Skip to main content

Why painting a floor in your home may be your best decorating move yet

Painting your floors is one of the best and easiest ways to improve your interior design. Transform various surfaces like hardwood, tile, concrete, vinyl, and even subfloors with a few simple steps and essential tools. Try painting your floor instead of completely replacing it or repairing minor imperfections. Read through our comprehensive floor-painting guide before you make your big decision.

Man and woman looking at paint samples
SSheff/hutterstock

How to prepare your floor before painting

If you’re repainting your floor as part of a DIY home-improvement project, preparing in advance will ensure the best results. First, plan out your project schedule across different days. If you plan on taking a whole week off, great! You can also break up the project across several weekends, which makes sense if you’re tackling more than one room or if you’re working solo.

Second, you need to clear out the room and sweep, mop, or wipe down the floor as much as possible before sanding it down. Make sure the floor is completely dry before you do any work. A damp surface can discolor your paint or cause chipping later on.

Create a blueprint for patterned floors with painter’s tape. Stencils are also practical for mosaic-tile designs.
To prevent paint from getting onto your wainscoting or baseboards, line the edges with painter’s tape. Before painting, make sure the room is the proper temperature according to your chosen paint.

Wood: Sand your wooden floors with sandpaper. This eliminates any leftover coating from your previous floor finish. Again, clean your floors and wipe away or vacuum any debris. A primer is essential if you want your floor paint to adhere as much as possible.

Tile: Clean your tiles and the grout in between with a trisodium-phosphate solution. For this, you’ll need a mop and water container. Sand your tiles to make the primer stick on. Utilize sandpaper squares for small rooms like bathrooms, and use electric sanders for bigger areas like the kitchen.

You’ll also need to replace cracked tiles or damaged grout. Set up your stencils if you want mosaic-inspired floors.

Concrete: For concrete floors, treat your floor with a degreasing cleaner for a thorough clean and leave the floor to dry for a few days. You’ll also need to fill in any cracks or holes with a concrete patch.

Best types of floor paint to try

Wood: Choose oil-based paints or enamels for wood paints that are designed for outdoor use. You can also choose water- or latex-based paints, but they’ll be more susceptible to chips, stains, and flakes. Glossy, semigloss, or satin finishes are all practical for floor paint.

Tile: After priming, use outdoor-flooring paint like deck or patio paint. Latex paint with gloss works especially well for patterned tiles. Chalk paint is a practical option if you want to skip the sanding and priming steps. If you’ve ever wondered how those rustic-chic dressers achieve that perfectly matte and charmingly imperfect finish, chalk paint achieves that look on tile floors.

Concrete: Epoxy paint is best for concrete floors. This type of coating prevents slips, which is an added bonus for high-traffic homes. Remember to use at least two coats of primer for concrete floors.

Other factors to consider

Paint roller with paint can on floor
Sven Brandsma/Unsplash

Paints are full of fumes, so whenever you’re working with primers or paints, open up doors and windows for better ventilation. If possible, keep your family out of the house for a day or two until fumes have dissipated.

Divide your painting project by rooms, or start with the upstairs and then downstairs to reduce exposure. Additionally, you can wear a face mask at the least, or a respirator if possible. These protective accessories filter out potentially harmful chemicals that cause lung, nose, or mouth irritation.

Besides safety, you’ll want to choose the best color floor paint that suits your home. White paints are popular for wooden floors and a summer-house vibe, but they may not be ideal for busy households. If your heart is set on light colors, remember to choose high-gloss paints for hardwood floors. These are more durable and are easier to clean than matte or eggshell finish paints.

Decorating your room will be easier if you choose a neutral color like white or gray. On the other hand, you can be a little more creative with tile or concrete floors. Choose a bright blue concrete paint or a sunflower yellow to make smaller areas pop.

If you don’t want to cover up your hardwood floors completely, choose a color that’s slightly darker than your existing floor. You can still showcase the original panels, but cover up slight blemishes like stains or fades.

When you paint a floor, you must take several steps to ensure your end result is just how you imagined it. Whether you’re covering old hardwood floors or revamping your bland kitchen tiles, painting your floor can be your best decorating move yet. It’s unexpected, relatively easy, and cost-effective even if you decide to take on the project yourself. So get creative and try out a small patch of your floor today before jumping into the big project.

If you’re looking for something much more specific, check out our guide on painting wooden floors white.

Editors' Recommendations

21Oak
These are the best shower plants for your bathroom (and why you really need one)
Shower plants have design and health benefits: Here are the best ones
Bathroom lowlight plants

Keeping indoor plants has been popular in interior design for years, but this nature-inspired decor has gone to a whole new level in recent years. From green being the "it" paint color of the year to design styles adopting a "friluftsliv" appeal, designers and DIYers alike are finding new and interesting ways to incorporate nature into the modern home. What's one of our favorite green design trends? The shower plant.

Whether you have a bathroom with a green palette or a super luxurious, modern bathroom design, keeping a plant inside your shower is a unique and fun design approach. Did you know that it's also incredibly beneficial for your health? These are the benefits of a shower plant — and the best ones you can get.

Read more
This is the paint color that will boost your home’s resale value, according to Zillow
This charcoal gray paint color is a winner
Gray and orange retro inspired living room

We know it can be a pain to pick paint colors for your home. Not only is it a big decision and one you'll have to live with for years (unless you really, really like painting), but finding just the right wall paint can be tricky depending on the lighting, finishes, and other decor in the home.

While there are many to choose from, if you want to add value to your home, a new report from Zillow may help you decide on that next kitchen paint color. While most think painting everything light will bring a fresh, clean look to your home before you sell, you'll be surprised to learn it's actually dark gray paint that's winning the hearts of home buyers.

Read more
Why your home should have an areca palm (and how to care for it)
Tips for properly caring for an indoor areca palm plant
Decorative areca palm

Your aesthetic indoor plants should reflect your unique style, and they should integrate seamlessly with your home's decor. Indoor palms are a joy for anyone wanting to bring a piece of the greenery from warmer climates into their interior design. If you're looking for a bold, tropical addition to your indoor space, an areca palm is a perfect choice. With their substantial height and sharp, feathery foliage, these palms add a fresh and bright statement to any room. Let's talk about the benefits of growing an areca palm in your home and how to care for this gorgeous plant properly.
Can an areca palm grow indoors?
While they can get substantially taller when planted outdoors, areca palms can still grow pretty well and actually make for fantastic indoor plants, reaching heights between six and seven feet tall. They'll grow between six to ten inches every year until they reach their mature height. Then these plants can last up to a decade indoors. You can limit the size of your areca palm by housing it in a planter that keeps it root-bound.

Benefits of having an areca palm indoors
Not only does this tall indoor plant bring aesthetic design and a mood-lifting splash of the tropics into your home, but it also offers numerous health benefits. This attractive palm can improve indoor air quality by removing toxins and adding humidity to the air, which is great if your indoor air tends to be a bit dry. Caring for a living thing like this palm is also a mood booster in itself.

Read more