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Painting Kitchen Floors
Painting kitchen floors is a creative and inexpensive way to freshen the kitchen. Painting hardwoods seems the most logical of flooring types, but painting vinyl is also a reasonable step. Kitchen floors can take on any look you want and will look good, as long as you take care to prepare the flooring first, and then seal the painted floors when complete. Painted wood floors will give your kitchen a new lease on life.
Are you looking for a low cost way to spruce up your kitchen floors? Painting kitchen floors is a great way to give your floors a new look with very little cost. You can paint many different flooring materials, including wood and vinyl flooring. All you need to do is prepare them correctly for the paint and you are on your way to having updated floors on a budget.
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If you have hardwood floors that are so damaged that they cannot be refinished, you may want to consider painting them. Painting hardwoods can turn a kitchen that looks old and dinghy into a bright and inviting room that everyone will want to be in. Although there are some people that believe that hardwood flooring should never be painted, many people who embrace the cottage style love the look of painted wood floors.
When painting your wood floors, you do not have to use just one paint color. Be adventuresome and use your hardwoods as a blank canvas for your creativity. Think stripes, border, stenciling, or even a painted rug on your floor. Let your imagination run wild. With a little sanding and prep work, you can have beautifully painted floors that your family will love.
Vinyl flooring can also be painted. You first need to clean and rinse the floors very well to remove the dirt and debris on them. Prime them with a high quality primer and then paint with the paint you have chosen. Do not be afraid to mix up colors. Create a checkerboard look, use stencils or stamps, or even write sayings on your floor as a border. Your floor is your palette and you are the artist who is creating your masterpiece. After you have finished painting, you need to cover it with at least four coats of polyurethane and then let it dry for the specified time that the manufacturer has directed. Although this is not as durable as painting wood floors is, it can give you time to save up money for a more expensive upgrade.
Painted floors are all the rage in country and cottage style design. Both of these designs embrace the look of distressed and old flooring. Many people even distress their painted floors to make them look older and more interesting. Color washing, where you apply watered down paint to the floors and then rub some of the excess off with a cloth, is a great way to mask the blemishes in a floor, but it also lets some of the original character of the floors shine through.
If your home is more contemporary or sophisticated in design, you can paint the floors in a more up to date design. Using tape to create lines for you to paint different colors can bring color into a room without it being over powering. Use your creativity and look at your home improvement store and on the internet for more ideas for you to create with paint. Do not be afraid to paint your floors. With the proper tools and paint, you will be able to create a floor that expresses your design style and taste.
Comments
HI, can I paint plywood kitchen floor? thank you.
Rene' at January 24, 2009 01:25 PM
Yes, you can, and be sure to seal with polyurethane. Make sure the poly is compatible with the paint you use too.
The Flooring Lady at January 29, 2009 11:35 AM
HI... I just painted my kitchen floor to resemble bricks. The cost was less than 100 dollars and I am soo excited. WOW I have pics
Lisa at March 29, 2009 10:46 PM
That is so cool Lisa! If you can upload them to a free photo hosting service you can create links that others can click on to view the pics. Great job!
The Flooring Lady at March 31, 2009 05:43 PM
I'm buying a fixer-upper. Having been built in 1939, the kitchen linoleum is terrible, worn and even bare in some spots. I wood like to paint the floors assuming (I have yet to move into the house) that there are wood floors underneath. If there are wood floors, how do I get rid of the material (glue or cement) adhering the linoleum in order to paint the floor??
Joyce at May 15, 2009 04:46 PM
I'm buying a fixer-upper. Having been built in 1939, the kitchen linoleum is terrible, worn and even bare in some spots. I wood like to paint the floors assuming (I have yet to move into the house) that there are wood floors underneath. If there are wood floors, how do I get rid of the material (glue or cement) adhering the linoleum in order to paint the floor??
Joyce at May 15, 2009 04:47 PM
Hi Joyce, This subject has been covered many times throughout the site. Hopefully it's an adhesive and not cement. Use the search engine, located at the top right-hand corner of the page and use the words adhesive removal - you'll get lots of information. Good luck!
The Flooring Lady at May 17, 2009 01:52 PM
i would like to use a matte finish black paint or a black solid stain to update and modernize my old worn oak hardwood floors saw it done on a decorating show and it looked awesome what do i use to clean the wood before painting it and should i put polyurethane over the top so the paint wont scratch off thank you for your help susan
susan mccurry at September 8, 2009 12:33 PM
Susan,
Preparing your floors is extremely important when choosing to paint or stain them. The old treatment must be removed or made ready to accept paint.
For your wood floor you will need to make sure the old varnish or wax is removed. For stubborn spots, you may need to scrape and sand the areas, making sure to sand with the grain of the wood. For safety sake, use a dust mask and safety glasses before sanding to avoid dust inhalation. After you've swept the area and wiped with a damp towel or mop, take the time to pound in the nails, if you have any, and fill the gouges with a wood filler. Finally, clean the floor with a non-wax liquid floor cleaner and allow the floor to dry.
I would also suggest a primer coat if you go with the paint rather than the stain.
You would most definitely want to protect the floor with a polyurethane, I recommend Diamond Coat Varathane Polyurethane a very good product. Whew, it seems like a big effort but when all is said and done it will be worth it!
The Flooring Lady at September 10, 2009 12:45 PM
Susan, another thing you could consider if you want to keep the look of the oak floors -- grain, etc -- then consider putting black paint in a water-based polyurethane. I haven't done this in black but I have done it with white to give a pickled look to wood. It's a great way to modernize at a low cost.
Karen K at September 11, 2009 01:45 PM
