| In the recent times there are various interesting options that are easily available when it come to flooring ideas specially kitchen flooring. Painting kitchen floors is one such unique idea which is ingenious, useful and economic at the same time. 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. If you do some research work on how to go about it and follow the simple steps it will definitely turn out to be a striking and attractive piece of work. Painted wood floors will give your kitchen a new lease on life.
Budget friendly kitchen flooring ideas
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. After a long time it is obvious that any type of floor will get damaged. Kitchen is one such room which is generally highly used in most houses. Hence removing the old floor and getting a new one may turn out to be expensive at times. Thus there are budget friendly options too and painting kitchen floors is one such option. 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. That is really simply and practical isn’t it?
Paint and recreate your damaged floor
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. You can completely change the look of the kitchen with some interesting and innovative ideas of painting kitchen floor and that will certainly add a spark to your home.
Important factors that one need to know before painting vinyl flooring
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.
Conclusion
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. Simply color and create your kitchen the way you want it. 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.
How do you clean painted floors?
A 1:8 vinegar:water solution is a great cleaning solution for most floors. If your painted floor has a polyurethane or varnish finish you can clean it as you would any hard surface floor. But if it doesn’t have a protective layer over the paint, be careful and use only a sponge or cloth for cleaning the floor.
Regular sweeping is important for any floor, but a painted floor that doesn’t have a protective layer should get a dry mop or vacuuming instead.
Consider coating the painted floor with a water-based polyurethane finish to make it last longer and wear better. It’ll make your cleaning easier too.
Do I need to use floor paint, or can I use regular interior paint and just put a polyurethane on it? For wood flooring- I just need to clean and sand it first?
You can use interior paint for floors, and applying a polyurethane finish on top is vital to the protection of the pattern or paint.
Raw wood should always be primed so the color coat doesn’t absorb into the wood, changing the color and the look, as well as the durability. So sand it, clean it, prime it and then paint it.
I have a freshly painted floor, I used a water based paint. Do I have to sand again before putting on a coat of polyurethane. Thank you
I know sanding is recommended before applying subsequent coats of paint or finish. My concern would be ruining that fresh finish with a sanding. If you can sand lightly enough it would be a good idea. But look at the directions of the product you are using to find out what is recommended.
And I hope you are using a water-based polyurethane as that protective coat.
As part of our kitchen remodel we pulled up the vinyl floor and under is a combination of old wood planks and plywood. It seems we are going to have to put a plywood base down no matter what kind of floor we install. I’m trying to keep costs down and still look nice. Do you think we could make it look nice if we just painted the plywood instead of covering it with another product? I’ve heard of some people cutting groves into plywood to make it look like planks…
Painting your kitchen floor could look great. And be lots of fun. If you want the floor to look like planks you can groove it and then paint it. Or you can buy the double roller/split paint pan and get a marble look. Painting any number of patterns on the floor would be interesting — stencil, faux rug, or combed for example.
Just be sure to put enough sealer on it so the paint doesn’t wear off in the high traffic areas.
I am painting a plywood floor. Should I use porch enamel for floors and top with polyurethane coating, or can I use a latex enamel and coat with polyurethane?
Also, I’m interested in finding out how to put grooves in the plywood floor to make it look like plank flooring.
Thanks,
Lori
I wouldn’t use porch enamel for indoor flooring. If the plywood floor is outdoors, say in a covered or enclosed porch I’d use the porch enamel. If the floor you are painting is indoors use low VOC paint and coat it with polyurethane. I personally love the Diamond Coat Varathane Polyurethane product — it’s easy to work with, water based so easy to clean up, and is low VOC.
I have painted a MDF floor with primer and latex paint. To protect it, I was told at the paint store to purchase a floor Polyurethane. It is oil based, does that matter and why?
I can’t begin to imagine why you would have an MDF floor, especially in the kitchen, but so be it. The problems I see with oil-based polyurethane are that it tends to yellow faster than water-based polyurethane, clean up is messy and hard, and it stinks. The smell is one problem but the fact the smell indicates the presence of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) means your air quality will suffer for years to come.
There are great water-based polyurethanes you can use that will be durable and not harm your air quality, at least not as much for as long. Try Diamond Coat Varathane Polyurethane.
I want to paint my wood and make it look marbelized…any suggestions?
The technique I used on my floor was to use a system of a split roller pan and a split roller — giving you two reservoirs and two rollers to work with. Pour a different color paint in each reservoir, load your rollers and go to town with the sloppiest technique you can use. You will fine tune your technique to get the look you desire.
I’ve seen these system as the big box home improvement stores, and I bet you can find them in lots of places that sell paint. The directions say to use highly contrasting paints, which I’ve seen result in great looks, but I’ve also used very similar colors to get a more subtle result.
When you are content with the look, seal it with a water-based polyurethane (I prefer the Diamond Coat Varathane polyurethane). It’ll be fun and look great.
Dear Flooring Lady, My husband and I have been remodeling a farm house that was built in 1920. We are putting tongue and groove down for the flooring. I want to paint it and distress it. What kinds of paint and clear coat should i use. We are also putting it in kitchen and baths. Is this a problem?
Lisa
I don’t think the type of paint matters. You get to decide if you want translucent or opaque, and buy accordingly — or thin as you desire. I will urge you to use Sherwin Williams low VOC paint for air quality reasons.
But yes, the clear coat does matter. I love Diamond Coat Varathane polyurethane because it’s easy to apply, drys fast and clear, and is low VOC.
I’m not sure if you are asking me if the wood or the paint in the kitchen and bath are the problem, but my experience is that if you don’t let water stand on the floor you can put almost anything anywhere in the house.
I always get confused in regard to the paint finishes. If I am painting the bedroom floors of of a 100 year old victorian (they have been painted in the past), should I use a satin finish paint and a gloss polyurethane to seal them? Thanks!
I think the bigger issue is whether the present finish is oil- or water-based. It’s hard to switch to water-based on top of oil-based paint, though it can be done. You get to decide whether you go with matte, satin or gloss paint and polyurethane. Those decisions are personal decisions more than “correct” and “incorrect” choices.
I personally prefer matte finishes because they don’t show prints and dust as much. But I also think I’m rare in that preference.
Dear Flooring Lady,
We have hardwoods all throughout our classic saltbox colonial, except in the small bath/mudroom area/entryway from the garage which is an ugly modern tile. The tile stops and the hard would starts in a small hallway as you enter the kitchen. We would like to paint a distressed diamond pattern on new hard woods in this area. Should we match the wood throughout the house or contrast it with a wide plank, textured wood for more rustic look? Will 2 different wood floors look odd together even though one will be painted?
Jen
It’s hard to say without seeing the area you are reflooring, but my immediate reaction is that the same width planks throughout would be better. One way to tell for sure is to take samples of both styles of wood you are contemplating and lay them out in the area and see which feels better to you.
The paint will “disguise” the different floorings you have so the differences won’t look odd. Have fun!