DIY carpet sample flooring

Heidi and Jon's weekend 'free' carpet installation.

Jon's offices are moving to a new location in Portland which means they've been purging stock piles of old product samples. He works for an architectural firm that specializes in 'Environments for Health' hospital and assisted living facilities. Part of their client services is to offer custom tailored interior boards that feature flooring, wall coverings, paint and trim samples. Instead of unloading the leftover commercial carpet samples he brought them home with a Memorial Day weekend den remodel in mind.

Commercial carpet samples have heavyweight rubber backing, making them ideal for high traffic areas.

Since the day we moved into this home we've loathed the dark blue shaggy nylon carpet in our TV room. Six years later we were still living with it. The one redeeming quality is that it hid the kids and dogs spills and messes. On the other hand the navy color showed every stray thread and fiber from my sewing and felting projects.

You can change the appearance of two of the same patterned titles by simply orienting them in a different direction.

The worst part of this project was discovering that the floor underlayment needed replacing under the old carpet pad. Once we got through taking it out and installing a new one, the actual placement of the tiles was quick and easy. I camped out on the floor sticking the two foot square tiles in place with a double sided flooring tape (easily found at a hardware store). Jon devised an effective cutting strategy, he clamped either end of the carpet square between a straight cutting edge and cutting board. This secured the tile so that it stayed in place while he trimmed it to size with a utility knife. We worked from one side of the room, one row at a time across to the other side. If necessary it'll be easy to pull up a square and replace it with a new one. It took two hours to cover our 10.8 x 11.8 room.

The purple paint went on the night before it's Martha Stewart 'Lavender Verbena' and works well with the yellow, orange, and aqua colors in the adjoining rooms. What brought me the most satisfaction was finally printing Celia's baby pictures and getting then up on the walls alongside her brothers. We missed a day on the beach and in the workshop working on lobsters but it was nice to relax on the couch and enjoy the room watching Shrek with Celia.

Please check out my book Craftcycle for more recycled home decorating ideas.

Happy 40th Earth Day!

To celebrate the Earth Day I'm giving away a signed copy of my Craftcycle book to a lucky winner. This book was a labor of love, it's filled with craft ideas, recipes, and green living tips. A random winner will be selected from my blog followers, please post a comment here to let me know you're interested. I'm loading up my chip purse and heading out the door to teach teens how to fold a java wristband, Good luck!

Thanks for all the wonderful comments! Wish I could give you all a copy, Amanda W. you're the lucky winner!

Green Bling, Java Bracelet - Free Tutorial

With Earth Day around the corner, there's no time like the present to get crafting with recyclable materials. The Chip Wrapper Purse is one of the most popular projects in my Craftcycle book. Unfortunately many crafters don't have the time to commit to making the whole purse. I decided to pare the project down to it's gum wrapper bracelet roots. This way you can try out the technique and be able to wear your new creation in about an hour.

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Congratulations Julie Brown!

Celia drew a name out of the hat and Julie is the lucky winner of Craftcycle! Just in time for the holidays there's still time to make some quick gifts from the book. Thank you to the friends who stopped by and posted comments I love hearing from you.

I've been crafting up a storm this weekend, check back in a day or so to see images of hedgehogs cat and dog softies along with some brand new miniature paintings.

Free Craftcycle Book giveaway!

Please leave a comment here or become one of my first followers.

I'll pick a random lucky winner on Friday November 27th, 2009.

Happy Thanksgiving and good luck!

Inside Craftcycle, you will find a mix of over 100 ideas for crafts, recipes, sustainable living ideas and construction projects - all organized by season to offer year-round green living. Within each chapter, there are larger projects to build, quick crafts to complete using basic materials or recycled items, seasonally appropriate tips, and recipes using seasonal ingredients. Detailed diagrams accompany the larger-scale projects, while the basic crafts feature step by step photographs and illustrations, making them accessible for the entire family.

Mycraftivity is offering a great deal on my latest book.

http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000029424843

Podcast of last nights blog radio interview and discussion about Craftcycle with Tiffany Windsor.

Inspired at Home Podcast Archives

http://www.inspiredathome.com/radio/podcasts.htm