apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I JUST ripped up this tile in my place and I'm trying to restore the hardwood under it. It was all shades of yellow though (maybe it wasn't always though?). Funny to see it here.

Oh my gosh! We had this same linoleum in a house I lived in as a kid. It went well with our dark fake wood panelling and avocado green appliances. Thanks for the memories!

I can find that repeat in a second, it's the exact flooring we had in my childhood home. My mom and dad just ripped it out 3 YEARS AGO!! My mom had "harvest gold" appliances to go with it.

Plus ca change...

Angie -- my folks too, the appliances and the floor. They ripped it out 10 years ago and replaced with hardwood :) Gotta love 1973 tract homes in the "colonial" style. By the way, it wasn't linoleum; it was vinyl. If it was linoleum, I would have had them save it since it's more eco-friendly.

That's the same flooring we had in the house I grew up. Flooring was placed down circa 1981.
I remember Christmas Eve day my parents would spend rewaxing the floor before family came over.

My parents had that flooring in their kitchen until maybe 10-15 years ago when they remodeled, and my grandmother still has it! We had the yellow version in the bathroom adjoining the kitchen with the red, so it matched!

That said, my dream linoleum is still the big black and white squares (1950's diner, I mean you).

we just tore up the yellow version of this a few months ago. my aunt used to have it when i was a kid. fond memories though that calls to mind, the crap in our house will probably live on in my nightmares. they GLUED it to hardwood floors! for shame, for shame...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2192/2092824434_89d0f6a13d_b.jpg

When I was a child, I hated these colors. And while I would never use this tile in my own home, or keep it if it was already there, I find myself staring at it, almost missing it. Oh nostalgia, you just kill me sometimes.

Anne in Reno, ditto my friend. I lust after the big black and white squares.

My grandma's kitchen had this on the floor!

Double ditto to Anne in Reno. Black and white squares always look great, and never look dated.

Erin, Do you have any tips for getting all the glue off? Sanding didn't get it all. So we are using elbow grease and scraping it off little by little....................

Yup, this was my childhood kitchen floor too! We also had a "textured" harvest gold refrigerator.

Please take note that the flooring you are referring to is, in all probability, VINYL flooring, not linoleum. Linoleum is a type of flooring which comes in rolls or tiles (less common) and is made of natural, biodegradable products (linseed oil, pigments, resins, etc) and is quite matte. It has been around for over a century, is quite thick with a jute backing and has an excellent lifespan. Vinyl was created much later on to mimic the look of linoleum, but is synthetic, shiny, made up of thin layers (if you gouge it with a knife, you'll see the layer beneath - usually black or white), and much more cost-effective. As anything synthetic, it can be easily manipulated and motifs can be embedded in it (hence your "mosaic tile" pattern) and is usually quite shiny. Vinyl composite tile (the speckly colorful stuff you find in schools and other commercial spaces) is a linoleum look-alike which requires a lot of waxing to be shiny.

Also, lino doesn't usually come with motifs or patterns (as a designer, I have never seen it anyway), but you can create patterns with it.

I bring this up because I find I usually have to spend a long time explaining the difference between these products to clients and feel that the distinction should be made, especially in these increasingly eco-conscious times.