I'm a hardwood floors gal all the way. I love the rich colors and patterns that come from natural wood, and there's just something about a good game of sock hockey in the kitchen that gets me every time. Yet I'll admit --- it's sometimes tricky to clean hardwood floors. After all, how do you reach those cracks and crevices between the planks?

Turns out that if you follow a few ground rules, you'll have shiny, gleaming wood floors worthy of a palace. Ready for the tips, straight from our friends at ShelterPop?:

1. Sweep wood floors twice weekly with a soft, fine bristle broom. Avoid hard brooms as they may scratch the surface of your wood.
2. Vacuum twice monthly to remove dirt, sand and other small particles. Use a soft brush attachment to minimize any scratching from the vacuum's wheels.
3. Because water is one of a wood floor's worst enemies, get rid of water right away! Remove wet spills as soon as possible with soft towels or a wet/dry vacuum, then dry thoroughly. Be sure to dry cracks between the planks with a napkin-covered toothpick for heavily soiled areas.
4. Use a very well wrung-out, damp mop when mopping polyurethaned wood floors as excess water can seep into seams and ruin a wood floor.
5. Some floors may require periodic waxing and buffing. Get recommendations from your floor's manufacturer for the specific procedures for your floor, and be sure to avoid using harsh chemicals when cleaning.

Your clean hardwood floors will gleam in no time!

Boring flooring is one of my personal pet peeves. It's as if I'm walking into a space with white walls and no drama whatsoever. Why not jazz up your normal flooring with a few coats of paint? Our friends at ShelterPop wrote about the benefits of white flooring last week, and we couldn't agree more.

White not quite your thing? Take a cue from Maryam and her daughter Skylar and paint your floor with a concrete base and pattern for a lovely lace effect. You can purchase the pattern the pair used right here for $199, or create your own with a sheet of plastic, Xacto knife and some creativity!

The project requires a bit of patience and attention to detail, but the result is so worth it. You'll have the coolest floors on the block!

But please, be careful. If not, you may just end up in our Messy Paint Mishaps gallery!

If you've been reading DIY Life for a while, you know that I really love my Roomba. Well, now my loyalties are divided because I recently met Roomba's floor-washing cousin, the Scooba.

For the uninitiated, Roombas and Scoobas are robots that vacuum and wash your floor, respectively. I was skeptical that either device would do a particularly good job, but I'm happy to have been proven wrong. To keep my Scooba happily cleaning my floors for a long time, I baby it just like I do my Roomba. If you've got a Scooba, here's how to keep it in tip-top shape.

Green flooring reduces damage to the environment and avoids the toxins that other flooring might expose you to. Building green is increasing in popularity and DIY'ers are among the pioneers in this area.

Here are 6 earth friendly flooring materials. The article Green Floors: Six materials to have underfoot outlines these flooring materials and offers important facts to consider when choosing a flooring product.

Here's a quick DIY fix to get your deposit back when you move out of wood floored rental property or if you've invited everyone and their cousins over for a big party and realized that your wood floors look like ...well, you know. I came up with and have used this technique upon moving out of our last two rentals with great success. With this low cost, quick and genuine method, there'll be no need to completely refinish a gently worn wood floor by sanding and applying several coats finish just to get your money back (which would probably cost as much or more than your damage deposit in the first place).

All you need for this project is a small can of clear polyurethane (I prefer semi-gloss, but gloss could be appropriate too), a pair or two of nitrile gloves (I keep them stocked in the kitchen for handling meats), some clean smooth rags (that you will throw away), and your favorite mop (with a clean head). keeping a can of mineral spirits on hand is a good idea but hopefully you won't have to use it. A quart of polyurethane should be more than enough to do a two bedroom apartment with wood floors throughout.

Have you ever left IKEA wondering where you're going to fit all the fabulous things you just bought? Well, they've gone ahead and taken care of that for you too. IKEA just sold their first ever flat-pack houses. The first 60 timber framed houses were released at one of their UK stores yesterday.

The average person in the UK needs a mortgage 5 times their annual salary to enter the housing market. I know most Canadian cities are just as restrictive and I don't believe things are any different in the US either. The houses are very affordable and designed specifically for average income families (there is an income cap).

These houses have been named the BoKlok series, which translates literally to Live Smart. IKEA stays true to their smart use of space and clean design. They are all equipped with IKEA kitchens, bathrooms and wood floors. You can't do all the work yourself, the developer will have to put it up, but that will leave you with time to assemble all the IKEA furniture you buy with the gift certificate they give you for housewarming!

What will they come up with next?!

[via Digg]

In Gary's post about increasing your homes sale value he recommends making sure that your floors are clean. He stresses the good impression this creates, and I totally agree. It doesn't matter if you're gearing up for a sale, or looking to better enjoy the space you have, refinishing your hardwood floors is a fabulous way to being a little luxury to your room.

Finishing or re-finishing a hardwood floor isn't the daunting task you might think. With some careful planning and diligent attention to detail you could take on this DIY refinishing project. There are important details in each step so be sure to check out the site for full instructions. Here's a summary of the steps: