I was browsing through one of my favorite magazine websites, Coastal Living, and found this picture:
What’s the first thing you notice in this picture? My guess is that it’s either the funky looking coffee table or the painted floors. Thanks to Thumper’s mom, I don’t have anything to say about the table. The painted floors are another story.
My first thought was… “That is SO EASY!” I just marvel at the fact that something so simple can look so pretty but is so rarely done! I guess it’s the maintenance factor. I almost never dance on the hood of my truck because it gets scratched when I do (and dented). So maybe that’s why people don’t like painted floors?
But who cares about a few scratches? It adds character! And, if you put on a couple of extra coats of paint, and you REALLY let it cure before walking on it, you won’t find it to be all that easy to scratch anyway. Think of the color options! It gets me all tingly.
So, if you’re thinking of a new floor and you want to think outside the box, you might want to consider a painted wood floor. You can be creative with the material you choose and you can let your budget dictate. No rule is written that says you can’t buy a sheet of 1/4″ plywood or maybe even hardboard and rip it into strips for flooring.
I might give it a try myself one O’ these days!
BTW – For your original members of The Crew, I’m still here! I’m glad you are too! Thanks! 🙂
What color are you thinking? Which room?
How funny for your timing. God so knows what I need and I thank you for writing it for me! I painted my daughter’s room a couple of weeks ago and for the first time I didn’t punt, but actually used a plastic drop cloth and tape and everything. What a disaster. The paint spilled first thing on the plastic and we tracked it all over the plastic and onto the floor so much that the floor now needs some serious attention. The upside is that nobody is clamoring for me to help them paint now.
This floor project is going to be interesting. So I don’t need a varnish or topcoat over the paint, like you do with fingernail polish?
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Oh, I love the painted floor!!!
I would love wide plank floors in the kitchen painted a dark sage with a creamy white island 🙂 I’m all for a few scratches. It adds charm!
Have a great weekend:)
any thoughts on painting subfloor? i hate my dirty carpet in my bedroom every time i walk in there!
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I’m going to paint my kitchen floor. Currently we have snap and lock wood floors that – IMO – weren’t installed well. The finish is wearing off, too. I think this is the PERFECT opportunity to turn them into something beautiful. (I hope!) My plan is to do a checkerboard pattern using large (18″) squares of cream and tan. I’m really nervous, because I’ve never done anything like this before, but I figure, I can just keep repainting until I get it right. Right?
As always, I love the blog!
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I love, love, love Coastal Living & that floor is gorgeous!!!
It reminds me of your cool stained deck/side porch re-do.
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Second mention of painted floors I’ve seen this week- LOVE it!
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My bedroom has a purple painted floor. My hallway is painted black. My 2 guestrooms are shiny off-white, like on a boat. and my sun porch is painted squa and black tile-like. 🙂
I like colors! 🙂
Our house is on a slab. All the sub flooring is concrete. We need to take up the old carpet. Is there a product that can be slathered over the not so smoothed out concrete that would make acceptable flooring ? We will start in the main bath & if it works out I would like to use this method in the kitchen/dining/living area, a hallway & a utility/bath area. Although in the kitchen & utility/bath area is vinyl flooring that will have to be peeled off.
I for one, am very glad you are still here remodeling guy!!
xoxox,
mom (from Denver)
Oh I LOVE the turquoise floor! That would definitely be a way to add a nice bit of pizazz to a room. Alas, we have wall-to-wall carpeting over here..but I have a hunch that the floors underneath are hardwood. Maybe one of these years we will tear up a bit and take a peek underneath. 🙂 I don’t know how my hubby would like a turquoise floor..although, he is pretty daring 🙂
Glad to see you are still blogging RG!
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We painted floors in two of our rooms this month, and I love the shine. (Though I am fully expecting scratches, gouges, and another coat of paint in a year or so.)
It only cost $40 for 2 rooms, 2 coats of paint over unprimed subfloor. You can see the photos on my blog this week.
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Remodeling Guy, you rock. I’ve been looking at painted floors all week. I almost tried painting the subfloor, but Hubby put his foot down (right on the nasty old carpeting…) Anyway, I’d feel confident if you’d tell me how to get the look in the Coastal Living picture over my plywood subfloor…..
Glad to see you again, BTW…
Hi Tim! Good to see a new post. I was just browsing through your old posts today looking at that wall mounted sliding door.
Hope things have settled down a bit for you.
Kristen
I guess I’m just a country girl at heart because I’ve always loved painted floors. My personal favorites that I’ve seen in pictures are ones that are done in wide stripes and/or checker board patterns. As for colors I lean towards soft golden tans and off white!
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I love the look of painted floors! And you’re right – I think a few dents and small scratches add character!
Great post – and what a great picture!
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We painted the floor of our tree house with garage paint over plywood and it’s still looks like new 3 years later.
Love the pictures you shared.
Happy Day
I painted the dining room and hallway floors in our last house. They were hardwood floors and were badly damaged by water when we took up the carpet. I used the floor paint and painters tape to make a border or “area rug” design. It worked well. It did scratch some, but I would do it again in a similar situation!
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i’m about to paint the entire 2nd floor of a home we just bought! i saw an article in TOH about doing checkerboard pattern, but i’m math deficient. i’m thinking off white & light blue- then i can do colors on the walls & furniture! can’t wait to get started- i have to wait until the remodeling is done & the dust settles…
Incidentally, I’m going to pull up the carpet in the living room that my toddlers have trashed. And it’s installed over wood floors that were sprayed white (very crap job) and I don’t think I can kick the kids out of the house long enough to sand off the white, stain, seal & allow the floors to dry. So I’ve been considering just painting the floors. And how much of a seal would I have to put on it & how long to let it cure?
Help me, Tim!
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I also want to know how LONG to let it cure! And I’m thinking about my new upstairs bathroom that has a wooden floor that is currently painted brown – it seems like a more attractive color could be found for it! Like blue, or sand-color or green, really anything!
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Ok, I’m a dork to comment right after myself, but I wanted to link to my post about my “new” kitchen floor. Not painted, but stained and I LOVE it! But I bet painting would be easier in lots of cases! And just as attractive.
Abbie’s last blog post..My new-old oak kitchen floor
You can initially try this on more affordable wood to see the result. I think the paint will tear easily if you like to rearrange your furniture a lot.
Nicely done Abbie!
Hello Tim, this is the first time I’ve responded to one of your blogs, although I find them very interesting and a bit funny!
We live in Minnesota and the weather is bad here for carpets. We are going to pull up all carpets (the former owner had carpet in the main bathroom!) and replace them with that laminated wood-like floor. We have one floor that doesn’t have anything on the subfloor so that is a toss-up as what to do with it. During the summer when you walk barefoot on the carpet it is so damp you leave big footprints. The humidity ir alive and well here!
I like the kitchen island you posted. How nice to have a relatively large kitchen to do this! I would love to open up our kitchen, but don’t think it’s big enough to do.
Well keep blogging and also keep your website going!
Dyann
We just bought a 1967 house that has nice old hardwood throughout except for the den (parquet) and kitchen (laminate) and we’re going to put new hardwood down in those two rooms -they connect. I’m in love with old farmhouse style painted floors but I keep going back and forth if I should put second grade wood down and paint it or make it look like old floors and stain them. I’m worried about the traffic and wear and tear in those two rooms and I’m worried about resale down the road – it’s such a big commitment. I wouldn’t think twice if I was just painting over old damaged hardwood – but what are your thoughts in doing this to new wood to make it look old?
I’m trying to convince a friend to paint their floor on the sun porch of their new historic bungalow. I stumbled across your blog. I agree…great idea. Thanks for posting
If I’m doing this for a floor that I just removed carpet from, what do you recommend cleaning it with first?
Tim Bryan
wood urn
.-= Tim Bryan´s last blog ..How BryanWoodUrns Started =-.
You are right… I never thought a few simple pieces could look that great and yes… it is the dramatic blue floor! I didn’t know you could paint floors like that…what kind of paint would work best?