Once the floor to our future den was partly removed to allow electrical wires to run through newly electrified sections of Pardy House we knew the old pine plank floors in that room, or what was left of them, would have to be covered over with something new. By now we want to spend less on any unplanned alterations to the original plan since the budget is tightening, and we are not going to be going over. What to put down? We have a white desk for this room already ordered in and what a desk it is. This creamy white and distressed painted desk has a built in filing cabinet and wired so that no wire needs be seen once we put in place our home computer.
We looked around Bonavista at all sorts of flooring options but the one that surprised me the most was engineered hardwood and laminate flooring! I never would have imagined even considering such materials, being the flooring snob that I am. I always thought of flooring as something which had to be natural, organic, and warm.
Well, durability, practicality, esthetics and ease of installation pulled us into the word of manmade wood and wood look-a-like floors. Leann, I think we crossed over to the dark side where floor purists don't dare venture.
Almost like a dream state, I didn't even know what we had done until we were dropping out new boxes of laminate flooring of to Pardy House an hour or two later. But what floor it turned out to be. As soon as I removed to grey, white washed ash finish of our new laminate flooring I knew we made the smart choice both in price and esthetics.
Laminate flooring is extremely resistant to scratches and scoffs, great with kids and pets (the kids of our house). One of the other great perks of laminate flooring is that it can master the art of imitation---- wood, stone, or tile flooring can all be created, though to us the textured wood finishes are most convincing. This, along with its ability to withstand small amounts of surface moisture, makes laminate an option in any room and we now have our first!
When it comes to installation, laminate flooring is much easier to install than wood flooring and often can be installed without the assistance of a professional, though we used one for about 30 minutes for this project. Laminate pieces like ours simply latch together easily without the need of adhesives.
Finally we spent less than expected on something. This grey ash floor only cost us about $120 for materials and another $80ish for instillation. And as you can see from the photos they look really good, a modern touch in our cozy French cottage.
