(re-post)
(re-post from Feb 11 2009)
The upholstery material I put down in the hallway several months ago "to see what would happen……" has proven a success and I plan to tweak it as an acceptance of being no longer an "experiment".
Taking up the carpeting in the hall did not reveal the lovely fir flooring of the living room: glued down tiles and mis-matched painted wood was not pleasant to look at or care for or walk upon or – like!
For the first winter I cut a gorgeous felted rug made in the mountains of the European region where my ancestors lived and used this as flooring in the hall. It worked well but when spring came I wanted bare floors that could be easily cleaned.
I have lived in countries where housekeeping involves a daily sweeping of the floors out open doors and that experience of such simplicity appeals to my nature and sense of health and well being to the extent that I want to mimic it as much as possible.
The question of what to put on the hall floor was hovering in the back of my mind while browsing in the fabric section of Capital Iron and motivated by having tried two rolls of a wooden bamboo runner purchased in China Town which were too short and too narrow and looked very nice but inadequate. I happened to glance at the upholstery material in Capital Iron that looks like leather. I could 'see' it along that hallway!
How it would wear would only be known once it was – well, 'worn'. Furniture gets traffic of a different kind than foot (mostly!) but I decided to risk the $100 cost and bought an adequate amount.
It was installed quite easily and quickly – I laid it on the floor with a bit of newspaper padding put down first over the rougher spots on the floor but in retrospect I don't think this was necessary and part of the tweaking will be to remove the newspaper. It is a good upholstery material and has a backing.
It looks soft and natural and friendly. It dry mops or sweeps easily. A damp mop cleans it easily. It is warm to walk upon. There is no sign of wear from the amount of 'traffic' I give it.
I repeated the process in part of the office area with another piece of upholstery material and put a sheet of heavy gauge plastic over it in front of the computer where my chair rolls back and forth. This is working as well but needs further tweaking as the material was a garage sale find with lines from being folded.
It also amuses me to think that I could, if so inclined, suddenly take up my floor and make a garment from it!