Painting a Sub-Floor?

I've seen several people out there in blog land, who rip up old carpet or tile and paint the sub-floor underneath and use it as regular flooring.  My experience with sub-flooring is that it's paint splattered and very rough.  So I really wonder how one prepares such a floor to use on an every day basis.  Seems like a lot sanding would be involved, but totally worth it.  What an inexpensive way to brighten up a room.
How do you like this one from
 I absolutely fell in love with this one from Ashley at

And Laurie from Little Blue Chairs painted the floors in her dining room

We have a the typical 80's linoleum still residing in our kitchen and I desperately want to get rid of it.  But, of course it is not in our budget anytime in the near future.  So maybe this might be a temporary solution.
What do you think??? 
Any comments or opinions on this matter would be greatly appreciated :)
Posted by Between Blue and Yellow

10 comments:

  1. LilMarch 3, 2011 at 9:42 AM

    I've been thinking of doing the same thing at our cottage. I hate the carpet there in the dining/living room (I think carpet in a dining room is just gross, personally). I can't afford new flooring, so I thought painting the plywood might be the way to go for now.

    Let's do it! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. BeckyMarch 3, 2011 at 10:04 AM

    I looked into this as well. It seemed to be inexpensive but a LOT of steps to it. Like you couldn't step on it for some ridiculous amount of time. The room I wanted to do this to leads to all of the other rooms so it wasn't feasable. If you find a more practical way please share!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tammy @ Type AMarch 3, 2011 at 10:55 AM

    i love it! looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  4. blueeyedfreckleMarch 3, 2011 at 12:53 PM

    do it!! I have always wanted to do that to my floors with some cool design on them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AllisonMarch 4, 2011 at 1:03 PM

    I'm intrigued with all of the painted floors I've been seeing. We have bamboo floors throughout. If we had a spot I think I would try it! It would be fun to have a patterened one in a kitchen. I'm impressed with the ones that I've seen done!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Christie: A Rambling OpheliaMarch 6, 2011 at 2:55 AM

    I luv love your blog! Im always inspired!! I want to forward my "Versatile Blogger" award to you! Feel free to stop by my page and pick it up!
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lauren @ 31diyMarch 7, 2011 at 12:21 AM

    That's a great idea. Like you said, it can be a temporary solution, and it's way cuter than ugly vinyl flooring.

    ReplyDelete
  8. TrudiMarch 7, 2011 at 6:52 PM

    You could try a paper bag floor! I haven't had the courage yet but it looks good!
    http://www.ehow.com/how_5147306_make-brown-paper-bag-floor.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownMarch 8, 2011 at 12:00 PM

    Since I won't be replacing my bathroom floors with tile just yet, I'll be taking the paint I used for painting my laminate countertops and trying it out on the linoleum. It won't be permanent, but I'm curious to see if it works!

    ReplyDelete
  10. ChristinaMarch 17, 2011 at 2:11 PM

    i'm a huge fan of painted and stenciled floors. if you think it will be an economic alternative to having the floors refinished, i definitely think you should go for it!

    ReplyDelete

Leave a comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)