We have lived here at Sweetwater for 23 years!
We still refer to this as our “new” house even though we have lived here longer than any other house….go figure!
After we moved in, it took about three years for Mr. S to finish off the lower level!
One part of the project was the creation of my dream craft room.

Imagine being able to start from bare concrete walls and floors and turn it into the best space ever!

We were on a pretty tight budget….so choosing a flooring option was kind of a daunting task.
The floor needed to be really really tough!
It needed to be easy to care for.
It needed to be pretty!
It really needed to be CHEAP!

The floor needed to be as tough as the floors in all those classrooms I had worked in over the years!  (well…..there was that ONE carpeted classroom…but that is a horror story for another day!)
Oh wait!  We could just use the same material as is used in school rooms everywhere!

The secret to the way the floor looks is using the same professional sealer and polish that the school custodians use!
In fact…..the first two times that we finished the floors…..the custodian at my school “LEANT” me the stuff!  Don’t turn me in….but I guess you could…I am retired now!

Fast forward to this week!  The floors hadn’t been stripped and polished for about 10 years.
They had taken some hard knocks over those years….not to mention the dirt!

We rented a floor stripper from the rental store…

Using the machine and a lot of good old fashioned hands and knees scrubbing…..

The spots of paint, dirt and grub in both the craft room and the storage room were GONE!

The tiles may be inexpensive….but the floor sealer and finish is NOT!
This is what we used…..but hey….we have enough left to do the project again in 10 years 🙂