Before and After Day...

I have been working on the floors today. I got out the red mahogany stain for the bedroom floors. I saw it sitting on the table by Tessie's zebra chairs. My weird little brain started connecting the dots....Or chairs and stain. I have never liked the light brown plastic look of the wood on these chairs.

They are cast resin that I got at Pic 'n' Sav years ago. The casting is great. The color is icky. I decided to do something about it. I went after the "wood" part with stain and a small brush. Minutes later, I had the chair on the right. Now all I have to do is sit and stare at it whilst it dries....a couple of hours or a couple of days?

I decided that the tile part of the floor is the part that is going to be seen most. If you click the photo, you can see what a difference mounting it on illustration board and going over the grout lines with a stylus makes. The left side is unlined and the right side has been gone over with a small stylus. Now the whole thing will be glued in place in the trailer.


Zar and Tessie are pessimistic about the floors. They do look pretty bad in the before photo...

I am using some of the raw bamboo place mats that I bought a couple of months ago.

I find it easier to cut and stain them before I take off the strings that hold them together. I ran them through the micro lux saw at the length that I wanted them. Then I just stained the whole piece that I cut. I wasn't sure how the bamboo was going to take the stain. It did well.

As soon as I got the stain on, I released the slats from the strings to make sure that the wood underneath was stained too. It was.

I am leaving the floor rustic looking. After all, it is mostly going to be under the bed.

If you use the bamboo slats, be sure to note that one side is more rounded than the other. I used them flat side up. Rounded down.

After I got them on the floor, I weighted them with a heavy book, over some wax paper.

It came out pretty good.

Did you notice that Tessie changed aprons? This is to signify that the zebra chairs match her apron and they are still hers. She is fearful that Zar will want to keep them for the trailer.

Zar didn't tell her that he was getting all new furniture for his trailer....He, in turn, is worried about her stealing his, when she finds out....

I have to get back to work now. I still have the living room floor to do.

See you tomorrow.