How I Became A Bowling Ball Today

I love craigslist because here's what I got to do today!

Yep, that's me on top of a bowling alley out in a field!

I guess you'd like the back story.  We've decided to remodel our crumbling kitchen.  Yikes!  I know.  I'd rather not need to because it's impossible to ignore all the materials that go into a project like this... and come out from the last remodel that happened in 1994.  We know that because it is printed on the bottom of our counter top.  Our old counter top that is.  Take a look at that beautiful bowling alley lane up there.  You're looking at our next kitchen counter.  One day in the not so distant future that will be in my new "old" kitchen!  I know!  Awesome, right?

I had this crazy idea to have reclaimed gymnasium floors in our kitchen, which led me to the idea of having bowling alley floors.  Well, did you know that bowling alley lanes are more than 2 inches thick?  It makes sense but I had no idea.  Clearly, that would be way more work than I could do.  Then I thought, "hmmm... what about counters?"  And the idea started to grow.

This week, I found some old bowling alley lanes for sale on craigslist and with a lot of help from an amazing, adventurous, and uber-green friend, two 10 feet sections are sitting in my garage right now!  Yes, she's that cool!  And now I know that her husband is equally as cool because he's really the one who did all the work.  He hooked up the trailer to his monster truck, packed the cab with people, and drove us around for 7 hours. Oh, yeah, and loaded and unloaded these babies!  He's the only one smart enough to wear gloves.

Who knew bowling alley lanes were so heavy??

Yep, all that for bowling alleys... that I don't even know how to turn into counters.  I'm pretty sure I've never "built" anything before.  Ever!  Nothing like starting big, I guess.

I love that new life is being given to these old lanes.  The guy I bought them from said the bowling alley has been closed since 1992.  I'm surprised how great they look after 20 years of being ignored. 

Oh, and before you ask, I know almost as little about bowling as I do about counter tops.  The bowling alley in my hometown was hit by an airplane when I was a kid.  Regardless, I'm pretty sure I'm going to start learning a lot more about bowling or at least bowling alleys!

Now does anyone know how I can get my hands on any old high school gym floors?  I'd love to hear some ideas for flooring or any other reclaimed products in your home.

Peace,

Stacey