To refinish my 1950's Florida terrazzo floors or not...
Linda
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I am in a quandary as to what to do. I need to replace my carpet but underneath the carpet in half the house (no terrazzo in the two room additions) is a terrazzo floor that doesn't go at all with my decor that I have now which means new paint and probably new furniture due to the styles not working that I can see. But besides this, the living room opens into the dining and family rooms (the blue rooms in the photos) which are the rooms that don't have it, so I would have to put carpet there, but not sure how that would look and even what color to get. Also, I remodeled my galley kitchen a few years back and put white tile over it as it was just too dark for such a small space, so then I would have 3 different surfaces. I want to to keep my coral and Ming green bathroom, but that is for another thread. Would love any help or suggestions as to what to do with the rest of the house. Will attach a close-up of the terrazzo ( it is light and dark grey, white, pinkish-coral and turquoise) and the rooms that are causing the problem.
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Comments (19)
Amy Stanley
10 years agoLinda
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Should I paint 1950s maple cabinets white?
Comments (41)I'll answer first and then read the other posts. Pretty sure that you don't want to hear this, but I wouldn't be so quick to paint the cabinets and rip out the counters, especially not to get another "creamy white with granite or butcher block" (a look which I love, BTW). Once you've painted, there's no return without lots of work, not to mention how much work it'll be to do a decent paint job. I'd paint the walls (probably off white) and add vinyl floor tiles with a checker pattern or some checks n for starters. You have this cool booth, and I'd play that up. I love, love turquoise and would pick more shades of turquoise in accessories and also in that booth (white and a watery aqua, for example, or add a coral to the mix). Oh, and I'd get different window treatments. Lastly, if you remove that one wall cabinet, could you add a hood? Of course, it depends on what you like and what the rest of your house looks like. More info on the link below. Looks like they actually stripped their white cabinets to get the maples back. Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen remodel...See More1950's boomerang bathroom- Resale question
Comments (23)I had two older homes. 1100 sq feet, 1000 sq feet with small bathrooms. The homes were in very good location, but dated and not exactly what people were looking for; i.e. vaulted ceilings, large bathrooms, large kitchen. - I gutted all four bathrooms myself. Hammer, wrecking bar, boxes I got from the local supermarket. I was messy but not so difficult. - The first bathroom I used Lowes/Home Depot tiles on the shower/bathroom walls, floor to the bathroom. Then a wainscoat and big dramatic chair rail above it. This bathroom was a real show stopper and the realtor loved it. - I hired a guy to put up the tile work, plumber installed the new shower head, pipes, drain. About 1,000 dollars total. - I set the new toilet, vanity, light fixture, sink, painted everything myself. - All done for about 2k and a few weekends, nights. - Second bathroom had a tub, so I just gutted the walls, floor, new tile, vanity, toilet, drywall, cement board etc. Paid for plumber, tile guy. 2k done. Second Home - Same deal, gut myself, kept the old tube that had a nick in it. Bought the repair paint at lowes, and special cleaning spray. Shined up perfect. New vanity, tile, lights, toilet etc..tile guy installed tile on floor and around the tub. I put in the chair rain, wainscoat, painted. Looked great. Last bathroom was the best. Went to tile shop and found a big selection and quality of tile. They were great and this shower turned out perfect. I hated to sell the house because this bathroom was so nice. It sold the house. large floor tiles, all around the shower, installed vent fan because it never had one. This bathroom was 3k because of the better tile, but it sold the house. I think a good price range with you doing some of the messy work is about 3k-5k depending on what you keep and what you replace. Checking craigslist you can find tile, vanity, light fixtures or go to the salvage stores etc... Bathrooms were a big selling point for those homes. Just look online for tile ideas etc...then copy what you see. I think hiring a good tile guy is best because it is harder than you might think and they know the tricks etc. Putting up the cement board in the shower/bathroom stall hire a guy that knows how to make it square. It's important for the tile guy. Looking back, I enjoyed the remodel and learned a lot about it. I live in a newer home down and have a few bad tiles in the bathroom, but I won't do any major remodeling. I think you can do it for a lot less than 15k. Good Luck!...See Moreterrazzo floors at my MCM rental
Comments (17)1961 is MOST CERTAINLY MCM. Think Mad Men. My house was built in 1966 and is MCM...where it wasn't mucked with. ANd lazygardens has the perfect wording. You might want to check out the Retro Renovation blog. It will give you a feel for what you can do! I've linked the homepage below. Here is a link that might be useful: Retro Renovation--Love the home you're in!...See MoreRetro/Vintage 1950s/1960s style kitchens?
Comments (49)Oh ! MY then you would love to have my kitchen , I started retroing it the minute the landlord told me to go for it ,and then when she told me the age of the house , I loved it even more , it's a 1920's Sears Craftsman home ,I love the the huge cabnets not, alot of space but I like it , it's still has the sink comeing out of the wall and of course the same windows with the weight in side, so far I stubled on a 1945 Gafflers and Staller stove , pressure wash it and got all the grills and stuff cleaned and the only thing I haven't gotten to yet is finding a clock for it , i've been all over the antique store's lucky me I live in Orange County and the orange circle is just brimming with retro items, on the mirowave I simply bought a red one from Target like 60 bucks and a red coffee pot, if you have any good wills in your area hit them up , cause alot of estate things go there , I've painted my kitchen red and yellow , took the rather large drawers and took some paint remover , and some elbow grease and a paint gun which just melts the paint off , painted them red and found some little rooster decals that I put on , went to the 99 store and food some checkered red and white contact paper and put them in the drawer some plactic deviders to . Because I'm into both the retro, feista and the older pyrex , you know the different colored one with the little lids, i found scores of them in the goodwill nd also the different color pyrex bowl set , for a grand total of five bucks ,it's got a door to that leads to the laundry room , so i took out the old glass and put some screen wear the glass was and painted the door red and then found some red and white checked curtains and it looks super , even still has those old looks with the knob to open the door , I'm still trying to find the perfect frigerator , I saw one on one ad and fell in love it's a kelvanator foodarama (SP). Know i have the Idea to pull up the linolim (SP) and see what he wood looks like, maybe sand it and do the red and white checker board my self or be lazy and find the red and white checker board myself , as for the kitchen counters I hate them the tile , but i want to go for the old soda pop look , red linolem , so far. as for the arctiure of the the house it's soild and and i love the wood detailing so i'm just going to get out my magic eraser and clean , the walls do need paint has a few cracks bit i figure to paint the walls a camel color so the cracks will give off a shadow , if you go to the 99 cent store you with find alot of red if that's your color and the good will you would be amazed , I found and old ceder wood cabnits that hold plates and glasses and I store my pyrex and feista wear in there , also at the good will I found not one but 9 chrome toaster with the cloth cord for 99 cents apiece still in the box to took them home shined up a little ,put them up on ebay for 50;00 a piece and all sold except the one I kept and still use , I don't know if alot of folks go to the good will but you can find lots of stuff , I'm fixin to paint my 1945 stove red , like i said i live in what i call antique town , I just got the universal knobs to the stove , because it has the stove on one side and the broiler on the other and has the griddle in the middle , I guess the floors are pretty stonge cause that thing took 4 good sized men to get in my kitchen oh and of course , i found some old cambells soup and vegatable ad that came out of the time life magazines painted some black frames and put them on the wall above the stove , I will have to take a picture although not all toghether yet I still love my kithen even if it is in the works. Take care...See MoreAmy Stanley
10 years agolast modified: 10 years ago
Sarah Shellman
3 years ago
remodelsoon
2 years agoRobin Derdzinski
2 years ago
PROJoseph Corlett, LLC
2 years agoRobin Derdzinski
2 years agoRobin Derdzinski
2 years agommc429
2 years agoheltsley
2 years agommc429
2 years ago
Robin Derdzinski
2 years agoI had 2 different Terrazzo restoration experts come and look after we had all the tile removed. Unfortunately both of them concluded that mine were too damaged to restore. We were very disappointed. There were large areas of what looked like a jackhammer had been used. Thousands of divot’s as well as damage from what must’ve been carpet at one time. We ended up using porcelain plank tile throughout the house and are very pleased with it. I’m a strong believer in saving what can be restored, so we would have if it had been possible. Anyway, these are now our floors.
Linda
2 years agoLinda
last yearlast modified: last yearSo, this post is 8 years old, and I still have done nothing to/about my terrazzo as I am still unsure especially since I may have to sell my home in a couple of years due to my location being on the lower part of our island and my home on a slab. Sigh...
But with that said, a little update as I have been remiss. First, I am still glad I uncovered the terrazzo as it's still in pretty good shape, and since I repainted the living room area and reupholstered my two chairs last year with the couch being done this summer, and my Healitor fireplace FINALLY being redone this fall, I really am happy with the end result which has taken me these 8 years to get to, for I truly procrastinated on the fireplace project as the paintable wallpaper I had bought to cover the front of it was a decade old, for the receipt was still wrapped around it! 😝 But WALLPAPER you may ask? Yes, as the front was those 60s-70s mirrors glued on the metal front casing, so I first sanded them, then primed them with shellac, and then wallpapered over them. After 48 hours, I painted it a shade darker than my walls to match the exterior door and Then I painted the fake brick and the black screen, and added trim underneath the mantle. For a $48 investment (and a lot of patience), it looks like night and day, does it not? And it flows nicely into my still blue dining room as all the trim, shelving, and doors are now a bright white.
So that is that!
Robin Derdzinski
9 months agoRobin Derdzinski
9 months ago
S M
9 months ago
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