Little Red Cottage Flooring

My daughter turned four last week. I took a day off work to get things ready for her birthday party. After the party "aftermath" we had a day to play. The kids played with their own things. Eric played video games. Haley played with her new Lalaloopsy toys. And I had the itch to work on the red cottage. 

Sometime in the past year, I bought a sheet of Southern pine random plank flooring. I measured, then cut out the piece for the bottom floor, aiming to be a little big. Then after many little tweaks, I decided it was just right.

I ran to the garage and got out four cans of stain to test on the scrap piece.  Golden Pecan was the winner. I also tried Sedona Red, Golden Oak, and Chestnut. I gave it a coat of satin polyurethane as well.  I did the floor finishing steps outside the house so I wouldn't have any way to slop stain or finish onto the wallpaper. I can be messy that way. I let it dry before gluing it into the house. I used tacky glue and heavy cookbooks to hold it nice and flat.

For the upstairs landing, I resorted to my stash of scrapbooking papers. Nestled in a pack of Close To My Heart papers, was this little gem that looked like lace on a gray background. DING DING DING, we had a winner!

I measured and cut out a sample piece from a brown bag first, to make sure it was right.  Then after making sure it was good, I cut out the actual paper.

I used wall paper paste applied to the wood floor with a sponge brush. When you do this, apply one edge, making sure it's lined up just right, then slowly lay the rest over in a rolling motion.  Press down.

It bubbled up and tried to do weird things, but I have experience with this. A blast of hot air from my hair blow-drier helped it dry so the paper shrank back to where it belonged and stayed glued down.

Then the kids wanted to paint something. Haley had little ceramic leaf that was a birthday present, so they painted it together.

Now, the next thing I need to work on for this cottage is the baseboard molding and window trim. I have been in a very crafty mood lately so I think I will be coming up in the very near future!