I Was Introduced to this Idea by Accident .... Watching a TV Show!
Safety Flooring with Style
The TV Show featured a family preparing to cover their gorgeous hardwood floors with safer hardwood look-a-like interlocking foam tiles.
When they opened the box and started pulling out the pieces, I was impressed by how closely the color matched the actual hardwood floors in their home.
After seeing it completely placed over top of their real hardwood, I was convinced I missed out when my kids were young! What a fantastic safety solution for kids without compromising design style!
These safety floors did not detract from their stunning decor. The playroom looked like any one of the other main rooms in the home, except it was filled with toys.
Choose Interlocking Foam Floor Tiles that Match Your Existing Flooring
You can find light, dark, grey, black and more colors of hardwood look-a-like foam flooring. When you've spent a great deal of time and money decorating a room, foam tiles help to maintain the look and structure of your space while simultaneously serving as a safety feature.
Given the growing number of people caught in the 'sandwich generation' (those caring for both kids and seniors at the same time), safety flooring can certainly go a long way as an investment. Best of all, when you're finished needing it, simply remove it.
We're no longer limited choosing those multi-colored ABC interlocking foam floors for protection and safety; now we have this incredibly practical look-a-like hardwood foam as an option.
You can read more about Interlocking Foam Floors here at Funkthishouse.com. by Barbara Tremblay Cipak Owner, Funkthishouse.com
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
How to Clean Grout - A Review of the Products & Methods We Used
The best way we found to clean grout was to paint and seal it. Forget trying to scrub the dirt out of the grout lines 'til your arms fall off. We used this Colorfast Grout Colorant. You'll see some before and after pictures of our kitchen floor.
We've tried a few different ways to clean the grout on our ceramic floors - We've used a steamer (maybe you've seen that method advertised on the shopping channel) and we've even gotten down on our hands and knees and tried to bleach out those ugly dark lines with a toothbrush!
Guess what, both the steamer method and the hard-labor scrubbing method worked as well, but not even close to what this product did for our floors. Make sure you look at the before and after picture so you can see the final result.
Our kitchen tile floor was white, but the grout that was originally used by the builder of our house (19 years ago), was a light greyish color. I've never really liked that look - you know, where you see square
Here is our kitchen floor - Before on the left,
on the right, After
tiles defined by grout lines that essentially make the tiles appear to be checkered on the floor.
After researching numerous product options for cleaning our grout, my husband decided to give this tile grout paint/sealer a try. It was a wise choice!
He selected the white grout colorant and carefully followed the instructions that came with the product. He put the colorant directly on the light grey grout but prepped the tile grout first according to the instructions. He put two coats, and applied it until the color of the tile grout was nice and white and clean looking. Note: you may not need two coats, we just decided to do it.
Also, we had a couple of chips in the white tile squares, and we HATED the look of that! So instead of going the route of replacing tiles, he simply dabbed the chipped areas with this grout paint.
Our plan is to eventually do a full kitchen renovation, but in the meantime we wanted to do something that would give our kitchen a bit of a clean facelift....because we really didn't like those dark lines!
It also seals the grout at the same time, so that dirt and grime have a harder time penetrating the surface and thus dirtying it up again! We've had it on our floors now for four months and it still looks great.
I'm not naive enough to think that this grout paint and sealer will last forever, and I'm sure at some point my husband will have to do a reapplication...but...so far so good - and YES my house has a lot of traffic - 6 people! (four boys!)
So, if you decide to go this route to clean your tile floor grout, just be sure you select the color you want and follow the directions on the package.
A Heavy Duty Steamer
If you would rather use a steamer to clean your tile grout,here's the floor steamer we've actually used - This can be used for so many other things as well - We've steamed the mattresses, the floors, tile grout, draperies, and even used it to steam the carpets in our car. It works very well, but it won't change the color of your grout - it will simply get the dirt out.
ADDED BONUS TIP:
When you use a grout colorant that is close in color to the overall color of the actual tile, it aids in the tile appearing more like one-continuous-piece.
In a smaller space, having tiles appear as individual squares can contribute to the room seeming even smaller. So the more you're able to get the floor to look as though it flows as one piece, the better for size impression. by Barbara Tremblay Cipak Funkthishouse.com
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
Seven years ago I bought a new home that was about 70 percent complete.Part of the 30 percent that remained to be finished included flooring in two
bedrooms, the upstairs loft, a half bath, pantry, laundry room, and
stairwell.To make the house
immediately livable, I put in some flooring that was trendy at the time.I figured if a product passed the Divine Design test of my HGTV guru, Candice
Olson, it was certainly more than worthy of installation in my home.
I’m still happy with most of the flooring I installed, but I have since
rescued a dog.Anyone who has
cared for larger dogs knows they can be hard on flooring.The area that has taken a beating is the stairwell landing where Toby likes
to hang out by a picture window that gives him a place to keep an eye on
what’s happening in our world.I
need to install a tougher material that can take heavy traffic.
Having decided on tile, since my animals love to soak up the sun in front of
that window, I have been researching DIY options.How I love to come across web pages that show an innovative home improvement
product in action.There are
many websites pushing products, but few that are exceptional when it comes to
demonstrating an actual installation.I appreciate a how-to presentation that is honest in sharing what went right
as well as lessons learned.
Here’s one of the best Squidoo lenses I found.KateHon demos a fabulous floating tile
flooring option while sharing before and after photos of a bathroom
renovation.I can see myself
installing this tile floor in my home.How about you?
Have you published a home improvement product review? If so, stop by and
let me know. I hope to feature your work. You can find me at
Home Renovation Central and "Do or Di DIY."
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
