I think I'm kind of in love with these floors.
This was not a quick or easy project but it was sooo worth the effort. I should add here that this project does not have to take months to complete - I had lots of delays with the holidays and general busyness.
Here is a quick run-down of how I did it.
- Rip out old carpet and carpet padding. Remove all tack strips and staples from subfloor.
- Patch the seams and staple holes. (This is the only part I really wasn't pleased with. I used Flexible Floor Patch and Leveler. This was not the right choice. It is good because it flexes with the floor and all that stuff. But it is horrible because you can't sand it smooth).
- Sand the floor. We just used a small palm sander but of course a large floor sander would work much faster. Just remember that this is plywood - it is not going to be silky smooth.
- Prime the floor with a quality primer. (Zinsser Oil-based primer)
- Paint the base color onto the floor. (Valspar porch and floor paint in ‘Chimney Smoke’)
- Paint border around room (Valspar ‘Crucible’). To get nice crisp lines follow these steps.
- Stencil the design inside the border. (Paisley Allover Stencil from Cutting Edge.
- Seal the floor to protect it. (Varathane Crystal Clear Water-based floor sealer in Satin Finish)
LOVE! There will certainly be more painted floors making their way through my house in the not-too-distant future.
Now I need to finish the trim, and then it is on to the total room makeover these floors have jump-started. I want to make sure the rest of the room is as great as the floors!
UPDATE: Be sure to check out my update on how the floors are holding up seven months later right here!
146 comments:
carrie- you have the patience of a saint, but it was all worth it! looks stunning!
oh my goodness. I am in LOVE with your floors. You did SUCH an amazing job----I have never seen anything quite like this on a floor and now I don't know if I will be able to stop thinking about it! SO SO cool!!!!
Jaime
Im actually shocked at the final result! WOW... it's lovely. So much effort and vision. How on earth do you know what to 'do' with the floor (sanding, priming, coating etc) You are one clever savvy lady. Im in awe actually.
Jennie. x
wow it looks amazing i love it xxx
This looks fantastic! All your hard work paid off! Beautiful!
WOW!!! That is gorgeous!!!!
Holy WOW! This looks fantastic! What a surprising project- and totally amazing! Best painted floors I've seen, the design you made up is A-Mazing!!
Oh. my. word! Those are STUNNING! What a lot of work. Well done!
Wow this looks amazing! I'm so impressed :)
That is amazing! I have a spare room soon to be turned into an office with plywood floors and I think I am going to have to try it. You did an incredible job.
Wow, this is amazing! I saw it on pinterest and had to check it out. I actually thought you had painted on concrete. Great job!!!
WOW, that is a.ma.zing!! You are so brave to try that. Great job!!
Looks fabulous! You cant even tell its painted on sub floors!
WOW! Your floor looks incredible!!!
Dee
Incredible!!!! it looks super!!!
Wow, what an amazing job! Looks great!
I knew about painting sub-floors from Bob Villa, once upon a time. I had never seen it done so beautifully! I love this! I am definitely inspired from your post!
That's brilliant - I love it !
Holy cow! That is truly beautiful! Im wondering if I can do this on my plywood stairs? Hmmm, you have inspired me, Thanks for sharing!
AAaaaa Maze Zing!!!
This looks amazing. I can't believe you sanded the whole floor with a palm sander. Talk about making it work! And you did!
I think these are the most gorgeous floors I have seen ! Fantastic job !
Love it! SO love it!
Incredibly clever. Love it.
Absolutely amazing! Just...WOW! Your hard work and patience definitely paid off.
How do you transfer the pattern to the floor? Do you have to use a bazillion stencils? I don't get it, but I do love the results.
I featured your floor on my blog Addicted 2 Decorating today. Hope you don't mind, but it's just too beautiful not to share!! :)
Carrie, it turned out great! So nice... I'm jealous! LOL! How much time did it take you?
Amazing! And inspirational. Who knew you could do that.
This is really amazing! What wonderful work
Oh. my. WORD! Gorgeousness Carrie! I'm adding this post to my inspiration file and will tell everyone to come over and check you out. Amazing girl. LOVE!
Wow Carrie! This looks amazing!! Love the pattern you chose too. And great tutorial.
I just came via Beth, WOW what a great job, thanks so much for the tutorial :), nice to meet you.
All the best,
Kathy :)
Oh my gosh this is absolutely stunning!!! I have painted my floors and I know that it is alot of work but this is so worth it!! Beautiful!!!!!
xo
This came out so great! I'm your newest follower!
www.ckandnate.blogspot.com
That floor is beyond gorgeous!! I am in awe of your talents and will be following along to see what else you get up to! Deb
stunning. you did such a fabulous job. love the stencil and colors you chose.
This is by far the coolest thing I have yet to see on a DIY blog...outstanding!!
OMG! I found you on A2D and came on over to check out the how to!
I am so glad I did! My landlord has given me permission to yank out the smelly old carpet. We had hoped that there was hardwood under since the house was built in 1901 and there is hardwood in the hall but Sadly it is just a plywood sub floor. Today I was rather despondent over that fact. Tonight I am elated! My living room is not that large but this would allow me to get rid of the nasty carpet, create something beautiful, which I love doing, and not cost me an arm & leg.
Thank You for sharing!
OH MY ! Holy patience you must have had! :) Looks great!
Wowsa! That floor is gorgeous. Way to go, Sista!
Oh my wow! Your floor looks amazing!
truly stunning
Carrie, this is so so beautiful! I'm truly impressed at your patience and the final result is so gorgeous! Bravo girl! Bookmarking!
xo
Kate
Stunning does not begin to describe these floors! I am in awe! I only wish I could do that. Way to go!
Stunning does not begin to describe these floors! I am in awe! I only wish I could do that. Way to go!
Wow, this is absolutely amazing! You started a revolution of how to get around expensive floors! I can't believe those are stenciled plywood. It is absolutely gorgeous. I would be way in love if those floors were in my home! Visiting from AD2D
First, Donna @ Funky Junk painting her stairs, and now YOU re-doing an entire floor!!!
That was a LOT of tedious work, but dang it, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...and it turned out FABULOUS!!! REALLY!!! GREAT JOB!!!
Girl I had to come back and tell you that this is making ALL the rounds today. I think it's popped up at least 25+ in my radar today alone :) woot!
Holy moly! Those floors are gorgeous! How did you get pictures of my carpet for your before picture? Ick. Mine looks just like that. I am praying for hardwoods!
Amazing ! No way I'd have the patience to do that. It's beautiful. www.bargainfun.net Steph
As a long time floor painter ( I painted my first floors over 25 years ago--and have done it in every single house since then) I want to add a couple tips: I had the very best luck when I finally quit adding floor leveler. Just get the biggest baddest floor sander you can, and get it flat with that. Trust me. anything that goes thinly over the floor will ultimately chip away with heavy furniture placed over it. Don't be afraid to wash the wood well...just let it dry completely before you paint. Also, had the best luck with 'marine epoxy' (boat paint) from any high-end paint store because it goes on and stays on...but it only comes in high gloss, a look I happen to love. Good luck!
Found your beautiful floor at Addicted 2 Decorating. I am planning on ripping up my ugly carpet and painting floor throughout my house. Thanks for the info and inspiration!
Your floors are fantastic. I started with my upstairs hall a while back but it is no where near as smooth and beautiful as yours. Glad I saw this before beginning my bedroom.
That floor is freakin amazing!!! I can't believe that you stenciled all those paisleys, I'm not that patient. Thanks for some great inspiration.
You have absolutely "FLOORED" us all with your awesome, beautiful paisley floor!!! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE JOB YOU BOTH HAVE DONE--YOU DESERVE NOT ONLY TO CELEBRATE BUT TO BE "CELEBRATED" BY ALL OF US--YOUR ADMIRERS!
Carrie, I am happily now your latest FOLLOWER and whatsmore this is my very first time doing this! I have had you on my fav bar forever, but now I feel like a real FAN!!!
Carrie, do you think I can you essentially do the same thing on a countertop? I would love to paint my countertops until I can afford to refinish my kitchen!
Thanks! Teresa
This is fabulous. Love it!
OOOOOOOH MMMMMYYYYYY GOOOOOODNESSSSS!
Visiting from the shoutout at Homestories A to Z today----
MOUTH GAPING OPEN! (no, I'm not kidding and yes I am SHOUTING!)
Amazing!
Suzanne in NW Illinois
Oh my heck! Your floor looks absolutely amazing! You definitely deserve a medal of honor for your patience!
Carrie, these are AMAZING. I shared them on my blog!
Projectect.org
Your floor looks phenomenal! Good work, I would say, it was worth all the work. Paula lusk
Amazing. I love it...thinking this would work great in my craftroom.
Amazing. I love it...thinking this would work great in my craftroom.
Amazing. I love it...thinking this would work great in my craftroom.
This looks AH-MAZING!
Very nice!! I can't imagine the patience it took do the floors...well worth it though!
Oh wow! Your floor looks amazing! Very clever idea! Would love to try it myself!
Great job!
AMAZING!
I'll be featuring you tomorrow during Sticker Time!
Girl, you are amazing! I'm am curtsying to you!
Blessings,
Angie @ Knick of Time
Incredible! Found you through 36th Avenue. Totally pinning this. The answer to my horrible kitchen floors has been found! Thank you so much for sharing this!!!!
I'm completely blown away! You did an amazing job.
I can not believe how fantastic this looks! Your colors are beautiful, the pattern is perfect and it does not look like plywood in the least. WOW! I would love if you linked up to my party I host on Fridays!
http://daysofchalkandchocolate.blogspot.com/2012/01/latest-and-greatest-friday-15.html
Hi! Visiting from tt&j. LOVE THIS! I love the color and the pattern. I love how easy you made this look! Pinning this for sure!!
Also.. I would love for you to link these up to my Friday party if you get a chance!
GORGEOUS, stunning and amazing! I want to run downstairs and rip out my family room carpet right now. I'm going to have to talk my hubby into this. I'm putting your gorgeous floor in the PoPP Spotlight. Thanks for linking up.
Wow, your floor is simply stunning!
It's gorgeous! I have several painted floors in my house. Even though I originally did it years ago because it was cheap (that was 3 houses ago) I have them now because I love them! I change my bathroom floor fairly often. A whole new floor for the price of a can of paint and a little labor. You can't beat that! Yours turned out just beautiful! Great job. Lisa~
Your floors are gorgeous!! I have an office floor I painted aqua, but every chunk (literally) out of the plywood shows and catches dirt. Now I think I'll try your amazing method! I'm not sure a sander would get rid of the problem on my floor, but maybe the leveler...it's only an office...I'll let you know how it comes out. (And become a follower! :)
What a great idea! It's gorgeous! We lived with plywood floors for several years while renovating. Wish I'd seen this then! I landed on the Cutting Edge website a few days ago, and love their landscape mural kit. I think there's one in my future!
You make me want to rip out my identical ugly carpet and paint my floor! I wouldn't have much time to get it done though...my business is in my home. I really love how it turned out. Beautiful!
That looks incredible! How long before you could walk on it? I have considered this for my kitchen, but when you walk on it does it feel like weird? and Creaky?
ditto to what everyone else said. THat floor is kissable!
Found you through Tatertots and Jello
My best friend and I have been contemplating this in our town homes. We've never come across someone who had an explanation of how and a show stopping finish like yours did. I am INSPIRED!!! Thanks for all sharing all your hard work.
I addoooore your floor! I wish i could do it right now, but in the future! Thanks for the marvelous idea!!
http://munchtalk.blogspot.com/
oHHH my GOSH! these are totally Fabulous!! I have a guest room that i ripped the ugly carpet up and now am left with even ugly plywood floors i never thought it would look so pretty painted~ im so gonna do this! i love everything about yours hope ya dont mind im gonna have to copy it! :) THANK YOU!!!
I'm adoring the Boheme' Essence of these painted floors! You did a fab job. And thanks for the Tutorial.
Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian
Came through Pinterest. You should SO be in love with what you've done. Kudos!!!!
Dixie
GORGEOUS!!! I'm seriously so impressed!
I used one of your pictures and linked to your blog at this post. Thanks for the wonderful inspiration!
http://www.ourhouseinpictures.com/2012/01/wow-factor-of-creativity-and-hard-work.html
I just found you through Dixie who just a comment above.
You've done everything right and ended up with a beautiful result. Taping off and putting a border on the edges was the perfect solution to prevent having to stencil along the walls. Also smart to use two colors that are just a shade or two off. It prevents a busy pattern from getting too loud.
Perfect job!
You are one amazing lady, and you so deserve to be featured everywhere, This is truly the BEST DIY project I have ever seen...AMAZING take a bow
Enjoy your new floors and your home
Pattie
Very. Very. Very. Good. This project is right up my alley. Inspires me to do my kitchen floor. For once I'm thanking goodness my kitchen is very small!
I stumbled upon you from ProjectQueen. Your floors are truly amazing and beautiful. Everyone will want to have these from rich to poor. Wow-weeeee!
Absolutely stunning! You probably don't want to hide them under any furniture or carpets, they're that lovely!
Love, love, LOVE these floors! I'm getting ready to pull up old linoleum that was under carpet in a den. There's hardwood underneath, but I'm not sure what shape it's in. I may just have to follow your lead! I'm definitely going to follow your blog. :)
-Revi
Amazing!! These floors are beautiful. xo, Sherry
This is just insane and genius at the same time!! Wow, what an amazing job!I'm looking form something special to do for our basement remodel and might have to try this out :)
Saw your feature on Whisperwood Cottage! The floors are beautiful and way more interesting and unique than hardwood floors. We pulled out the carpet and painted our concrete subfloor which turned out well but the stencil idea is genius. Your patience and idea certainly paid off in a big beautiful way!
soooo pretty - love the colors and design you chose! can't imagine how much work this was for you! xo
www.northerncottage.net
What a beautiful beautiful job you did! It's seriously amazing!!! I love it.
I just love what you did. I am saving my money in hopes to tear up my nasty carpet and do this to my floors. Problem is, my floors are a concrete slab, that had at one time, Terrazzo all over floors. But and this is the kicker..... previous owners put junk linoleum tiles over it and that awful, black glue/cement stuff. UGH. I already tore up the carpet in my office and hallway.... huge mess. I popped up the paint splattered tiles and now what the heck to do with that black cement? So very scared to take up the carpet in my bedroom and living room now.... it is a mess. HELP?
Also, I was curious as to what you were going to use to finish your baseboards? All new or add quarter round?
I just became your follower. I myself have done so many house renovations. The work and man hours put into this floor must have been a true labour of love. You got my vote as soon as I saw the first picture.
Besides, I am very FOND of that swirvey curvey design.
WOW This turned out so beautiful
Looks professionally done
Great job Thanks for the inspiration!!!!
xxoo
Pam
This is MEGA INSPIRING!!!!!! Holy cow. I've painted floors before, but never thought to use such an intricate pattern. I am in love.
TFS!!
I'm your newest follower :)
So amazing! I just shared a link on my Facebook page :)
Worth every bit of the effort, stunning and so clever! Visiting from Urban Cottage!
Cathy @ Room Rx
Wow...very beautiful. Not sure if I have the patience (or the back) for this kind of project, but I can see why you are happy with the results. Steve from an Urban Cottage sent me over.
I got here from An Urban Cottage too. My teenage daughter was asking me why we couldn't do this to our sub floors just last week. My fear was the seams and nails. Yours is so lovely I would be happy with just a black painted floor.
Did you ever discover what the right product is for those seams?
Steve from An Urban Cottage sent me. I am totally taken with your tenacity and and patience to do such a stunningly beautiful job with your floors. Way to go!
Camille
Are. You. Kidding Me???? Holy wow. Unbelieveable. Gorgeous. Insanely beautiful. Have never seen anything so beautifully done as a painted floor!!!!! I just found you through An Urban Cottage and I am so blown away I am sending this link to all my DIY buddies. Really, I just can't get over it. I am so in love with this idea. So glad I found you and am now off to follow you. If your other posts are even near this great, I'm going to love your blog!
Steve from Urban Cottage was bragging on these floors of yours, and he was so right! They look fantastic.
Steve from Urban Cottage sent me. What a wonderful floor! I love it.
Steve from Urban Cottage sent me over. I am so happy he did--your floors look fabulous!! I look forward to visiting your blog again.
That floor is amazing!! I love the paisley stenciled pattern. You've just inspired me to rip up the nasty carpeting on my stairs. Nice job.
Following Steve's advice......following you now....great post! k
I "pinned" your floor a few days ago! LOVE it. (I'm thinking of stenciling my kitchen walls in paisley so I found you in a search) and then TODAY I find you again on one of my FAV blogs! So I'm back again at Steve's instruction! LOL!
and I'm Following you now!
:D - Cindi
Nice.
What a beautiful job! Very creative and functional! My husband is picking his jaw off the floor in admiration. :)
Wonderful work I love it
An Urban Cottage spoke of you and I found you - as your newest follower I shall welcome your visit
Helenxx
Love this floor. Wish I had saw it earlier. I'm replacing mine with laminant.
I would love to do this to my kitchen, but I was wondering if you think that area has too much traffic...or does that really matter. My house is a small 100 year old Bungalow with a cottage feel....so the wear doesn't bother me that much....as long as it doesn't just fall apart.
omg that's just incredible! wow!
I found your blog on Design Sponge! LOVE the floors, I 'pinned' them on Pinterest! :)
*New Subscriber* :D
Truly amazing idea, Carrie. No wonder you've been featured so many places. Can't wait to get our own house so we can try something similar. Thanks for sharing your creativity!
This is beautiful. How long did it take you to stencil the floor? Was it hard to do the repeating pattern?
Wow - what great timing!! I have been pondering and pondering what to do about my ugly carpet and my gross plywood sub floor. I have asked everyone at work for advice...and then I see this post! Fabulous!
Erin
Wow! Gorgeous! Do you have any link parties to how to due this type of floor on a cement sub floor?
Wow! I have never seen anything like this. It looks great!
MC
I LOVE THIS FLOOR TUTORIAL!! I AM COMPLETELY IN AWWHHH!! I'M SAVING THIS IDEA!!
so so pretty, was wondering if this could be done on a cement floor. thanks for the inspiration
YAY! YAY! YAY! I'm so excited I stumbled upon this at A2Z today. I am in the middle of this very project at my house for the very same reason - gross carpet out, cheap alternative in!! I've been researching this here and there for the past few months and this is by far THE BEST outcome I've seen!!! Thanks for the added inspiration to keep me going!
How long did this take you? My BF is HIGHLY allergic to our cat and the carpet has got to go. I would love to do a "transition floor" until we get the laminate budget.
This is gorgeous!
I found you from pinterest. Now a new follower. You are so smart! I am always looking for inexpencive ways to jazz up my home and you have given me great inspiration, Thanks!
Thank you for the idea. I picked up the carpet in my son's bedroom due to allergies and painted the floor to be able to clean the dust easier. I made the stencil and I had a really hard time keeping it clean. The paint was bleeding under the edges even though I used spray glue on the back of the stencil. The floor board is not perfectly smooth, it is a strip board and I didn't want it to be perfectly smooth to prevent slipping. That might have been the problem.
This is so beautiful! Great job! I have a question for you. The sealer that you used is water-based and says not to use it on floors. How have you found it to hold up? Has it been a while since you did this floor? I'm just trying to figure out whether or not I could just get away with using the porch and floor paint and not sealing it.... not sure, though! Help!
Hmm - the sealer is water-based but is made for floors. It says so on the label. And it has held up really well - I am going to give an update in the next week or so. I wouldn't recommend painting the floor and not sealing it. I did that with porch and floor paint on my screened porch and without the sealer, the floor gets dingy/dirty looking really quickly.
Thank you for the inspiration! We just tore out the carpet in our dining area, stairway and bedrooms. We just bought this home last December and the carpets were nasty! I just couldn't take it anymore! My intention was the paint the sub-floor until we could afford the barn-board flooring we really want. Many websites try to deter us from painting, saying it will look worse than dingy carpets (not likely!). Your floor is absolutely gorgeous, and was happy to see your comment that the floors held up well! Thanks again for sharing!!
me and my husband painted our floors a couple of months ago...i was shocked how well it looks and lasts. we used some stuff to level the floor out- and you're right- big mistake. it still looks great and i'm planning to do another area of the house. we used black in an interior eggshell with a sealer over it, and it has held up super great! yours our a lot more time consuming though- and it paid off. ours took us a few hours and then over night to dry...i get a ton of compliments.
Did you use all oil based paints or just an oil-based primer?
Thanks!
Pat
What an amazing transformation! You absolutely did a great job! Your work is so much like that of a professional! The design choice is so good and the color is perfect as well. Thank you for sharing these steps because several homeowners will learn so much from this. Please keep on sharing!
We were inspired by your lovely floor and are beginning our own project. You mentioned filling the seams with a product you would not recommend. What would the alternative be? I can't seem to see any seams in any of the flooring pictures I have viewed online, but, apparently, one must leave a small gap between sheets of plywood as they swell and shrink. Any input would be valuable! THANKS!
It takes a huge amount of skill and patience to have done that! I am amazed with your work. You painted it like a professional. An advice I could give is to do research about the materials you want to use and the surface you are using it on. Be prepared so that money and time will not go to waste! Thanks for sharing!
I'm thinking about doing my floors. Have you had any issues with splinters? And are you able to walk bare foot on the floors?
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