Reply
Tue 8 May, 2007 10:28 am
I'm looking for some unusual solutions to routine problems.
I don't want carpet or rugs but I do want something soft. I'm thinking something like that rubber sports court material.
Can that be bought in small quantities? Does it have to have a special kind of installation? Can it be used indoors? Does it have to be permanently affixed to the floor or can it be "floated" on the existing floor?
And, we ripped out the closet to make the room, well, roomier, and we will be putting bunk beds where the closet was. The walls are kind of cruddy and we thought we would cover them with something instead of just painting them.
I suggested chalkboard paint which Mr. B vetoed because the walls are kind of cruddy. So I suggested cork which Mr. B vetoed because we are trying to allergy proof the room and he thought cork might get yukky. So we're kind of thinking erasable marker board.
Can that be bought in big sheets -- like sheetrock size sheets?
These ideas are not set hard and fast but I would like to solve these two design problems quickly and I am open to all kinds of ideas -- goofy and traditional.
One other quick question for someone who knows something about paint....
I saw a trading spaces kids episode where they painted the walls with some paint from Home Depot. They painted the top half one color and the bottom half another color and the colors blended where they overlapped. I would love to know how they did that. (FYI: the unmixed areas of paint didn't have to be gone over with a second coat to keep the color true and where they mixed together they created a cool fade in effect.)
Thanks for any help or suggestions you can offer!
I'm all about the cork flooring/wall covering concept - particularly because of allergies.
Quote: In addition, they are a natural product, environmentally friendly, and produced from a renewable resource (bark of cork oak tree when peeled does not damage the tree). Cork flooring is antistatic, sound absorbing, insulating (both heat and cold), and a relief for those with allergies.
link
http://www.greenhome.com/products/home_improvement/flooring/
(other than allergies - I like the idea that you can treat cork in so many ways)
I like cork flooring too but we really don't want anything hard (or we would just do wood -- since that's Mr. B business it doesn't cost us much to do wood) or anything we have to be very careful with.
Mo and the gang can be pretty destructive.
Could you put that on the walls? Would it work at all like a cork board where you could stick things on it? I like cork because it absorbs sound!!!
could it have been stain on the wall (semi transparent)?
I just stained my walkway this weekend, and where the colors overlapped it is darker or lighter, just depending.
In fact, I'm delighted with the look, but think the colors are too bright, so I'm on my way to Lowe's in a minute to have them take the 2nd color and add some brown, to tone it down. Then, I'll lightly sponge it over the whole affair, so it'll be a combo of 2 original colors, and a merging where they were melded anyway.
I'll have to send Mr. B that info on cork and allergies. He nixed cork walls because he was afraid that they would get musty/moldy making things worse. I think we need to revisit that idea!
Maybe it was some kind of stain, Chai, or glaze. Certainly not regular paint. I'll have to look into that. Thanks!
And if you're going to use chalkboard paint on a surface, the surface needs to be pretty smooth.
I made an art table with the stuff, but didn't sand the surface fine enough.
Define "cruddy walls." Drywall? Can you spackle it to smooth it up?
Mo got sent to the principal's office for fighting today.
I'm thinking of scraping all our plans and going for early dungeon instead.
<sigh>
Boomer--
Do not despair. Summer is a-cummin' in.
Kids grow in the summer--physically and emotionally.
Remember, Mo doesn't glory in being a Bad Boy. He tries to be good--and he's a kid who can accomplish what he tries to do.
Hold your dominion.
Funny you should mention despair....
Thank you, Noddy.
Those floor tiles are cool even though the colors are pretty awful. A black and white checkerboard might be fun. I'll have to measure to see if something like that could work. Thanks DrewDad.
Boomer--
He didn't bite the teacher's aid or the principal.
Home Depot has this artificial grass - cheap and soft.
For the walls, you could go halfway for bamboo.
Rubber smells terribly, and if allergies are an issue, don't even
consider this. Rubber = chemicals pure.
I have just about NO sense of smell...
and hadn't heard about rubber and allergies. I've asthma and haven't noticed that. Will check it out.
I've found the smell of cork boards to be an irritant for my allergies too.
It's possible that is due to varnish or other coating and not the cork itself.
Boomer
Boomer, I suspect they used a clear glaze where the two colors met. By blending the glaze with the two colors while they are still wet, you can blend the colors together with very light soft brush strokes as far as you wish.
Flooring info:
http://www.greenhomeguide.com/index.php/knowhow/entry/803/
BBB
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace