Rethinking floors

How you treat your floors can change the sense of scale in a room, create niche spaces within rooms, or simply help sell a particular design concept or theme. Painting your floor can also be a great stop-gap measure while you save money for carpet, new floorboards or tiles.

By including your floor in your makeover plans you have a whole new canvas – a fifth wall – to experiment with.

Before you start

If you are considering a painted or stained floor in your space there are some things to consider before you start.

Make sure you have a solid vision for what you want the whole finished room to look like, and if that includes a bold floor it's a good idea to start there. Treat the floor as the anchor to the room design and layer your other colour choices and design decisions from there.

But, on the practical side, when it comes to actually implementing your design, leave the floor to last, or at least make sure it is covered well, so it doesn't get knocked or covered in paint splashes as you work on the ceilings and walls.

If you're painting wooden floorboards, you will need to sand, then wash and prime the surface first. Painted floors need to be pretty resilient, particularly in high traffic areas so proper preparation will help them last. Give yourself a good amount of time to go from prep to painted and dry – and make sure nobody walks on it in that time, until it's completely dry.

Painting tips

Once you've prepped your floor, use a clean roller to apply Resene Walk-on paint and ensure you lay-off with long, even strokes. Then leave to dry before applying the second coat.

Resene Walk-on has been specifically developed to be durable for floors as well as outdoor paths, steps, and porches. It has a durable satin finish and comes in a range of colours. To finish, add a coat of Resene Concrete Wax to help protect the floor and make it easier to clean.

If you're painting over flooring vinyl, lino or ceramic tiles, clean thoroughly and prime with Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer before painting. Some vinyl floors and lino may not be suitable for painting – try a test area first.

If you need help choosing the right finish for your floor, ask a Resene expert at your local Resene ColorShop or use the free Ask a Resene Tech Expert service online.

Top tip: Black and white paints on floors are more likely to show up dirt and marks than other shades, so it's often best to choose a mid-tone colour or paint on a pattern to help hide wear and tear.

Staining tips

If you're staining a wood floor, you'll need to take some time to remove any old stain and give the floor a thorough sanding.

If your floorboards have beautiful grain and colour that you want to retain try Resene Colorwood Natural. For a beachy effect that will still show the grain try Resene Colorwood Whitewash or Resene Colorwood Light Greywash.

If you are staining your floor a natural shade and have wooden furniture, pick a stain colour for the floor that is a different hue to your furniture, so it doesn't all just merge together.

Stain can also be a bold statement. You could try an unexpected shade such as Resene Colorwood Deep Purple or Resene Colorwood Desert Yellow, or for a high sheen, sophisticated finish go dark with Resene Colorwood Deep Oak, coated with Resene Qristal Clear polyurethane. Throw on a plush rug in cream or white for texture and added glamour.

Rugs are great on high traffic floor areas that are painted or stained to help reduce scuffing and dents. You could also stick felt pads on the feet of your furniture to help prevent scratching.

Top tip: When painting or staining your floor remember to leave yourself an exit! Start at the end of the room opposite the door and work your way out.

Optical illusions

Using lighter colours can, as a rule, make rooms feel larger and airier. To maximise the effect paint the floors the same or a tonally similar shade on the floor, this will help the walls recede behind your furnishings.

If you have a square-ish space you could try painting an oblong design down the centre of the room, almost like a faux rug, to add a sense of length. If you have a long, thin space paint some stripes or a faux mat horizontally to give the impression of width.

To add additional height to a room, take your floor colour up the walls at least a third, then paint a different colour over the top half of the walls toward a light, bright ceiling. This works best if your floor and lower wall colour is darker than the top.

If you have a large, cavernous multi-use room, you could try portioning off a section by painting the floor, walls and even the ceiling the same colour in a shade that contrasts or is at least different from the rest of the room. Your large space is intact, but you can have a clearly marked reading or working zone.

Design ideas

As they're fairly easy and inexpensive to change, painted floors can give you license to really experiment with design, creating fun and useful spaces that are also stylish and modern. Once you've embraced the idea of painting your floors, there's no limit to the things you can try. Here are some ideas for inspiration:

• Kids' bedrooms are a great place to experiment with painted floors. Create a racetrack or even a whole town layout, for toy cars; paint the floor in swirls of fiery lava colours for realistic games of “the floor is lava'. Try Resene Sebedee, Resene Red Hot and Resene Havoc. Paint other game designs like a colour-blocked hopscotch or a snakes and ladders board. And if your kids love the ocean, how about a gradient design starting with Resene Desert Sand and Resene Spanish White, blending into sea blues such as Resene Anakiwa, Resene Endeavour and Resene Malibu.

• Need an extra office space to work or learn from home? Paint out a corner or the dining room, a landing, a bedroom or even the hallway. Or paint a frame around your desk area to send a clear signal about what the space is being used for.

• Your floor design can also transport your room to a different time and place. To anchor an art deco space try simple black and white checks. Simply paint the floor Resene White first, then mask out squares and paint them with Resene Black. For something more mid-20th Century modern, try repeating geometric shapes. To give your room to a more exotic or historic place try more intricate repeated patterns in two different colours. Again it's best to completely paint your floor in one lighter shade first, then add your pattern over the top. Stencils, traced designs or masking are the best ways to keep your pattern regular.

• If you have a staircase, you could add a painted wooden runner down the centre, to resemble carpet.

• If you're keen on a tiled effect but don't want to tackle the tiling, you can paint a tiled effect. Simply paint two coats of the colour you'd like to be the grout colour first over the whole floor. Once dry, mask a grid pattern over the floor using thin masking tape – this will be the grout. Then paint your 'tile' colour using a contrasting Resene paint colour. If you want thinner grout, you can adjust your masked areas to suit. Or create a herringbone or other decorative tile effect by being a little more creative with your masking. Remember to remove the masking tape before the paint fully cures so you get nice clean lines.

August 31, 2021

See the habitat by Resene website for a huge range of projects by home decorators to inspire your project. Then visit your Resene ColorShop to get everything you need to decorate your home inside and out.

Book a colour consult | Ask a Colour Expert | Ask a Paint Expert

Resene's decorating blog

Paint your home beautiful! Discover the latest decorating trends, tips and colour news.