A Pattern Match

The discovery of a patch of historic linoleum led to the re-creation of an 1890s-style floor, using paint and vinyl.

- Brian D. Coleman

ABOVE (from left) Laura Brosius, Faith Brown, and Christy Mather gather around the found linoleum sample on the finished floor, with the vinyl stickers and other tools they used. OPPOSITE The kitchen fits the beautifully restored Queen Anne house built in 1892.

Old houses often conceal secrets, sometimes good ones.

Laura and Michael Brosius were restoring their 1892 Queen Anne house when they uncovered a two-foot-square section of original linoleum under a later subfloor. The couple quickly realized the pattern could set the tone for the new periodcorrect kitchen they envisioned.

But how to go about it? The design-a grid of gold squares on an earthy green ground with dark-green accents-was too complex to reproduce using inlays of modern materials. After a consultation with Gwen Jones of Ariel Grace Design, the couple ordered samples of a similar pattern in resilient flooring, but the color and quality were not quite right. Ultimately, they went with a third option: painting the old pattern on the existing floor.

Mike and Laura had been working with faux-finish painter Christy Mather in other parts of the house and asked her to try her hand with the flooring pattern.

She made a sample board from leftover fir flooring, perfectly matching the Aesthetic green and gold of the Victorian-era linoleum. Then Mather and decorative painter Faith Brown experimented with hand stenciling; they decided that reproducing the pattern using that method would be too difficult over such a large area. Brown had experience with decal printing; she suggested using vinyl stickers that could be laid in a grid.