Greening Gumview

Since we have a heavy traffic kitchen (back door opens to it) and we don’t particularly want to redo the floor in a few years, we are using Bona Mega plus a Bona sealer.  To buy this, we go to the Tom Duffy store in Santa Rosa.

http://www.tomduffy.com/

You may have seen those interesting floors at REI – floors that look like mulch pressed into a floor.  We decided to use that in our house; we like how it looks, it adds interest in, it looks like mulch (which we loved) and because it uses scap, it is quite environmentally sound.  Plus, it is inexpensive, and will serve as a great subfloor if we ever upgrade.  We used Bona for sealing our OSB (originated strand board) floors .

We loved how it turned out.  Eventually, we might get cork floors, but in the meantime, who can beat $10/a sq foot for flooring (OSB plus sanding/sealing expenses!)   A little about the very environmentally friendly sealing system we chose after some research:

Bona – Our Journey.

via Prediction 2010: Granite Countertops Are So Last Decade – Fine Homebuilding.

Julia Child on countertops:

fireater writes: Funny, no one has talked about the “ideal” material for counter tops. Over the years, several famous chefs have been asked about the best material for counters. Never has granite been among the chosen materials. All have demanded different materials for different areas. Julia Child had 4 materials: stainless or soapstone for sink and surrounds for toughness and easy cleaning, tile next to stove for hot pans, marble for pastry preparation area, and butcher block for the island. Granite looks best in magazines and in kitchens where no actual cooking is done. I’ll take soapstone and butcher block for my kitchen.