You may wonder what to do with used laminate flooring, that is why I asked myself and for a while, I thought I had to replace the flooring entirely but I was WRONG! I am so pleased to share with you, this DIY tutorial which completely changed the look of my living room and for a cost of less than GBP150.
They say (the people in-the-know) that paint is the single best thing when you want to decorate on a budget but I never thought it also could be applied to flooring until NOW.
I have always envied those beautiful pictures of Scandinavian homes with white painted wood floorboards. For this, you need to have access to the floorboards in your home, but in the living room we had inherited from a laminate / engineered flooring from the late 00s which was a dark orange, its quality is decent (should I say “was” or “is”, I don’t even know) but the colour was not my favourite colour and it may be OK to live with it for a while, but if something bothers you, and you could change it, why not? I could logically agree with the fact that it didn’t make sense to rip apart a good quality flooring for a new one just because I didn’t like the esthetic of its colour, so I got a big white rug instead but still, I could see the orange bits and it bothered me for a while.
Plus, because we live on the first floor of a period maisonette (with downstairs neighbours), we couldn’t just use our original floorboards (which we do have under this laminate!) as our flooring – this would be very noisy for the neighbours and quite inconsiderate so another reason not to have painted floorboards. Even more frustration!
So with those two reasons, I was left thinking I would need to get used to my orange laminate and start saving up for a new flooring one day (Budget estimated: range of GBP2k to 5k). BUT that was until a visit to my DIY shop where I found a floor paint for LAMINATE. I was surprised, intrigued and skeptical! I decided to give it a go straight away, and unfortunately, they didn’t have the colour I needed in store – I guess it is not a common DIY project- so I had to order it online.
How I did it and how to do it!
For this living room (about 20 sqm) – Click on links for product info:
For the 6 first products, you can use generic or other brands. Prices can change, check the website for accurate info.
Product List:
- Sugar Soap / Flooring cleaner – £4.99
- Black & Decker Electric Sander with sanding paper – £20
- 50mm Diall Masking Tap – £4.35
- 2″ Angled Paint Brush for edges – £7
- Mini Paint Roller 7inch – £3.97
- Large Paint Roller 9inch and tray – £7
- White Satin Floor Paint V33 for Laminate – I used two tins of 2L – £35 and one tin 0.75L – £22
The paint pot you see in my picture was discontinued but the product on the link above is the newer product (still works on laminate).
Procedure :
CLEAN – SAND – CLEAN – PAINT – DRY 3H BETWEEN COATS – APPLY 3 COATS – DRY
After two days – I decided to do the rest of the room – and move all the furniture to the other side of the room. I had to do it like that because we don’t have spare space to store furniture (I mean this is London!).
And now the complete look…
Now I see my flooring and I love it so that is a much more positive feeling to have when I am in this room and I am often in my living room as I work from home a lot.
A couple of things to be mindful :
- It will be more slippery, so adding a few rugs, and having visitors aware of this will avoid potential silly slips. I had a bit of a laugh when the cats were chasing each other as usual through the house and then slide dramatically when they got to the living room. Now with the rugs, it doesn’t happen anymore.
- You will see more often little dirt like pet hair, human hair (especially if dark) than before but once you know, it is just a matter of dusting it more often and getting the right cleaning equipment. I like to use those electrostatic wipes which attract dust and hair for a quick regular cleaning.
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, feel free to save it on Pinterest, or share it. This would help my blog grow!
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Thank you so much!
Good luck with your future home redecoration projects!
Marlene
Thank you for this invaluable article. Can I ask how the finish stands up to the wear and tear of time ? Does the paint chip or stress with shoes or moving furniture for example ?
Thank you for your comment! Yes, the paint do chip! It might be the UK weather condition and the fact that I paint an old deck (probably a good 15 years on it at the time of paint). It’s been a few years now and Id really either need to paint it again or replace it. So it’s a fun and good solution but it wont last too long. Marlene
Oh sorry I thought this was for the garden painting tutorial! The living room one last much longer I dont need to repaint it. There is a few scratches but mostly due to being careless and having two cats in the house. Hope it helps!
Hi,
Thinking to do this project. You results look wonderful. Was the laminate flooring you painted over real wood? I ask because my laminate is not real wood. Will I get similar results?
Hi thanks, I believe it was an engineered-wood flooring so it has a thin layer of wood and then a coated layer of top coat. I’m not entirely sure as it was already there when we moved but it wasnt a traditionnal wood flooring or floor boards hence why I call it laminate. Try a small area first and see what results you get perhaps.
Hi, that looks amazing, how did it hold up? I’m thinking of painting mine but I have a dog and a teenage son so not sure if it will hold.
Hum having it done 1 year ago and having two cats, I can say there are a few scratches especially in high traffic area like door entrance but they don’t bother me at all. I love the look it gives to the room. Thank you so much! Glad you think so too.
I can imagine it was pretty tiring, but a great transformation, for very little cost!
Wow what a transformation and whoever knew there was paint for laminate flooring! A lot of work especially with 4 coats being needed but the end result is fabulous! It’d be good to see how it fairs with a follow up post maybe 😀 Thanks for sharing!
So impressed with this! It looks amazing!! Hope it lasts well for you
Thank you, I do hope so too!! x
This looks beautiful! Fits wonderfully with the whole theme. What colour did you use to pain your walls? Thanks!
Thank you, it does fit better with the rest of the furniture and colour theme! The colour on the walls is Natural Slate from Dulux in Matt finish.
This is a game changer I am curious to know how it holds up over time please do an update. It looks stunning
Great way to save money by simply painting the floors! Also your place looks beautiful!
A very brave makeover, I was rushing through the photos to see the end result before going back to read in detail! Looks fantastic now!
What an amazing transformation! Love your room, it’s certainly got the hygge factor now!
What an incredible transformation! I absolutely love the look of your home, styled beautifully.
This is a revelation. I had no idea it was possible to paint laminate flooring. It looks so much better though. It’s transformed the space.
Wow what a finish!! Looks fabulous and no way a cheap and cheerful paint job!
Amazing job. Really transforms the room. I didn’t realise that it was possible to do this!
You’ve done a great job it’s made such a difference to change and well worth the effort!
Thank you ! Totally Agree, it made brighter and just more peaceful I think. Finally got that white flooring I was dreaming about.
I didn’t know you could paint laminate flooring! Thanks for this tutorial. My flooring is also laminate but heavily textured so I may have to live with it for a bit longer.
By the way, what a cute cat!
Thank you and you’re welcome! My flooring was mildly textured so the paint went on nicely. Thank you, I’ll let him know!
This is amazing!! I never knew you could paint flooring either, what a difference it’s made to your room!!
Thank you!! I didn’t know either! I love it, it looks so much brighter now