Just because our house is “off limits” while the floors are being refinished, doesn’t mean we can’t talk about what’s going on over there. In the comments section of Wednesday’s post, we mentioned how our floor guy is “water popping” the floor. A few of you asked what that meant, so here we are to give you the rundown…

When we decided on Dark Walnut (far left), we told Frank, our awesome floor guy, we wanted it somewhat darker than the sample. Basically, we love the tone of Dark Walnut, but we wanted it to saturate the wood a bit more. Frank’s answer? Water popping!

Water popping, also called grain popping, is when you evenly dampen the sanded wood with water to make the grain contrast more with the wood around it, making the floor “pop”. Time for some geeky science content! Even after the tree is dead, some of the wood’s basic functions continue to work. The basic function we’re interested in is how the wood’s cells expand upon contact with water. When you dampen the wood, its cells swell slightly to draw in the moisture.  This allows the wood to absorb more stain, which results in a darker, richer finished product. Water popping is especially helpful when applying dark stain to lighter-colored wood (like our floors).

Here is a nifty demonstration from Russet Street Reno (who were brave enough to tackle floor finishing, unlike us!). The left side is espresso stain on a piece of freshly sanded pine. The right side was dampened with water prior to applying the stain:

As you can see, the right side of this piece of wood is much more saturated with stain than the left. To read more about Russet Street Reno’s water popping experience, check it out here.

This process, and floor staining in general, is definitely not in our “DIY comfort zone” at the moment, so we left this project up to the professionals. However, if any of you out there are brave enough to conquer this type of project on your own, here are some tips from the National Wood Flooring Association. (Who knew there was such a thing?!):

• Before attempting to use the water popping technique on a floor, do a test on a sample board. The key to successful water popping is controlling the amount of water applied to the wood and the amount of time the wood needs to dry before applying the stain. Measure the moisture content before water popping to establish the baseline moisture content, and then test to see how long it takes for the wood to return to its original moisture content.
• The effect of water popping will vary, depending on the amount of water used, the length of time it’s allowed to dry, the species of wood, and the type and color of stain to be applied.
• Record the moisture content of the wood flooring before water popping. The wood must be allowed to dry completely and the flooring must return to the correct moisture content before proceeding with finish application.

So that’s what is going on behind closed doors at our place. We are so anxious to see the finished product and how water popping enhanced our stain of choice! In the meantime, we’re going to go take a sneak peek in the window.

Experiment photo courtesy of Russet Street Reno.

For this week’s edition of Etsy Thursday, we are talking art! There are hundreds upon hundreds of amazing artist who sell their original art on Etsy. I could spend all week clicking through the inspiring pieces and still not have seen all they have to offer. No exaggeration. A major perk about purchasing art from Etsy is it’s a great way to get some original art for your home without breaking the bank.

I love the Williamsbuilding Prints from Live From Brooklyn. They are super simple but oozing with charm and style. These would look great hanging in a series in a foyer or utility room. Actually, I might just have to snag a few of these myself! The awesome price makes them that much more tempting (3 prints for $10!). If you can’t get enough of these prints, bring them into your kitchen with their flour sack towels.

Artist Marc Johns was referred to me by Etsy via Twitter. I’m so glad they did because I am officially his newest fan! True story. His work is witty and whimsical and it was very difficult to pick a favorite from his collection. Since my mom has often deemed me a “bag hoarder” (and I must say, there is some truth to that), I’d thought we’d feature this print: Deluxe Carrying Case for an Ampersand. Love it.

Greg and I love nothing more than quiet nights at home with take out and a good movie. So it only seems natural that I’ve been eyeing this Let’s Stay Home print by Ashley G for the past couple weeks. I love the colors paired with the simple font. We’re toying with the idea of using it as the “color inspiration” for our master bedroom. I think these colors along with our espresso furniture, slate walls and all white bedding will create a calming room that we will enjoy… all thanks for Ashley G. : )

And that’s this week’s edition of Etsy Thursday! Next week, we will be showcasing some of our favorite last minute Thanksgiving decorations. ‘Tis the season!

Do you have a favorite Etsy seller? Let us know in the comments section or shoot us an email!

7th House on the Left does not accept payment or perks for anything in our Etsy Thursday features. We simply have an obsession with Etsy that we want to share with everyone : )

Once in a while, there is that one item that makes you go, “I must have that!” You know what I’m talking about; keeping the website open on the corner of you computer screen for hours on end, copying and pasting the photo to see what it would look like with other favorite furniture pieces or maybe you are one of those who print it out and put it on the fridge.

Well, I’m feeling that particular kind of love for the new Gate rug from Dwell Studio…

Before we take the plunge and click the “add to cart” button, we want to make sure the rug will be the right dimensions for the living room. And as we mentioned yesterday, we can’t set foot into the house until next week. So, in the mean time, I will continue to visit the Dwell Studio website regularly to say “hello” and tell her (yes, it’s a her) how excited we are about adding her to the family. Yeah, I’m odd like that.