kitchen floor part four

You can stick a fork in this kitchen floor - It is done!

Here is where we left off _

We were loving loving this color! With all the white, gray and black going on in here, it feels good to have the warmth of the wood. Combining cool (gray) with warm (brown) and stainless steel with wood gives off good vibes in any room. We are so loving the effect in our kitchen.

We were debating about painting a checkerboard look on the floor and finally made up our minds:

We opted to keep all this warmth underneath and not paint any squares at all.

We had lots of response to our little survey on whether we should leave the wood or paint the squares - About even actually, with a slight preference for the solid wood. It was super fun to read them - Thanks for your input!

Next step is Polyurethane. I love that there is a water based version. It goes on quick, doesn't distort the color underneath and is super easy to clean brushes and hands.

Summer time means bare feet.

Hero took a few swipes at the clear coat. 

Not sure why he is wearing socks.

Speaking of socks, this floor is super slippery! Not wanting to take any chances at the top of the stairs, we added a little anti-slip gripper product to the Polyurethane at the landing. Don't even want to think about how dangerous that would be.

Looks terrific!

We ended up with five thin coats of Polyurethane. We tried to make sure it got in all the crevices and grooves. Hopefully it will keep out the milk that will most likely get spilled.

After sealing the floor we still had that funny odor from the stain - ugh. Setting the mood with a bunch of little candles helps with that - Not sure how that works, but even unscented candles draw the smell away.

This is how done we are with the floor - trim going in!

The trim piece that goes between the two floors was not quite right for this floor, but since we had already stained it, Hero just took it out to the garage a few times and then it fit.

Nice.

A few photos that show off this lovely floor.

And the way cute stool that I found a while back at an estate sale. Just when I claimed it, there were a lot of disappointed shoppers. 

It is done!

We are in love.