Saturday, May 04, 2013

Sing Sweet Nightingale

Cottage Flooring Ideas - Part 1


I must say that flooring has been on my mind for a while for a series. And since the flood I had at the end of April and the renovation going on at the moment at the cottage, I spend a lot of time cleaning the floor. The flood left some part of my grout very dirty, so I'm doing it Cinderella-way: on my knees, tile after tile.

Ecrire une série sur le choix des sols me trottait dans la tête depuis un moment. Après l'inondation de la fin Avril et les travaux qui s'éternisent au cottage, je passe beaucoup de temps à frotter mon sol... Ce sont les joints surtout qui trinquent et donc je nettoie façon Cinderella: à genoux, à la brosse, carreau après carreau. Du coup, cela me semble approprié de lancer la série maintenant!


I wish I could sing like Cinderella, but I'm more of a Drizella and one of my cats hates when I do! The cats do their role to perfection, leaving nice little paw marks on my floor (it's easy with all the plaster dust in the house right now!).

J'aimerai chanter comme Cendrillon, mais moi, c'est plutôt la moche demi-soeur! D'ailleurs un de mes chats déteste quand je pousse la chansonnette!  Tous les deux jouent le rôle de Lucifer à la perfection, me laissant des traces de pattes pleines de poussière de plâtre dans toute la maison!

So why have cottage floors been on my mind for so long?

Pourquoi donc les revêtements de sol m'occupent-ils depuis un moment?

Because when I bought the cottage, there were three different floors in the very tiny 500 square feet downstairs.

Parce que quand j'ai acheté le cottage, il y avait trois sols différents dans les 45 mètres carrés du rez-de-chaussée.


I didn't like any of the three. The dining-room tiles were bad imitation of terra cotta, the kitchen floor was made of tiles that are supposed to be used outside (and there's a reason for that, it's impossible to clean wihtout a hose) and the living-room floor was my favourite - white tiles... that had dents and stains everywhere!

Une mauvaise imitation de terre cuite dans la salle-à-manger, un carrelage de terrasse dans la cuisine (impossible à nettoyer, sauf au tuyau d'arrosage - c'est pour ça que c'est un carrelage d'extérieur) et le salon avait le moins affreux, un carrelage blanc plein de tâches indélébiles.

So something needed to be done. Are you ready to join me for some inspiration posts?

Il fallait faire quelque chose. Etes-vous prêt à me suivre pour une série d'inspiration sur les sols de cottage?

Meanwhile, if you're looking for me, I'll be the one scrubbing the floor...

En attendant, si vous me cherchez, je suis à genoux sur mon sol...


Dear Prince, if you ever find your way, I'm sure the shoe will fit, I have the smallest feet! If you could bring some gloves as well, that would be very nice as my hands are not in the best of shape with all the scrubbing and still no hot water in the cottage! Thank you very much.

Cher Prince, si tu trouves le chemin du cottage, je suis sûre que la chaussure m'ira, j'ai de tout petits pieds! Mais si tu voulais aussi m'apporter une paire de gants, ce serait vraiment chic parce qu'avec tout ce ménage et toujours pas d'eau chaude au cottage, j'ai les mains en piteux état!


What kind of floor do you have and what would you suggest?

Alors, quel type de sol avait vous chez vous et que recommanderiez-vous?

 See you soon,

A bientôt,

I'm sharing with:

      "OPEN HOUSE" is posted on THURSDAY           

27 comments:

  1. Dear Cinderella! What a sweet post, you have an amazing sense of humour Magali. I personally love the authentic terracotta tiles. Have a lovely weekend and some hand cream for your hard working hands. Ann

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  2. How cute! What a job! Once you get the tile clean, there is a grout sealer. It will take awhile to do all the lines because of the surface area, but it will last awhile. It lets the water on the grout line bead instead of soaking in.

    We got rid of the disgusting carpet. It was at least forty years old. We also got rid of the tile, because although it was white it was all stained and chipped similar to what you described.

    We wanted hand-scraped wood, but the person handling the order messed it up, and she then told us it would be much more and not the price marked, so we told her to forget about it, because we had not signed a contract.

    Afterwards, we researched the significance of the floors, and decided we should do our best to restore the concrete and renovate others. I still miss the wood sometimes, because I have had in all my former homes, but I know what I have is charming, and it looks good with my furniture, so I am going to live with it.

    It is so much work!!! Isn't it?

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  3. Our house in Brittany had three different types of floor. Tiles, from Leroy Merlin, in the kitchen and s.a.m, wood in the hallway and salon, and the luxury of carepts through the bedrooms. Will email you a photo.

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  4. Wide plank wood floors; warm, gorgeous, easy to clean :)

    S
    xo

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  5. I think some type of wood floors and maybe tile in the kitchen area....good luck as you sure deserve it! Would love to have you join Open House!

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  6. Alors, il est venu ce prince avec des gants ? parce que si ce n'est pas le cas, je vais essayer de t'en trouver !

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  7. Are you whistling while you work? I love wide plank floors. Definitely my favorite.
    Hugs,
    Laura

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  8. That sounds like so much work! Sorry about the flood invading your home. I too, love the wide wood plank floors. So cottagy and farmhouse!!

    Judy

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  9. Oh my, I have been scrubbing my floors also, I have a lovely tile, but every once in a while it need to have a really good scrubbing. I think I would have tile everywhere or maybe hardwood, just no carpet. I really dislike my carpet most of all. Hugs, marty

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  10. Oh, I chuckled when I read your sweet post! When we moved into our townhouse, the downstairs had a cheap sheet vinyl in the kitchen and dining areas. The living area had some beat-up laminate wood flooring.We ripped all that out. What we put down in our lower level are vinyl wood look planks that "float" over the subfloor in a locking system. I do love the look of wood, but the price was out of our budget. We are very happy with our flooring. It is super easy to keep clean, and thy look great against our white walls and woodwork.

    The upstairs and the stairs themselves have some newer carpet that was installed before we moved in. We will be taking that out in the future and installing oak treads on the stairs and recarpeting the two bedrooms and hallway with quality carpet. We do like the warmth of that during our cold Minnesota winters!

    Do you need to stick with tile because of the earth below your slab? I have had white tile before and it is a dog to keep clean! Perhaps something in a terra cotta tone?

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  11. je suis une fan des carrelages qui imitent les parquets surtout dans les tons gris. je trouve ça très beau et surtout facile d'entretien pour des pièces de passage comme le salon.
    Emmanuelle

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    Replies
    1. C'est un peu "the best of both worlds" cette solution: le chic du parquet et la facilité d'entretien du carrelage!

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  12. Le choix du sol est tellement délicat , il y a tellement de choix & la mode passe telement vite que je crois qu'il faut rester chic & classique.....................oui mais quel chic & classique , tout n'est qu'une question de goût ..............Tout ça pour dire que je ne saurais dire ce qu'il faut ou ne faut pas poser comme sol .
    Bises . Babette
    J'ai vraiment l'impression d'avoir raconté n'importe quoi , tant pis , j'assume .

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    Replies
    1. En fait, je suis assez d'accord, le sol n'est pas quelque chose que l'on change tous les quatre matins, du coup, choisir quelque chose de classique et intemporel me semble un excellent conseil!

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  13. Reclaimed barn wood floors!!!
    Perfectly rustic for your little white house by the seaside :)
    Have a good day Cinderlla!
    XOX

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  14. Made me giggle this afternoon. :)

    I love our old hardwood floors. Can you get reclaimed hardwood near you? I think that would be very fitting in your cottage (and it's usually very affordable). And staining and sealing them wouldn't be any more work than scrubbing your current floor is!

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    Replies
    1. I would love my cottage to have had original hardwood floors, but it's not the kind of cottage that would have that. I've admired your floor on your blog...

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  15. Oh I love flooring. We went with hardwood flooring throughout our house on the main floor, kitchen and all. I have never regretted that decision. I would love to see a wide plank flooring in your place Magali. It would be perfect!! Well, in my mind it would. :)

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  16. We are a hardwood floor house with a bit of carpet here and there and ceramic tile in the bathrooms. Easy to maintain is what is important to me.
    xoxo Michelle. thebashfulnest.blogspot.com

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  17. Floors are always difficult for me because whatever you decide to do, you need to make sure you can live with them for a long while! I like tile, wood, and sometimes carpeting but am not a fan of wall-to-wall, rather a good tile or wood floor with area carpets. So much easier to replace, and so much more affordable.

    From what I've seen of your blog & home, I think whatever you choose it will be perfect and classic, yet cozy.

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  18. So funny! I love wide planked wood floors. I have skinny pine wood floors--I love them :) Thank you for sharing this at Rustic Restorations Weekend!

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  19. Wood, wood, wood. I find ceramic tile very tiring to stand on for prolonged time like in a kitchen. My mother had ceramic tile all through her small house and not only did it cause an echo, when I visited for 2 weeks my hips started to hurt from the sheer hardness. Jo @ Let's Face the Music

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  20. I was singing the song the minute I read the post title. We have hardwood floors mostly. I like them, but we need to have them replaced. The contractors who put them in did a terrible job and now they are out of business. Our bathrooms have tile and from time to time I also clean them one tile at a time to get them really nice and clean.

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