I concur with apple pie, investigate your options with respect to refinishing. If not I able consider replacing with 1'x3' cork plank or wide plank wood flooring.

First, I love your house! I agree with apple-pie, find a professional that is familiar with cork and see about restoring what you have. If that is not possible I would put down another cork floor. I just put down cork in my 65 year old house and love it! Think about using seagrass on the stairs, it looks really great in stair applications and plays well with cork, wood, tile,and carpet.

Travertine is very durable tile and beautiful comes in many colors or you can also restore the floor u have if u want to do it yourself rent a sander it's a very large machine but easy to use then restrain then add heavy coats with polyurethane you can always add rugs I think it is just up to your personal preference and budget

wow what a great space

I would do the refinishing of the vertical wood before the floors!

nothing like the cork, however you could go with quarter sawn white oak

I would not go wtih any tile or stone if you want the mood to be that of the cork, as the harder materials will change that

Cork is very appropriate for a midcentury home, so if it was mine, I'd stick to it, either restored or new.

I think some of the bamboo floors also can enhance and be consistant with the midcentury home thinking. I just don't think it was in a state of option during the the mid twentieth century. I could be wrong, however, going with cork would probably be my first choice.. Staying consistent to the true style in a home as you have is important.

we initially thought to replace with new cork as well - restoration is not an option unfortunately - but when we brought the new samples in, they just don't look right.

we are actually considering a grey-toned hard wood.

Thoughts on that?

Do you know you can paint cork flooring?

I found this on the internet:
Use a high quality 2-part epoxy paint. The newer floor paints have excellent adhesion, are durable and hard and are resistant to water and chemicals. They are very flexible and colour-fast and are resistant to UV radiation. The paints are able to take quite a pounding too, resisting shocks of up to 500 pounds / square inch. They are resistant to chemical invasion and can be applied in a single coat. What's more, they come in a large variety of different pleasing-to-the-eye colours.

Love your home! I would go with new cork since you can't restore the old. I think you'll be surprised with the options in the newer cork nowadays, plus they have better protective finishes too. I think your knees will appreciate it.

Don't forget to order UV window film to help stop this happening to the new looting too !

Haha ! That should say flooring not looting !!! Thank you iPad !!!

Envious. What a lovely house! The 1x3 cork is great.

JudyG, love the idea of epoxy painting the cork tiles. Would they end up smooth, or would they have some kind of texture? Also, any color suggestions for our space?

I think I would refinish the floor it is still very pretty and honestly not that hard to do my husband and I laid stained and sealed our floor in one weekend and they do have products that are protective and increase the life of your floor and we stayed well within our budget.

GREAT house. Gotta vote for hardwood.

I like the idea of painting your floors upstairs and down. Economical option, plus it extends life of existing floor. I painted my basement concrete floor 15 years ago with a Sherwin Williams marine paint and it has held up beautifully.

I was wondering if you have tried murffey soap it's designed to clean and also bring life to the floor I also read that even with painting you still have to sand so something you may think about you will have to stay with the painted color for a long time I vote the room is so beautiful I wouldn't want to cover (try Murphy soap in a are before u make any long term dession

The issue with the cork is that the coating is very damaged by sun / age, so i don't think Murphy's soap would help there. Also, there are areas there were patched with laminate which is quite ugly. Painting seemed to us like a way to fairly cheaply freshen up the house while we live in the space and get an opportunity to really understand what we want to do.

The cork tiles are only 1/8 inch think, so i think refinishing options may be quite limited.

have you asked about painting

have a floor finisher to the house to make suggestions, tell him via the phone that you would like a consult and will pay to find his ideas....I would guess only some paints would work....others would create issues

Yes, without having done in-depth investigation, our concern was that if sanding is needed, the option may not be as cheap as we had initially thought.
Also, would we be committing a design faux-pas with regards to the style of the house.

why not clean the floor and enjoy the house as it is, collect some $$$$$, and do something when you not not dollar driven, dont send good dollars on a temporary fix

Well, there are areas in really bad shape (see attached), so a little cosmetic face-lift may help.
We are also open to a re-do but want to get it right. So many choices seem a little overwhelming... hardwood, engineered, light / dark, grey / red / yellow, paint, epoxy, carpet, etc....

You might like this website: http://www.corkfloor.com/tiles.html

I agree with Gary are the areas to large to cover with rug,furniture etc get bucks together then replace the floor this will give u time to evaluate all odds and budget

I think you can use the existing damaged cork floor as an underlayment for a floating engineered hardwood floor. The old cork with insulate as well as being a sound barrier. If you feel the wood paneling and wood floor are too much you could replace the wood paneling with sheetrock or simply paint the wood paneling. A prefinished hardwood floor can hold up to the UV rays of the sun better than cork.

Thanks Engrav's Decorating. Would you have any color / wood recommendations to fit the style of the house?

A natural maple floor would be a nice neutral for the dark fireplace and also look good with the paneling if you keep it the same.

If you go with natural maple come back with med to dark color for furniture do you have a beautiful layered look of lights med and darks setting each other off.

Hi cfromati, if you want to look at hardwood floors for color inspiration, here's a link to a wide range: http://www.hullforest.com/browse-species-c-1_17_27.html
These are mill-direct wide plank solid wood floors and they are available prefinished or unfinished. We can also do custom sorts (for all blonde maple, for example) instead of a heartwood/sapwood mix, so if you don't see something you like, just ask. Best of luck with your project.

I agree with hazeldazel, the cork looks great and is consistent with the era of the house. it's also a little more distinctive and unusual than hardwood. Why not use it again?

We used cork in this kitchen remodel of a mid-century modern house by well known Seattle architect Paul Hayden Kirk.

Thanks!

Rick

You have a lot of cork. Yes remove all downstairs. I would go med to lite color wood. Stair case carpet match to wood color. Low pile. I would carry that to all up stairs landings and bedrooms. Carpet nicer up stairs. Could put right over cork with padding. Paint whole house same color a dove gray would look good. I see shutter type doors, can they go? Keep window covers very simple. Love the wood color up stairs leave that. It looks good. Even light isn't bad. Looks very 1960 s

Also reface fireplace. With a stack stone in gray tones. It's looks dirty.

Remove heavy drapes . Replace with color close to walls.

I see now paneling is. Darker and worn. You can sand down in spots then put a light stain to refinish. Best to get pro for that. You didn't show kitchen?

Yes all paneling needs to be stained, but stay in same color. Looks good. I hope piano goes?

No comment on the floors, drapes, etc, but just have to say - love your house!!

My favorite for mid-century floors right now is the Slimtech line from LEA Ceramiche. The tiles are super-thin, strong, and gorgeous.

I like the Slimtech. Would love to see in person in the Chicago area.
Also, evaluating new ideas, what are peoples thoughts on epoxy floors, or linoleum to go with the style?

I think you might be tired of hearing this, but cork tiles would simply be the best for so many reasons. Your knees, your children who drop things, sound insulation, and last but not least, it's perfectly suited to your wonderful midcentury home. There are hundreds upon hundreds of cork tiles out there, so just because the first ones didn't work, don't give up.

If it seems like too many decisions all at once, take them one at a time. First decide what you want for the paneling. That will help clear some of the flooring confusion regarding color.

There will definitely be a tile showroom in Chicago that carries LEA products, and can get Slimtech if they don't already have it. I got samples from the US distributor directly, and they were wonderful to work with. I only had to pay the freight.

cfromati, if you were to paint the floors, I would consider white and your walls a stronger color. Maybe paint the brick white, also.

Cork is a great product...soft, quiet...

mati, you have a very nice space! A light solid maple hardwood would look very nice.

Are you wanting to keep the mid-century character of your lovely home? If so, I would evaluate these suggestions and keep the ones that are consistent with that goal and throw out the ones that are not-and a few are not.

If you opt to go with the blond maple floor, go for the all-blond--it was de rigeur in mid-century modern--no heartwood, sapwood, or rustic. And you could probably locate some mason in Chicago area who could either powerwash your brick with muriatic acid or sandblast it to clean it to look like new...

A beautiful way to bring the paneling back to it's original beauty and patina is with a 50-50 mix of boiled linseed oil & turpentine. You have to make sure it is Boiled linseed oil, though, and not just linseed oil. The more expensive route is tung oil, but with the vast amount of paneling you have there, I would go the more economical route. It is amazing how it works.

Oops, forgot, it takes a lot of elbow grease, too...