8 Ways to Stop Hating Your Floor—Without Replacing It

If you’re hating a vinyl floor you’ve inherited, you don’t necessarily have to pull it up. You can paint it! It”s as easy as painting any wall. Just be sure to prime it first, then use porch floor paint so that it wears well. This transformation offers a huge return on minimal time.

For added oomph, go one step beyond painting and stencil the floor. There’s a pattern out there to suit every style and project type, and you can commit to as much (or as little) as you want. Paint on accents or a border, or go the full mile and completely cover the floor.

Related: Stenciled Floors: The Best of Today’s Designs

This eye-popping floor effect requires only cutouts, a paintbrush, and a little decoupage. After painting an old hardwood floor pink, this talented designer glued down bright paper flowers and geometric shapes. Several coats of polyurethane finish protect the floor from foot traffic.

Faux bois (French for “false wood”) is a rustic painting technique that works well in many applications—especially floors. This plywood floor in a former hunting cabin was reborn with a faux bois treatment. All the project takes to complete is paint, a wood-graining tool, and some practice, followed by several coats of polyurethane to ensure a lasting finish.

With some painter’s tape and concrete stain, you can mimic the look of tile on a concrete floor. Variation is key; apply more stain to some areas than others, because no two tiles look exactly the same. The best part: You’ll never have to scrub or bleach this “grout”!

A mosaic of copper pennies creates a warm, rich treatment for a floor—and it won’t break the bank. (Seriously. You can fit about $2 of pennies into each square foot.) Glue each coin into place with Weldbond adhesive, grout the floor, and then seal it for durability and easy cleaning.

Give your craft space a look that dazzles by coating its concrete floor with several jars of gold glitter. When else are you going to get to toss glitter in the air by the handful? Invite the kids to help you out, and be sure to wipe your feet at the door when you leave to shake off any sparkles before you head out. The magical layer of glitter is sandwiched between a new epoxy coating and plenty of polyurethane.

You’d never guess that this floor is the ultimate upcycled project, made from the same material as your grocery store’s paper bags. Cover the floor in Elmer’s glue and lay out brown kraft paper. You can either leave the paper natural or stain it to take on the deep, rich look of leather. Floor-grade polyurethane finishes off the job.

If you’re interested in more about flooring, consider: 

Just Floored! 15 Totally Unexpected DIY Flooring Alternatives

Parquet, You Say? 10 Stunning Wood Floor Patterns

10 Reasons to Love Bamboo Floors