Tuesday, December 27, 2005

It Ain't No Krohn's

..but it's all mine.

I've been holding out. I have a quasi-conservatory of my own, our sunroom. It is nothing fancy, just a screened (and glassed) in porch facing south. I've stuffed it with tender plants and hung more vegetation, birdcages, and lights from the ceiling. I have a comfy chair for leafing thorugh gardening books and a fountain for ambience. So, if I have this beautiful space of my own, why don't I just cloister myself in there when the winter blues strike?

I actually do spend quite a bit of time in the sunroom in the spring and fall. I love having my morning tea while basking in the early sunshine. In the winter, though, the room is just too cool. (The space isn't heated and hovers around 45.)

The other thing that keeps me from using the room more is the hideous peach walls and the decrepit flooring. The walls were evidently covered in the same paint the previous owners used in the dining room. I am REALLY not a fan of peach paint, but I don't know what color to replace it with. White? I'd like to keep this room as bright as possible.

The floor is layers upon layers of mess. Because the original gray carpet and jute rug had gotten wet (and begun to smell), I removed and trashed them shortly after moving in. Beneath the carpet were red and green linoleum tiles. They are mostly intact, but the few that are missing reveal a concrete floor below. My original plan was to tile the floor with "real" tiles, but I was stymied by the curved, concrete corners where the floor meets the wall. I next considered using more peel and stick flexible tiles, but found a better solution online: painting the concrete floor to look like tile. (This can look really sharp and, best of all, you can find "tiles" in any color!)

What are your suggestions for the walls and floor? My color scheme is dark green and blue. Will white walls be too bland? Should I paint the trim cobalt blue? Does anyone have experience painting concrete floors? There's no hurry on this project. (I'm not looking forward to moving all of those plants!) I'm just percolating ideas inside my head. It will never be as nice as Krohn's, but at least I can get rid of the eyesores!

7 Comments:

Blogger Jenn said...

Walls - I'm fond of the effect of a Tuscany sort of amber color on walls.

Not sure this will be as 'light' as I know you want it, but it really warms up a room, even on a cold day.

I've got a similar room - much less attactive - stuffed full of overwintering pond plants and perennials that can only tolerate zone six or seven winters. Mine hovers around freezing all winter, and is 'heated' by the heat diffusing from the standing freezer motor, said freezer also adding to the 'charm' of this space... but function, it functions!

7:49 AM  
Blogger Litcritter said...

Our living room is a great, sunny yellow, and it is such a bright space!

8:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We painted our concrete basement floor after it flooded last year. We had to pull out thick, thick, THICK Berber and padding the previous owners had installed. In a basement. That's been known to get wet.

Anyway...enough of my problems. It was pretty darn easy. In fact, the hardest part was trying to keep our cat off of it while it dried. You can find garage and/or basement floor paint at most big box stores, but I seem to remember Lowe's having a slightly better selection. We used a single color, but I think it would be easy to use several for a faux tile effect.

9:12 AM  
Blogger Sylvana said...

I own rental properties and really don't like white, but I like to keep the walls bright so I use a color called Moonshine. It is a pale, barely there yellow that brightens without over-powering a room. Maybe that would work?

7:27 PM  
Blogger Jenn said...

Sylvana - Who makes that paint? I'd like to check out the color!

5:52 AM  
Blogger K said...

Ooh, I like the idea of painted concrete floors. I'm not a fan of white walls normally, but in a small, bright space - especially with a colorful floor - I think it would be just fine. Or a pale taupe or yellow maybe.

10:35 AM  
Blogger Sylvana said...

I get Pittsburg Paint. It is supposed to stick to the wall better, wash easier, and keep it's color longer.

7:44 PM  

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