was mostly because I was going to be able to get exactly what I wanted. It did not take long for me to come around being that it was move-in ready!

Loveable Home Features:

(In order of priority)

Open Floor Plan

Large Kitchen w/ Island

Two+ Full Bathrooms

Cathedral Ceiling

Large Bedrooms

Master Suite

Breakfast Bar

Formal and Casual Dining Spaces

Outdoor Living Space

Semi Private Backyard

Two-Car Garage

This year is the year that we inject our personality into our home. Just as I declared in my resolution to make my house my home. Home improvements so far has been in the main living area of the house. We added recessed lighting in the living and family rooms. We did a couple of recessed directional lights in the casual dining area and three pendants over the breakfast bar. We also painted the foyer, formal dining, living room, family room, kitchen, and hallway. Our next improvements are going to be in the kids bedrooms.