Hootie hooo! The cork floor in both the kitchen and the laundry room is complete!
Well, except if you count the fact that we still have to add shoe molding, thresholds, and seal it all. Details, details. The point is, we finally get to see the whole picture. Huzzah!
The annoying part is that we still haven’t figured out how to photograph it as true to life as we can (it’s a rich mocha color, and actually looks more like brown leather in person, so the pattern is more like soft movement and less like any sort of obvious shapes or anything) – but the two videos from the last post really are the most accurate depictions of it, although we hope today’s photos are closer to real life than last week’s were. The one above is getting there. We’ll learn the trick someday I’m sure!
When it came to finishing things off in the corner of the kitchen and our tiny laundry room, it was pretty much exactly the same method that we outlined in our kitchen corking post, although we were getting worried that we were running low on cork, so we actually used some remnant planks all along the left wall (leftover cuts from the kitchen) to ensure that we wouldn’t run out.
Thankfully we finished up with about four planks to spare. Not kidding. It was crazy close. So we’re at least thankful to have those as extras, and plan to seal the heck out of these to protect them. Cork can even be sanded, restained, and resealed down the line if it gets worse for wear, so 40+ year old cork floors exist (which is nice to know since cork sounds like such a new-age material). Heck, we’ve even heard from folks who have 100+ year old cork floors that still look great, so here’s hoping!
It’s kind of amazing how much of a difference the new floors make in the laundry room. I mean, we really liked it before since we did so much work on it already (more on the rest of the room’s transformation here), but here’s that room before it got the ol’ cork treatment:
And after:
We enter the house through the door in the laundry room and it’s so nice to walk in and see the rich cork floors whispering “welcome home.” Oh and for those wondering where the laundry basket is, it’s just in the bedroom full of a pile of “flu clothes” that have been washed and have yet to be put away.
Since we already blogged all about where/why we purchased our floor here, and how we installed it (video included) here, this post is more of a big sigh of relief that the last big kitchen undertaking is winding down.
Other than polishing off those last few floor tasks on the list, all that’s left are smaller things like adding some decorative wood molding to the back of the peninsula, deciding if we’ll be adding a window treatment over the sink or painting our stools, potentially doing something fun to the side of the pantry, bringing in a chair and a rug in the fireplace side of the room, etc. And of course we’ll share a ton of before and after pics along with a budget and time breakdown when we finally get to stick a fork in this kitchen (which we’ve been working on in stages since October 5th!).
And remember when we moved in and it looked like this in here?
This shot is a little further back, and a slightly different angle, but it’s semi-comparable. Is there anything better than making a room that feels nothing like you, finally feel like home?
As for our plan with the variety of mismatched wood floors that surround our freshly corked kitchen and laundry room, we’re huge fans of flooring that looks seamless (we upgraded our first house to have the same dark mocha wood throughout the layout for a nice open flow). And sure enough, we plan to eventually refinish the rest of the wood floors in this house in the same rich mocha color as the cork for a much more easy and open look. Although it’ll still be cork in some rooms and hardwoods in others, the same rich tone should really tie things together and not make any of the spaces feel as choppy or broken up.
When it comes to a usability/function update, we have been really happy with it so far. The rich deep color adds so much to the formerly white-washed space, there are no scratches/dings where Burger runs around from his nails, no dents where we drop things, it’s very soft and easy on the back/knees, it should be even more durable once we seal it, it’s eco-friendly, and it’s quiet. We’ll definitely keep you posted as we live with it (and add shoe molding, thresholds, and a few coats of protective sealer). What did you guys do this weekend? We were pretty much laid up on the sofa fighting our little flu battle after finally squeezing in those last few cork boards, but we’re getting a lot closer to feeling like ourselves again! And the finished cork floors definitely have our spirits up. Onward!
Looking great! Quick question though – am I the only one that sees a vague “stripe” of slightly lighter cork running through the foreground of the first pic of your post? Am I just seeing things? I guess that leads me to another question of if you encountered significant variations in color of the cork planks, and if so, how did you deal with them? Either way, your kitchen looks amazing!
I think it’s just a lighting trick (the part to the right of that is just in shadow from the peninsula overhang, and the part to the left of that is a shadow from the fireplace mantel). There didn’t appear to be any really obvious variations in color but we alternated pieces from many different boxes just in case.
xo,
s
I’m glad you answered this question. I saw the “stripe” also and then couldn’t see anything else. I do see now how the cabinets, refrigerator, etc could have been causing it to look lighter in that area.
I have one tile (ONE TILE) in my kitchen that looks like it should have been turned a different way. And now, it is ALL I SEE when I walk in there. It drives me NUTS!
We got all the curtains up in the nursery (we are much less ambitious than you guys are (with the flu, no less!) over a weekend…
http://www.kellyandellen.org/house/2012/03/we-have-textiles/
So sweet!
xo,
s
Love love love it!!! It’s just perfect. Everything fits so well together…I know you’ve said the greens true color is a bit different. We did a MAJOR house turn up side down cleaning this weekend, complete with repainting a dresser! LOVED the beautiful weather!
wow – what a transformation from before! The dark floors are lovely and the kitchen looks SOOOOO much lighter and airy than before!
I do love the floors but do you plan to get a big rug for in front of the sink? I feel like you need more color now since there is so much cork/gray.
Oh yes, we plan to add a bunch of accessories (a rug in the fireplace are, possibly one on the other side of the kitchen, etc). It’s definitely still a work in progress!
xo,
s
So lovely!
I love it! I know it feels wonderful to have a home look the way you feel. Congrats!
Wow! You guys are so amazing and such an inspiration!! Just imagine how much you have appreciated your home in just over a year!!!
Aw thanks Lindsay! You guys are so sweet today. Well, everyday. Haha.
xo,
s
wow! it looks great guys! i think the deep color really anchors the rest of the room. loving it!
Amazingly beautiful!
I’m envisioning you all doing some sort of fun stencil on the side of the pantry and the fridge cabinet even! That could be such a fun punch of color/excitement! Awesome job powering through on the floors, they are perfect.
I love your floors, I was considering cork, but have read comments on it denting when something is dropped on it, I drop stuff. ALOT! So please let us know what happens if you drop something!
Will do! We hear from a few folks who have it that stuff bounces (instead of breaking) but they haven’t mentioned dents (although I’m sure if you drop something heavy enough it’ll dent since it would dent hardwoods and crack tile, etc). We’ll keep you posted!
xo,
s
That looks awesome! The before and after pictures are such a cool transformation.
Congratulations!!! Looks awesome.
Looks great! I hope you are on the mend from the flu.
I am especially a fan in the laundry room and the seamless look it gives you between the two spaces.
I spent the weekend grouting our new basement shower and am totally pooped (that and the time change)!
they look awesome! i would never have thought of a cork floor..hmm..something to look in to!
What a huge difference it makes!!!! A-Ma-Zing!!! Great job as usual. And I am fascinated with the fact that it’s cork, but can be sanded and stained??? Serious cool points.
It’s compressed to strengthen it (sort of like bamboo flooring) so it’s really hard and wood-like!
xo,
s
I am trying to figure out what the surface is like too – Sherry you saying that it’s compressed helps me understand a bit – does it have a pretty slick surface (like hardwood/wood laminate)? How do you clean it? I’m picture sweeping/mopping a floor made of cork like wine-bottle cork, but that must not be right?
Yes, when you wipe it down with a damp cloth it’s just like wiping down hardwood flooring. It’s a completely different strength (much much harder and denser) than wine corks. Hahah.
xo,
s
Wow, this looks gorgeous! great job once again :)
It looks amazing! I like it so much more today than I did in the first pictures. And I love how it looks in the laundry room!
We are landscaping right now, so our weekend was all about that. We shoveled/wheelbarrowed 12 tons of rocks on Saturday. So Sunday we just laid in bed all day! haha.
That sounds like a nice way to relax after a ton of work! And so glad we were able to take better cork pics today!
xo,
s
Wait until you drop a glass or something breakable – it’s so fun to realize that it just bounced instead of shattering!!
Yay! Can’t wait. Haha. Who thought I’d ever be saying that about dropping something.
xo,
s
Your floors are awesomesauce! I painted wide, horizontal stripes in our hall this weekend!
Sounds amazing!
xo,
s
This looks absolutely AMAZING! So the allure of cork flooring is it looks as chic as hardwood, but is way more durable, right? Like puppy/kiddo proof? Is it similar to bamboo flooring in that way?
We put engineered hardwoods in our living area and it’s super scratched up from our dog’s nails. Next time around we were thinking of laminate, but have heard about bamboo and obviously your cork flooring is gorgeous. Most ADD post ever.
I believe it’s slightly softer underfoot than hardwood, so the allure is more that it’s easier on joints (knees, ankles, backs) and quiet and eco friendly. We hear from folks with 70lb dogs and cork and no issues though, which is awesome! I think when it comes to hardness, it’s bamboo, hardwoods, and cork in that order. But it’s still durable and can be refinished, so in many ways it’s similar to hardwood, just another option.
xo
s
I see Sherry is winning the ironing board debate these days! Huzzah!
Haha- the battle rages on. I think John flipped it this morning!
xo,
s
Love it! The new floors look great. Have you considered doing a magnetic chalkboard wall on the side of the fridge? Would be a cute place to write grocery lists, put up some family photos, etc. Lot’s of great DIY chalkboard walls on Pinterest. I’m sure whatever you come up with it will look great!
Definitely something we’re considering!
xo,
s
Love the cork! We put down cork in our three daughters bedrooms in a previous reno. I would love to do it again. Warm, quiet and beautiful.
I love the flooring! What a fabulous idea!
The look beautiful! I couldn’t wait to see the dark floor grounding all of the white. You did a marvelous job.
I have nothing like you did, although I am excited that we finally got curtains hung in one room of our house. Yay for 25% off at World Market!
Ooh I love their curtains!
xo,
s
Looks amazing! I can’t wait to see the space once you’re sealed it and can get your dishwasher swapped out! (But I bet you can’t wait for that either, hehe!) :) Thanks for sharing with us as always!
We actually switched out the dishwasher already! Here’s that post for ya: https://www.younghouselove.com/2012/02/dishing-it-out/
xo,
s
Looks great! Totally warms up the whole space. It’ll be neat to see when all your floors are the same colour to see how they blend. We have a major kitchen reno on our “to do” list (in a year or two probably) and have the old hardwood on either side of it — so we’ve been unsure about whether we would try to match it or just go with tile. For now, we put down some peel n’ stick vinyl tile (black and white stripes) for a bit of fun: http://thesweetestdigs.com/2012/01/23/kitchen-makeover-step-3-the-floor/
xo,
gemma
Looks awesome! Love the stripes!
xo,
s
Looks amazing, I’m sure you’ve already explained this somewhere that I missed but did you put this floor right over the existing? This might be a silly question, or maybe why they call it a floating floor but I’m curious. I’m researching options for my house and I love the look of the cork. Thanks and great job!!!
Yes, since we learned that we had an asbestos liner under our old vinyl it was safest to leave that floor and just float a new floor over it.
xo,
s
I love that you said “hootie hoo!” Did you learn that from Carla on Top Chef? (Because we definitely did. Love her.)
The floors look ah-maaaazing. They totally transform the entire space.
Haha, we love Carla but she is not the originator of Hootie Hoo. It’s an old saying from NY/NJ (and probably beyond) since my grade school/high school days. There was even this rap song that was called Hootie Hoo. Haha. But Carla can scream it like no other!
xo,
s
Wow! I had no idea. :-) Coming here is so educational.
Hahahahaha.
xo,
s
GORG! I couldn’t love it more, it looks wonderful! And TOTALLY different than what you started with (duh). What I love MOST about your blog is that you share such great details about getting there, but the final result is always a surprise, it’s never too repetitive.
I take back what I said in the past about the wall color looking “off”… the floors really warmed things up and all feels right again. Forgive me? :)
Aw thanks Corie! No worries at all! We know things that are in progress are hard to “see” from an outside perspective. Especially since we’re the only ones who really know where we’re “going” (well sometimes we don’t even know where we’re going so there’s some feeling around in the dark, hahah).
xo,
s
They look great! I love the contrast of the white cabinets and the dark floor.
We just put our floating click-lock cork floor in over the last two weekends. I was so happy to see the old stained carpet go! We went with the lighter cork color for our living room that has pale green walls and a painted white brick fireplace. My husband finished trimming it out Sunday afternoon and after dinner I sat on the floor and painted all the trim/toe kick. :)
We did three coats of water based poly in a satin finish and it looks really pretty. One handy tool we got that made the poly job go quickly was a little 9″ wide block of fleece wrapped around wood that screws onto a broom handle (I’m sure it has a real name, just not sure what it is)
It didn’t shed at all and spread the poly really evenly (and saved my back)
Sounds awesome!
xo,
s
The floor looks amazing, congratulations!
The floor looks faaaabulous. Great job guys! Glad to hear you are on the mend. The flu is no joke.
I know this post is about the floors, but since you mentioned maybe painting the barstools, have you guys thought about just getting some cute, colorful, patterned cushions for the seats? World Market has some really really cute ones!
Oh yes, we mentioned back when we got them that covering the seats with fabric might be an option! JUst waiting to see how the room looks when we bring them back in after sealing the floor, etc.
xo,
s
good to know! its possible that is the case at my house too. thank you!!
The floor lookd faaablous. Great job guys!!
Glad to hear you are feeling better. The flu is no fun.
Your cork floors look great. We used cork about 2 years ago in a family room addition and kitchen. We love the way it feels underfoot – much more comfortable and soft than hardwood or tile – and it is very easy to keep clean. But we have found that it fades – especially in our family room which has lots of windows.
I have heard that too! Although I hear it can be restained, so maybe that’s an option. One of the reasons we went for it in our kitchen and laundry room is because they don’t get much natural light at all (that window over the sink leads to the sunroom and the window and door in the laundry room lead to the carport/future garage). Here’s hoping ours doesn’t fade too much but I’ll keep you guys posted!
xo,
s
That looks amazing!!! The laundry room looks extra fancy :)
This is beautiful! It makes me wonder if I could make this work in our kitchen. We have wood flooring that nuts up to both sides of our kitchen as well. Staining cork to match would really help with the seamless look though. I think it makes your laundry room look stunning!
Your kitchen is so beautiful. Looks totally new and hip :)
Aw thanks Anna!
xo,
s
I like the cork okay in the kitchen, but I LOVE IT in the laundry room! I think I like it better where it is next to the wall color as opposed to next to all that white and stainless. So I would probably like it better in a true color shot looking the other direction in the kitchen. Not that you care…lol!
And that light fixture in the laundry room is still one of my absolute favorite things you guys have done…might have to steal that for my own laundry area (which is in the garage…sadface).
Aw thanks Elizabeth!
xo,
s
I just scrolled back through your previous cork posts and confirmed that yes, I do like it better in shots where the wall color shows more!
I know you’re relieved!
Haha- so glad!
xo,
s
Gorgeous, Gorgeous, Gorgeous!!! Me likey!!! :)
The floor looks uh-mazing!
Looking at your before-after pics of the kitchen, I can’t even tell that its the same space – the entire, gorgeous transformation is unbelievable :)
I love how that light from your cheerful lil laundry room just pours in to your kitchen off those floors. The cork just looks like soft leather. Does the cork conduct heat well? I can’t imagine it’s as cold on the feet as pergo or something.
I wouldn’t believe what you guys can do to a space in just a short amount of time. Now that you’re nearly “done” with the kitchen, I’m ready to buy your house! ;) j/k j/k
Oh yes, it’s warm. Not like a heated floor or anything, but it’s warmer than the hardwoods for sure!
xo,
s
The floors look beautiful! I love how they make the white cabinets really pop and the difference in the laundry room is really nice. Can’t wait for your budget breakdown post!
We spent some time working in our gardent this weekend, planting early crops like peas, lettuce and carrots. We also went to a cloth diaper store and bought a bunch of bum genius and a few other brands to try out…now we just need the baby to get here! Tomorrow is my due date and I’m really hoping he decides to come on time!
Congrats Sarah! So exciting!
xo,
s
The floor looks fabulous! Very rich shade of brown and such an unusual choice…we are thinking of options for our flooring and I’ll for sure look into cork now!
I HEART your floors (and total kitchen remodel)! We did engineered cherry in our house over the summer and I’m wishing I had gone with something like this. Looks amazing!!!!!!!!!!
Woo hoo! You guys, it looks fantastic! I’m so happy for you that it’s done!