So, about the floor...

I mused more on the idea of a pallet floor yesterday.  The main problems being: collecting enough pallets to actually generate the needed amount of planks, the taking apart of all of those pallets, and most importantly the fact that most won't be an equal thinkness requiring planing and sanding as well as getting them all to stay put (since they won't be tongue and groove).  I'm not sure face nailing will keep the planks from cupping up in areas where the dog (or the people) might bring in more water on their feet.

So I got to thinking about inexpensive white pine floors.  The problem is, they would look rather...new.  I know they wouldn't stay "perfect" looking long, since pine is so soft, but they would have that light pine color that just wouldn't match the Cottage and might look weird with the ceiling in the living room.

And then I researched old fashioned stains.  I alread figured on using linseed or tung (or a mix of them) oil as a sealer.  So I wanted a similarly toxin free option to make my new floors look old (er).  After looking about, I found this blog about coffee staining and distressing: http://pumpkinpiepainter.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-coffee-stained-chain-beaten-wooden.html with this final photo as the result (ok, so it's not a floor, but same idea)

Not bad, huh?  I also know that iron can leave darker stains (think of old nails in wood) so I am thinking of doing a base coffee stain with bits of iron left on it to darken some areas-or just put some steel wool in vinegar and brush it on after letting it sit.

The flooring might not be settled, but one thing is for sure, when it is, it will be unique and it won't look new or perfect!  Exactly how we like it here at the Eclectic Cottage.

Kitchen dilemma

Now that the great stove search is finally over (the great stove CLEANING, however, has only just begun), I am in search of the ultimate functional kitchen eye candy.  I wanted to wait just in case I happened to find a stove that wasn't white, so it would match.  But now, it's time...as soon as I decide on a color.  It's time to get me a Kitchenaid mixer!  Well, maybe not RIGHT now, but once I decide on a color, I can start bargin hunting my new mixer.  While I really would LOVE the look of a 3c or 4c in green, I wanted to find a newer one because we have our own t-shirt making business and I figured we could create a new line of decals for them.  The older ones are drool worthy, but since they are different in dimentions and style, I need a new (er) one for a template.

My dilemma is this: it seems no one around here carries them in the colors, just white, and I can't decide on which color I want.  I don't mind white, but as you can see from previous posts of my kitchen, it's rather monochromatic (if natural wood can be considered as such).  I want some COLOR!  I know I want either Apple Green or Pistachio.  It's just really hard to decide without seeing them.  I *think* Pistachio is "the" color, but I don't want it to be too washed out.  We have a great vintage Hamilton Beach milkshake maker that I'd like to match to, at least somewhat.

So that's my new kitchen dilemma, now that the stove has been found.  After that, it will be the fridge.  That will be quite a trip as well, I'm sure.  I'm leaning towards whatever one we find with the amazingly cool lazy susan style shelves (how on earth did that not catch on?!), but I've seen some nice ones without that option too.  And of course, we've got size restrictions, although since the refrigerators of that era were smaller than those of today, it should be as much of an issue as when I was stove hunting (if size didn't matter, I'd be looking for a Kelvinator Food-A-Rama, the first side by side).