Round About Way...Back To The Beginning.

Our kitchen is a far cry from where it started from.

It never ceases to amaze me what a little paint can do.

However, this is not a tale of back patting. It is more of a cautionary tale.

Before we moved into the house we were working night and day to try to get as much done as we could. We wanted it to be nice when we moved in.

I worked on the kitchen for probably about a week off and on. We meticulously primed, taped and painted every square. It looked pretty and clean.

I knew that we were running out of time and I still needed to apply an acrylic topcoat to protect it. One night, before leaving for the night, I decided to just do it...real quick.

Real quick.

Oh how I regretted that. I used a roller and rolled that acrylic on. I saw in the first little bit, that it was creating tiny little bubbles but I didn't think that it would matter in the long run. 

The next day I put a second coat on, the same way. I needed to have the acrylic have 7 days to harden before we were supposed to put stuff on it and I was at 6 days. Desperate times.

If there is one thing that I have learned, it is this:

A rushed job is never as good as you would hope it would be.

Those tiny little bubbles eventually popped. (Not that you could tell.) But...over time dirt collected in those tiny little holes and no matter how much I washed the floor I couldn't make it look new again.

(The bottom half of the picture is how the floor looked--kind of speckled. The top is where I sanded it smooth.)

One day I walked into the kitchen with my sander and got to sanding my pretty floor paint off. It was not quick work, I knew it wouldn't be. Thankfully, I have stubbornness on my side.

Then I taped off a section of our floor, and barricaded the entry, so that little feet wouldn't walk were I didn't want them too.

Since my love affair with oil based paint is still strong, I decided to use that, and save myself an acrylic topcoat. With only one coat on a few squares, I knew that I had made a good choice.

Painting a kitchen floor when you are still trying to use the kitchen is a tricky business. Each coat takes 1 day to dry, and each color gets 2 coats each. That takes 4 days for each section to be finished.

When I removed the tape from the first section I was so so so happy. It was shiny and smooth and lovely.

The floor painting was not without its setbacks. I managed to put my hand in the paint one day, and Blake stepped in the paint on numerous occasions.

When a lot of the floor was done, I went back and left little tape sections on the floor to help me remember where to touch up.

It was about 1 1/2 weeks from start to finish, and a few meals that didn't require much effort. I made a conscious effort to go slow and make it nice, no matter how many times I just wanted it "Done!".

Take it from me. Taking your time yields better results.

Want some before and afters?

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

For anyone that is curious...we have lived in the house for 6 months and the painted floor has been great! If given the option, I would recommend a painted floor in a heartbeat.