How to Paint Vinyl Floors for Long-Lasting Results

Do you have old, outdated vinyl floors but no budget to replace them? FEAR NOT! You can totally transform them on a tiny budget. Read on to learn how to paint vinyl floors. And don't worry–painting vinyl floors is a super durable option if you use the right supplies. Mine still looked perfect after SEVEN years!

DIY painted vinyl floors

Many of you have already checked out my $71.00 laundry room DIY renovation. One of my favorite parts of my laundry room renovation is the painted linoleum vinyl floor. After I originally published this, it was pointed out to me on Pinterest (rather rudely) that linoleum floors are different than vinyl. I googled it and in fact, that is true. But, Google also informed me that even flooring stores use the terms interchangeably. In any event, technically, my floors are VINYL. My painted VINYL floors are gorgeous and have held up beautifully for 7 years now! No chipping or peeling. I'm amazed!

This post was originally published in November 2013 and was fully updated in Februray 2022.

Now, let's review what the floor looked like BEFORE I painted it.  Ummm…yuck.

laundry room before renovations

It was such an outdated brick pattern and was vinyl. Not my cup of tea. But, I did not want to spend much money on the floor. I had seen painted vinyl floors that had turned out beautifully, so I gave it a shot.

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How to Paint Vinyl Floors: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

Materials needed

Steps to Painting Vinyl Floors

Time needed: 2 days

  1. Select the pattern and colors to use.

    I opted for a striped pattern for painting my vinyl floors. Instead of going with deep black and stark white, I wanted a softer look, so I used an antique white and charcoal grey. I purchased 1 quart of each color in Valspar at Lowe's. Be SURE to purchase porch and floor paint. It is durable and is intended for foot traffic. Do not purchase regular paint!

  2. Clear and clean the floor area.

    I was lucky that our laundry room was large enough to scoot the washer and dryer in and out of position to paint the floor underneath it. But, if you are not so lucky, you will have to move those bad boys somewhere else for a few days. After you clear the floor, you need to clean the floor.  Vacuum and sweep to make sure it is clear of dust and dirt. Some people recommend using TSP (a heavy-duty cleaner), but I did not have any on hand, so I used my normal floor cleaner (I use Mrs. Meyer's All Purpose Cleaner).

  3. Prime the floor.

    I used regular old KILZ General Purpose Interior Primer to prime the entire floor. I poured the primer directly on the floor and used a small paint roller to spread it. I only used one coat of primer and that worked just fine. I did it around 9pm one night and let it dry overnight.
    You don't have to live with old, outdated vinyl floors! You can learn how to paint vinyl floors in a way that will last for YEARS with this step-by-step tutorial. Click to read it!

  4. Paint your vinyl floor with your base coat of paint.

    After letting the primer dry overnight, I painted the entire floor with my base color, antique white, twice. That's right, two coats. Fortunately, this paint dries pretty quickly, but I did use a large box fan to speed the process along. I was able to get these two coats done in one day. Then, I let the base color dry overnight. I am not going to lie, this was kind of a messy project. Be prepared to scrub your feet!
    You don't have to live with old, outdated vinyl floors! You can learn how to paint vinyl floors in a way that will last for YEARS with this step-by-step tutorial. Click to read it!

  5. Paint your stripes.

    The following night, I taped off my stripes using regular blue painter’s tape. I used the existing brick pattern to determine the width of my stripes, which eliminated the need to measure first. Note that my floor had some definite texture to it, so I knew bleeding would happen, but I just rolled with it. I knew it would be an easy fix later. However, if you absolutely want to avoid bleeding, follow this step: After taping your floors, add one more thin coat of your base color over the entire floor–paint OVER the tape.This will seal the crisp lines and prevent any bleeding. Trust me, it works on textured surfaces.
    You don't have to live with old, outdated vinyl floors! You can learn how to paint vinyl floors in a way that will last for YEARS with this step-by-step tutorial. Click to read it!
    Next, I painted the stripes with my secondary color, charcoal dark grey. I also painted two coats of this color. I let the first coat dry overnight (mostly because it was late) and completed the second coat the next night.
    You don't have to live with old, outdated vinyl floors! You can learn how to paint vinyl floors in a way that will last for YEARS with this step-by-step tutorial. Click to read it!

  6. Remove the painter's tape and do any necessary touch-ups.

    Once your stripes are dry, remove the tape. If you have some bleeding, do not panic. Just grab an angled paint brush and use it to “cut in” along the stripes to make them nice and crisp. It sounds tedious, but this step took me less than 15 minutes to do my touch ups!

That's it! Now you know how to paint vinyl (or linoleum) floors. It sounds like a lot of steps (and it is), but each step takes no more than 10 to 20 minutes. I found painting my floor moved FAR more quickly than painting walls. I think all of the steps combined took me less than 2 hours (excluding drying time).  In other words, it was easy to knock out in the evenings after work without being too exhausted the next day.

The end result is GORGEOUS! Painting our vinyl floors is the MOST WORTHWHILE 2 HOURS OF MY DIY LIFE! I absolutely love, love, love this floor.

Frequently asked questions

Do painted vinyl floors hold up floor over time?

I painted this floor in October 2013. This floor was painted for over SEVEN years and it still looked absolutely perfect before we covered it up with peel-and-stick marble tile as part of our laundry room refresh when we put our house on the market. We had not “babied” it at all. We were as rough on it as you might expect–laundry baskets were scooted across it, etc. There was no damage or scratching whatsoever from daily use. We did have to remove and replace the water heater a couple of years ago and the floor did get scraped in one area when the plumber dragged the old water heater out, but that was understandable and an easy to touch up.

How do you clean the painted floor?

We never used anything special–mostly Swiffer wet pads. You can also mop like normal with warm water and soap!

Do I need to sand before I paint?

I did not sand! No sandpaper or liquid deglosser needed. The paint adheres to the primer and doesn't need the extra grit. Just a quick wipe down with a sponge or clean cloth to prep the floor!

Doesn't the painted floor need a top coat to make it more durable?

No, no, no, no, no. I cannot overstate this. Porch and floor paint contains everything the paint needs for durability built into it. And if you put a top coat on it, it is very likely to yellow, which is probably not the look you want. We had no issues with durability. We also painted and stenciled our wood kitchen floors with this same paint. It endured FAR more foot traffic and abuse than this laundry room floor and held up just as well without a top coat. Trust the product!

If you want to tackle this project yourself, why not make it easier by being able to print the instructions?! Just fill out the form below to grab your free printable instructions :)

affordable laundry room makeover with painted vinyl floor
affordable laundry room makeover with painted vinyl floor

What do you think? Are you tempted to paint vinyl floors now?! This would also work in a bathroom or mudroom and you can easily incorporate a tile look with a stencil if you want that look. You could certainly update an outdated floor with tile stickers also, but that would be much more expensive. Don't be afraid of this DIY project now that you see how easy it really is to transform your outdated vinyl or linoleum flooring!

Other posts you may enjoy:

Wondering how I approach transforming rooms and spaces in our home? Check out Designer in a Binder®.

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photo and blog post signature of Tasha Agruso for Kaleidoscope Living

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325 Comments

  1. I’ve had this article, saved on my phone for about a month, and today I primed a small section on each floor that I want to paint. One is inside a little pantry in my kitchen, which has a linoleum (or VINYL! 🤷🏼‍♀️) flooring, and another spot I’m trying is in our coat closet in the foyer which has tile that is not glossy. Both floors are ugly and we’re here when we bought the house this past summer. Wish me luck.!

  2. Hi cud u tell me the brand name of the products you used I’m thinking about painting my kitchen floor and my bathroom floor and I was wondering what are the names of the products I would greatly appreciate it. If you could send me a message to let me know the name brand that you used I would like to use the same stuff by the way your floor looks great. I probably would just do one color but you’re very talented. I couldn’t do all that other stuff, but I’m thinking of painting over linoleum floor and both my bathroom and kitchen is there not pretty ty

  3. I used these instructions, and I absolutely love the look of my refinished bathroom floors.

  4. You said you used KILZ General Purpose Interior Primer. I haven’t seen anything called general purpose? Did you use all purpose or multi purpose in the blue and white can?
    Thank you for the post. This was exactly what I needed for our new house!

  5. If I were to do this in my kitchen, do you think I should sand first or do you think the primer would be enough (being that there would be more traffic than a laundry room). Also, do you think it is safe to use a steam mop on a painted floor? Thanks for the thorough steps.

      1. Love the floors! I was wondering since your floors are vinyl do you know if linoleum floors can be painted as well?

  6. So, do you know whether this will work just as well on linoleum as it did on vinyl? I have linoleum that I’ve been planning to paint. Thanks.

  7. Do you think this would work on linoleum? I have an old house an I am sure it is linoleum. It is like it was rolled out in hugecsheets.

    1. Valspar Porch and Floor Latex Satin Enamel Paint–it is in the source list at the very beginning of the post with a link to the product! Thanks for reading!

  8. I painted my bathroom floor with eggshell latex. It’s dull, and rough under foot. Can it be varathane?

  9. Why the Kilz primer specifically instead of a regular primer? I know Kilz is used to prime over areas that have been burned out over wood knots so they don’t bleed through the paint, but will the regular floor underneath bleed through?

    Also, no sanding the vinyl first?

    1. Kilz is used primarily because it will “seal out” any type of oily stain. It prevents the said stain from “seeping back up” into your final paint job. That’s why pros have used it for decades. It also seals out odor from say, a room that someone smoked in for years.

  10. I actually recently did this to the flooring in my kitchen. But now that it’s done and I need to clean…what do you use to clean/mop the floor that’s safe?

  11. That looks amazing. I’m thinking of painting my kitchen tile floor. I have a tiny kitchen (as big as your laundry room) as I live in an apartment. But that doesn’t mean I hv to put up with builder grade boring tile floor. Stripes seem easier than stencilling and it makes the room look longer. Have u tried stencilling floors?

  12. You’re AMAZING!!!! I was a fine art major in college an have been struggling with how to “make-sure-for-sure” that I would correctly do this on my kitchen floor. Especially with kids! Not only was your tutorial fantastic but the way you wrote it was hysterical! You’re right, you are a designer trapped in an attorney’s body! ?
    Thank you! I can’t wait to get started on my floor!
    Kim

  13. I LOVE it! I painted / refinished my kitchen counters and a bit of the top coat dripped past my drop clothes onto the floor and I didn’t catch it in time.. Long story short my ugly floors really look ugly now! :) Did you put any type of top coat or sealer on it? How do you mop / wash the floors? I generally use a steam mop to clean and was wondering if you think it would pull up the paint. Thanks! I will post pics if I do it! I’m painting my concrete screened porch floor in a couple of weeks with that exact type of paint in a gray blue color :)

    1. I don’t use a steam mop so I cannot honestly say. We use a little bit of vinegar in water or Mrs. Meyer’s cleaning solution to clean the floor. They are very easy to care for! Best bet is to test a small spot and see how it handles it. Good luck on the concrete!

  14. PRO TIP! If you paint some more of the white over lapping the tape a bit on the side that you want to paint grey, it will create a cleaner line because the white fills the gaps of where the grey would bleed. This removes any space that the grey would have to bleed under the tape. Feel me?

  15. How does this last for wear and tear? Does it chip? I have a kitchen floor and would get heavy traffic. Would this be worth doing?

    1. They are holding up PERFECTLY! We did have some chipping when we had to remove our VERY heavy old water heater because we had to drag it along the floor, but that will be easy to touch up. Bottom line— it’s holding up perfectly to normal wear and tear. Thanks for reading!

    2. I haven’t painted floors, but I have used Valspar porch paint for cabinets. They hold up AMAZING. It’s been about 5 years and I don’t have one chip. And the paint is so easy to use, just roll it on and it self-levels. LOVE this paint. I can’t wait to paint my icky bathroom floors! I’m so excited! EEEK!

  16. That looks gorgeous. My question is if you have nicks or cuts can you fill them in with something and paint over it?

  17. I am jealous of your huge laundry room! And the floors look awesome! Shared with a friend who’s thinking about painting her bathroom floors.

  18. Just curious, you didn’t sand floors, in another tutorial I saw they did, is it necessary, it would be nice to skip that!

    T

    1. It all depends on whether you want to see the grout. If you do then paint first, if not then paint after. Good luck!

  19. Beautiful floors! Great job, I’m wondering are you able to mop the floors as normal? I’m worried that the paint may not be able to stand up to a weekly mopping.

  20. Hi there. How is it holding up? I plan to do my kitchen and want to ensure it’s worth all the time and effort.

    Thx

    1. They are holding up PERFECTLY! We did have some chipping when we had to remove our VERY heavy old water heater because we had to drag it along the floor, but that will be easy to touch up. Bottom line— it’s holding up perfectly to normal wear and tear.

  21. Do you have dogs? Is it durable enough to handle their nails without scratching ? I’m getting ready to make the plunge and paint our floors……

    1. We have a big ole boxer and he has walked on it! Good luck and hope it turns out great. Thanks for reading!

    1. We use a little bit of vinegar in water or Mrs. Meyer’s cleaning solution to clean the floor. They are very easy to care for!

  22. Would you suggest doing this on a kitchen floor where you have table and chairs? Would the chairs eventually rub the paint off?

  23. This may be a stupid question, but if you put a coat of base paint over the top of the tape, how do you see where to paint your stripes? Please fill me in, because I LOVE the striped pattern and plan to do this in my kitchen.

  24. want to do small bathroom but would like diff colors can it be done with paint not floor paint if you put on a coat of polyurthin after

    1. Hi Norma–I would not paint a floor with anything other than porch and floor paint. Latex paint, even with polyurethane on top, would not be durable enough in my opinion. Hope that helps!

  25. Your laundry room came out beautifully! I’m prepping to paint my vinyl kitchen floors tomorrow! I was inspired by Kelly’s blog several months ago and found yours doing additional research. I’ve been using both posts for guidance with my project :) I cleaned and sanded today and plan to prime and paint tomorrow. I’m a little nervous but SO EXCITED! Thanks for sharing your DIY bravado and inspiring us all to do the same!

  26. Hi Tasha,
    What a remarkable difference this paint makes! I’m a pro faux finisher by trade, blogger by night. LOL. I might check into the chemistry behind this and see what I learn about it. Did you top coat your floor? I’m only asking, because even though I’m a faux finisher, it doesn’t mean I even have gorgeous floors. How great is that testimony to what I do? Oy vay. Ha ha. How are your floors holding up now several years later? I know. So many questions. I’m fascinated by this transformation and would be interested in doing this on my hideous linoleum in the kitchen. It needs replacing so badly, but I havent found anything that quite fits with the look that I want. When I do find something it is a pretty penny for cost.

    We would love to have you link up your DIY’s with us at Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop. I do hope you will consider bringing awesome projects like this over. There are 6 hostesses. We each visit a group on folks that link and then I go rogue looking for links like this. :-) Would love to see you there.

    Olivia- Co-hostess
    Reinvented Collection

    1. Hi Olivia! We did not top coat the floors and they are holding up PERFECTLY. We painted the wood floors in our kitchen and dining room (which are more heavily used) and they are holding up perfectly as well without a top coat. Thanks so much for the invite to your link party!

  27. LOVE LOVE LOVE this. However after reading this I released that I in fact have linoleum and not vinyl. Is it the same process?

  28. It looks amazing, Thanks for sharing !! I do disagree with your angry poster though, If your flooring is all in one piece then it is good old linoleum. :)

  29. Hi,
    I am interested I doing this project, but would first pinto know what cleaning products are safe to use on the floor once the project is completed… Like can I use a steam floor cleaner or swiffer pad on it? Will the paint hold up to those or similar products??

  30. I would love to try this in the half bath. Do we need to remove the toilet before working on this? Or could we just tape it off? It’s a tiny room but I would love to cover up the 80’s vinyl floor. Not gonna even try in the laundry room as there is nowhere to move the washer and dryer. Unless I decide to just paint in front of them. We’ll see how the little bathroom goes.

  31. I have very old peel and stick tiles I’d love to do this to. Do you think any additional prep would be needed to avoid the paint getting into the small spaces between tiles or does it not matter?

    1. Hi Ana! I don’t think that would matter at all! I would follow the same steps. It’s possible that if you put the paint on too heavily and get big drips in the cracks it could cause the tiles to peel, but I doubt it. Just be sure to put the paint on in thin layers–that’s what I did anyway :)

  32. Love this idea! I’m at step one tonight. Primed and ready to go with the base coat tomorrow! I even have the same vinyl flooring pattern, but in a dark (ugh) brick red color. I’m using antique white and blue. I’m so inspired! Thanks for the tutorial!
    (This is for our pantry that used to be the laundry room as well).

    joanne

      1. Well the deed is complete and wonderful. Thanks for the perfect inspiration. I followed your easy instructions and done in 3 days. I used Glad wrap “press n seal” for my paint “liner” and after it dried I just peel it from the plastic paint pan and clean up is easy peasy. It’s also easy to cover and store your paint right in the pan till the next day or use.

        joanne

    1. Nothing special, Rick! Usually we use Mrs. Meyer’s cleaning solution, but sometimes we use our Swiffer wet jet solution. Both work just fine :) I hope that helps!

  33. I really like this idea for my kitchen, 1/2 bath and entry way but I do have a few scuffs and read to use caulk on another site. If I use caulk do I need to sand it and should the entire floor be sanded. In your laundry room, has anyone been wearing heels that could scratch it, that is my only other concern being it will be a high traffic area, daily use.

    Thank you in advance for any advice!

    1. Hi Brandy! The only scratches we have had came from removing and reinstalling a new, GIANT and very heavy water heater in the laundry room. We have not had any wear and tear from regular use. I can’t say that I have worn heels in the laundry room, but we definitely scoot plastic laundry baskets around and roll the vacuum cleaner around in it with no problems at all. We also painted our very high traffic kitchen using this same paint and haven’t had any scratches on it either–you can see that post here: https://designertrapped.com/2015/01/diy-stenciled-floors.html. I hope that helps!

  34. Love it! Do you know if you can do the same on cheap laminate? Got horrible dark “wood” effect cheaply laminate in my hallway and unable to afford to replace it yet as we want to do the whole downstairs the same!

  35. I love this idea and want to try it in my kitchen, but the vinyl floor we have is older and has a few scratches and holes. Any tips on how to remedy it before we paint?

    1. Hi Patty! We were lucky that our vinyl floor was in great shape. You could try caulking the holes, but I am not sure what you can do about the scratches. Sorry!

  36. The indestructible tiles are generally referred to as VA tiles (in OH) or VCT which I believe is “Varible Composite Tile” we called them VA because they met the building standards (minimum) for VA Loans. Often used in schools and institutional applications as well – needing waxed and buffed. fyi” part of the variable was “asbestos”

  37. just wondering what the dry time is (do you need to wait overnight?) I’m trying to get this project done before I leave for Chicago in a day! And, is there a reason you did two coats of the white before painting the stripes? Is that completely necessary even if you are using white on white (same color as primer)?

  38. Hi!

    I’m curious to know how the painting has lasted? It’s now about 1 1/2 years later. Has there been any disturbing wear or peeling or anything such or is it as nice as it was as you painted it, just with some normally acceptable marks of usage?

    I want to paint our “puke” colored floors, too, and would appreciate a ton to know :-)

    1. Hi Ketutar! The paint is holding up PERFECTLY to normal wear and tear. We did have to have our hot water heater in the laundry room replaced and removing the old one scraped some of the paint off, but it weighed about 100 pounds and we had to scoot it, so that is understandable. Nothing a little touch up can’t fix :) But the rest of the floor looks like I just painted it yesterday. AMAZING!

  39. The floor looks wonderful! You’ve certainly inspired me to try this. We are looking at purchasing a log cabin second home that needs some love. We will be on a very tight budget. The bathroom flooring is horrible. Do you have any suggestions how to make the floors look like stone, brick, or slate? After researching Pinterest, I think that would be the best look for a cabin bathroom. Thank you in advance for your help!!

    1. Hmmm, I’m not sure, Julie, but I bet you could play around with porch and floor paint and think painter’s tape to mimic the look of grout and tile :) Good luck!

    1. Hi Amy! If you use latex paint, YES, the paint will pull up. But if you use the porch and floor paint that I used, it shouldn’t be a problem at all. Hope that helps!

  40. Looks amazing! We have the ugliest puke brown tile in our entry way… I am wondering, do you think I could do this to tile??

  41. Love how this turned out! I’m definitely going to try this myself. Also, I absolutely LOVE the green paint in the laundry room and the blue in the hallway. Can you tell me the brand and color names?

    1. Hi Lynn! Thank you :) The green in the laundry room is Soothing Aloe by Valspar and the hallway is Babbling Brook by Olympic. Both brands are sold at Lowe’s!

  42. Hello,
    Can I ask what color you used for the yellow on your walls? I love how light it is! Great job on your floor too!!! :)

  43. Linoleum is quite rare nowadays, since people found in its heyday that it didn’t hold up well over time and is sensitive to chemicals. I’m an interior designer and I’ve spec’d it once, for a project that wanted to get a “green” tax benefit from a LEED rating (linoleum is made from linseed oil). Chances are your readers had vinyl anyway and this tutorial would have worked fine :) Thanks for the inspiration! Looks like it turned out great.

    1. My husband and I purchased an older home (built in the 70’s) and have done nothing with the kitchen floor. Never liked it mainly because it is a light color and is super hard to keep clean. Love the painting idea but am curious if you think we have linoleum or vinyl and if it makes a difference in painting.

      1. Just wanted to check – it looks like you didn’t sand? And it’s held up ok?
        (My husband and I are currently debating whether to get some kind of power sander to do our floor.)

          1. I cannot believe that I have the EXACT same vinyl flooring!!! I redid my kitchen and replaced it with porcelain slate tiles, but the bathrooms have that vinyl too, and I always hated it. So good to see someone who had success with painting MY vinyl and can’t wait to do the bathrooms as we are selling the home soon, and want to cover them. Cheaply!!!! And so easy, don’t mind getting dirty, the daughter of a painting contractor, used to it lol!!! Thank you so much for the push to get ‘er done, will send you some b4 and after pics to use on your blog too. Thanks again! Jill

          2. Tasha- Thank you so much for sharing your DIY project! Your floor looks FANTASTIC and I am now seriously considering this makeover project in the KITCHEN of a rental house I own! My question for you is about cleaning the floor / maintenance: Since the floor I plan to paint is a kitchen, where it is more likely to experience food spills/splatters do you think the finish will hold up to more frequent cleaning? What specific product(s) and/or methods do you use to clean your floor? Are there any specific cleaning products/methods that can NOT be used? (ie: Steam Mopping etc…)
            Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me!
            Christy

          3. Hi Christy! Thank you for your sweet comment! We used this same porch and floor paint on our kitchen floors and they are holding up beautiful with FREQUENTLY cleaning, and our 90 pound Boxer running around on them, AND our twin girls who aren’t exactly gentle on floors. We wet mop the floor and use Swiffer Wet Jet in between moppings. I would be nervous to use a steam mop, but it may work just fine. I hope that helps!

  44. Yes!!!! I’m totally temped to paint a vinyl floor now. My biggest worry was how it would hold up and I like to hear that yours is going strong. I have a half gallon of porch/floor paint in a medium gray leftover from another project. It’s going into my boy’s bathroom and on a small vinyl landing pad on our back staircase. I’ve hated the floors for awhile, but didn’t want to spend the money to replace them. This will be a good fix for us, even if temporary.

  45. I love this idea so much. I want to do my ugly bathroom floor! I keep being told I can’t paint the floor in there but just watch me lol…you proved that it totally can work! Thank you. xo

  46. Is it weird that I actually WANT old, crappy looking floors just so I can do this? Our house was only built a year ago, and I’m pretty sure my husband would kill me if I painted brand new vinyl but DANG yours look good. :)

  47. I am wondering if you sealed the floor? I just painted my bathroom floor with the same paint you used, and yet it has practically no sheen. Did you use a sealer on top?
    Your floor looks great.
    Laurie

  48. I love this for my uuuugly kitchen floor :) If only I could find a way to paint the orange 70s carpet in the laundry/bathroom… Eeek. I’ll probably have to upgrade that stuff to tile ;)

  49. Hey Tasha! That looks awesome! Just wondering what you use to clean them and how you go about cleaning them, and, also, how often do you clean them? Thanks :)

  50. Hi, love this! We are about to try something similar. I ran across a site that said to sand the gloss off the vinyl before painting to make it adhere. Did you do this step?

  51. will this work on linoleum and vinyl? I don’t really know what type of flooring I have, but can I use this method on either?

  52. Would love to do this to a floor in my house. Just wondering, how are the floors a few years later? Any upkeep or maintenance required?
    Would love any info :)
    Thanks!

    1. Hi Andrea! The floors are holding up perfectly EXCEPT for where we had to have our water heater replaced. It was super heavy and it had to be dragged out of place, so that pulled up some of the paint, but it will be easy to touch up. But, it is holding up perfectly to normal use!

  53. Love this idea! I have an ugly linoleum (vinyl?) floor in my house that I would love to paint as a temporary fix until we redo the room later down the road.

    Just wondering, how is the floor holding up a few years later? Any touch ups or additional care needed?

    Would love an update! Thanks so much :)

  54. How long ago did you do this? Has enough time passed that you can say it definitely holds up over time? I love the idea. I have loads of vinyl squares that my husband wants to use but i don’t like the color. This would be a great option but its a high traffic area (kitchen) and I wouldn’t want to have a major job down the road redoing it all.

    1. Hi Sherrie! We painted the floors in October, 2013 and they are holding up fabulously. We also painted the floors in our kitchen with the same type of paint and they are also holding up perfectly, even in the face of HEAVY family use! Hope that helps!

  55. I never thought of using paint to cover the UGLY flooring in my laundry room. I plan to move soon and know I can save money by painting it! Thank you!!

  56. Just wondering – I love the new look and I understand that it is porch paint – but would it stand up well to an entry way to the outside? My kitchen floor runs to my back door which is heavily used in winter with ice and snow being dragged in under wet boots that may sit on the painted floor.

    Thanks! :)

    1. Thanks, Sherrie! I think it would hold up just fine in an entry way. We come into our kitchen (which is painted with the same porch and floor paint) from outside regularly and the floor gets a ton of use and abuse from our busy family. It is holding up PERFECTLY. Hope that helps!

  57. I rent a condo and have really ugly vinyl floors in the bathroom, kitchen and entry way. I never thought about this, but maybe I can alter a little for removable flooring. Thank you so much!

  58. hi there i have just bought a vintage caravan and i cant find any floral /shabby lino to suit the caravan. im thinking i could get a pale blue line, decoupage some big floral blooms then coat them in some sort of clear resin/paint to seel them .. do you think this might work and can you recomend a suitable coating which could be hoof proof! thanks for any help

      1. I used porch paint in the past on our hardwood floors & did my topcoat with polyurethane. Perhaps this could also work for your découpage project?

  59. Am I correct that you neither sanded nor de-glossed for this project? I apologize for the waste of time if I have simply overlooked that part.

    Thank you so much I am hoping to paint the back splash in my just-purchased home that is a dated vinyl FLOORing. Ah well. Durable? Yes. Stylish ? No.
    I look forward to your reply. Thank you!! :)
    P.s. Beautiful job on yours!

    1. Thanks so much, Jennifer! Yes, you are correct. We did sand or de-gloss. I painted the back splash in our kitchen and it is a drastic improvement over what was there before! Would love to know how your floors and back splash turn out!

  60. Your floors look great! I’m so excited to do this to our bathroom and front entryway! Just wondering, did you sand the gloss off the floors first? I noticed that Kelly at View Along the Way mentioned that step, but you didn’t. If I can avoid an unnecessary step with a noisy tool, that would be great!

  61. I was wondering. If I just want to paint my kitchen floor one solid color of black. Do I still need 2 coats of a base color? And if so what would that be?
    I did see to do 1 coat of primer first.
    Thanks much!

  62. Hi,
    I was thinking about doing this and you convinced me. You don’t mention anything about sealing the paint… is that necessary all other sites say to put poly on it… seems like you did not. What do you wash your floor with, is bleach out of the question, something mild like soap and vinegar. It look fantastic.. can’t wait to do mine.

    1. Hi Marie! No top coat is necessary! We use a mild cleanser {either vinegar and water or Mrs. Meyers} to clean it. It’s holding up perfectly. We painted our kitchen floor with the same type of paint, no top coat, and it’s holding up perfectly, too! Hope that helps!

  63. Hey, that’s pretty good-looking. Good for you for trying this and sharing it! I’m assuming it’s still holding up?!

    I have a worn-out vinyl floor in my rental kitchen. It’s hard to keep clean because it seems to attract dust now that the sheen has long since taken its leave. I might just try this- I love it. Seems like the perfect simple, sorta cheap solution.

    And yes, linoleum is a whole different animal and has amazing longevity, along with an ability to be shined up very nicely, even when the floor is old. It also has that cool retro look. Vinyl is generally a poor substitute and doesn’t deserve to be called linoleum, though I understand its popularity. I correct people when it’s appropriate because even though floor retailers have forgotten the difference, I just want to stick up for linoleum. I’m sorry someone was rude to you, though. That’s just not necessary.

  64. I love the laundry room floor!! So inspiring! I have been in my house now for 7 years and the kitchen is the last thing we have focused on. We want to replace the floor but have a some settling so the floor is uneven. It would be costly to correct the issue and level the floor. We have one sheet WHITE vinyl on the floor now and it drives me crazy!I constantly sweep the floor all day. I want to try this and do a multi size “tile” pattern with the paint.

    1. Thanks so much, Theresa! You should go for it. It’s such a fun project and is a high impact change on a tiny budget! If you do it, please let me know how it turns out!

  65. I seriously want to do this in the kitchen! It’s a fairly large room and I’m worried about the stripes being too much? What do you think? Would it be over kill? Also I have a shark steam cleaner I love! Think it would be a bad idea to use that to clean the floors after the paint?

    1. Hi Kelly! I don’t think it would be too much at all–check out how I painted our kitchen floors with a stencil: I think the stripes would look lovely in a kitchen! I do not know about the use of a shark steam cleaner on it. I don’t have one and have never tried it. But, we mop both our laundry room floor and our kitchen floor with no issues. Hope that helps!!!

  66. I just stumbled across this reveal, and I love it! I’m going to try it with my girls’ bathroom, which has some horrendous linoleum. Yep, I said it…linoleum! And nobody can change my mind. ;)

    1. Hi Stacy! Are we talking about a tile floor? If so, I honestly don’t know if this would work on tiles. I have never tried it. I do think there are special products sold for painting tiles. Petite Modern Life recently painted her tub and tiles with a special product. You should check out her blog for more info.

  67. I love your floors! What kind of paint did you use? And I’m curious that you chose not to do a top coat? Can you comment on that?
    Thanks!
    s

    1. Hi Sarah! Thank you. The top coat is just not necessary with the porch and floor paint and can cause yellowing. The floors were painted almost a year ago and are still in perfect condition. I hope that helps!

  68. Just need some clarification. Your directions call for 1 quart of each colour. In step one you indicate grey 1 gallon? Is this because there is no smaller amount available or do I need to purchase a gallon to complete the floor. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I just found your blog posted on Buzfeed DIY

    1. Hi Islay! Great question. The gallon must be a typo {that I will fix–thanks for bringing it to my attention}. I used only 1 quart of each color. I hope that helps!

    1. Hi Sophie! It’s still holding up PERFECTLY and we have since painted our kitchen floors with great results as well! I think as long as you start with nice, clean floors, prime and then use porch and floor paint, you should be good!

    1. Hi Kristy! I have not personally tried it on linoleum, but have done it on vinyl and wood with great success, so I can’t think of any reason it would not work on linoleum, but I just can’t answer definitively.

  69. Your floors look great! How are they holding up? I just embarked on painting my kitchen floor – did you put a polyurethane or gloss on top to seal the floor?

    Thanks!

    1. Thanks so much, Katie! We just painted our kitchen floors as well. Both the kitchen floors and the laundry room floors are holding up perfectly. We did put a coat of poly over the kitchen floors and they YELLOWED {even though the poly we purchased specifically said it would not yellow}. We had to start over from scratch which with 7 hours of stenciling in the kitchen was not fun. Long store short…do not use poly! The porch and floor paint holds up well on its own!

    1. Hi Rose! Thanks so much for sharing! One of my favorite blogger (Kelly at View Along the Way) inspired this project and her floors were somewhat damaged. You may want to check her blog out. As I recall, she repaired some of the damage with caulk with great success!

  70. Love it! Pinned it! You did an awesome job – it looks great! So chic! Love your blog, btw. Very clean and easy to navigate! Hope you had an awesome SITS day :)

    1. Thanks so much, Jen! I really appreciate your compliment on my blog design! Thanks so much for stopping by from SITS. I did have an awesome SITS day!

  71. LOVE it!!! Our bathroom floors are vinyl…I might have to consider this when we go to re-do them, instead of all new flooring! Thanks for sharing!!! It’s great to know this works! :) {And happy SITS day!}

  72. Love the floors! We want to do this in our bathroom. My question is……does the floor clean up nicely (mopping)? Also is there some sort of shine to it, or does it have a dull finish?

    1. The floor cleans up fabulously with mopping. There is not much of a shine to it. It’s a fairly dull finish {like a satin or eggshell finish}. Hope that helps!

  73. This is fabulous! I want to do this in my laundry/mud room….just wondering how you clean it? Do you mop like a regular floor?

    1. Thank you, Lari! Yes, we just mop it light a regular floor. We have also done it in our kitchen, which gets TONS more traffic and it is holding up beautifully! Have fun! Let me know how yours turns out.

  74. I may have missed my answer but does it have to be a certain type of paint to use on the floor? I am thinking of doing this with my kitchen and bath is why I ask.

    I love this ideal very much! Thanks for sharing with us

    1. Hi China! It needs to be porch or floor paint. There is a link in the post that you can click on to see exactly what I am referring to. I just did it in my kitchen as well and love it!

  75. My concern is that my 25 year old vinyl floor has cracks and small indentations. I could change the color but they would still have the pits etc. any ideas? Money has been tight and this would be perfect.

  76. Love this idea! I’m moving into a mobile home and have some old lino/vinyl issues to deal with. I’m going with a shabby chic motif so I think I’ll do an antique white like you did with a robins egg blue stripe to give it that soft ‘barn floor’ feeling! Hope you’re leaving these instructions up so we can all refer to them again! Thanks for sharing!

  77. Great idea…do you think this would work in a bathroom w/ all the moisture or a mud room w/ all the dirt & “whatever else” tracked in from outside?

  78. I love love love what you made out of that laundry room floor! I’m renting an apartment with an ugly vinyl kitchen floor. Is there any way to paint it and then get it back to its former state when we move out?

  79. This looks great! I have some ugly kitchen floors that would love to look like this. I have pets, do you? I am wondering how the paint would hold up to kitty paws (claws) running over it. Any thoughts?

    1. Hi Babs. We have an 85-pound Boxer, but no cats. And honestly, Titan doesn’t travel into our laundry room very often. BUT, we will be painting our kitchen floor in the next month and I plan to use the same process BUT I will also add a couple of coats of polyurethane, which I think will make it more durable so that it will withstand Titan’s toenails. I hope that helps!

  80. I’d love to try this in my bathroom and laundry room. My husband is concerned that paint won’t stick to the vinyl. Did you have any trouble with it peeling up off the vinyl?

  81. Ran across this on Pinterest….AWESOME!!!! Your idea is now going to save me from having to spend $100’s on putting in a new floor and best of all….I get what I WANT!!! Thanks so much for sharing this Tasha! Your floor looks amazing! Can’t wait to see what else you come up with! Have a great day!

    1. Hi Kristey! Hmmm, I’m not sure about a bathroom. For the laundry room floor, we use Mrs. Meyer’s, which is very gentle, and our floor is still holding up beautifully. My guess is that if you coated the porch paint with some type of polyurethane, it would hold up better to more “hard core” cleaners. I hope that helps!

    1. Hi Junnie! I actually plan to paint my kitchen floors in the next few months. I do plan to add a layer of polyurethane over the kitchen floors for added protection and then I think they will be fine for the additional foot traffic.

  82. Shut the front door, there must have been a sale on this flooring because I have the same ugly, yukky stuff in my Kitchen and Bathroom, and now I know I can paint it it will be gone, outta here!! Thank so much for sharing, your floors look beautiful!!

  83. Tasha!!! This is so smart! I love it…I can totally see myself doing something like this in one of our bathrooms or laundry room! I painted a wood floor in our old house, but it never occurred to me to paint the linoleum!

    1. Thanks so much, April! I wish I could take credit for the idea, but Kelly at View Along the Way deserves the credit for inspiring me to do it! You should do it–it’s so much fun and looks AMAZING!

  84. My brother is a bachelor and decorating is not his thing. About 15 years ago, my sister and I painted his lineloum floor. (It really is lineloum flooring from 1969!) His floor still looks great!

  85. What a wonderful job done….Now I know I’m no longer stuck with my prefab floor in my 11 year old house thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  86. What a great transformation! I love this ! Oh, oh! I feel a project coming on! Ha ha! Thanks for the inspiration! x

  87. Hi Tasha!
    Super creative! I especially like the letters. Did you buy those on Amazon? also, how did you hang them?
    Thanks in advance for the reply!
    Betsy

  88. Wonderful transformation! I have ugly grey linoleum in my kitchen and bathroom and if my landlord agrees I think I might tackle this project on my own. Question though: Do you think the porch paint would hold up well in a small bathroom? I’d be worried about the moisture, but then again porches are exposed to rain and snow so hopefully the paint is designed with that in mind?

    1. Hi Anne! I have never used porch paint in a bathroom, but I think it would hold up well. I have used it on an outdoor, uncovered patio before {that was exposed to rain, etc.} and it help us amazingly well. I have also used it on a covered porch with good results. I hope that answers your question. Good luck!

  89. Love the floor! I was wondering if you purposefully didn’t put a protective top coat over it, or if you think it would hold up better with one? I have 4 kids so the foot traffic would be heavy.

    1. Thank you, Shannon! I elected not to put a top coat on it because I just don’t think it needs it even with heavy traffic. I have used porch paint on an actual outdoor patio before and not even moving heavy patio furniture around on it damaged it! But, if you are worried about it, a coat of polyurethane should add additional protection. Thanks for stopping by!

  90. you absolutely MUST share this at my Trash 2 Treasure party tonight – soooo awesome! I have a friend with floors like the “before” and I’m going to post this on her facebook wall. :) Great job!!!! Way to step out and be a brave soul.

  91. I absolutely love this, Tasha! {And I love Kelly’s, too, at View Along the Way … so awesome inspiration!} I featured you today at Work It Wednesday!! Be sure to come and grab a button!

  92. I simply love this! I was wondering if painting the floor could be done, and of course “on the internet” someone’s figured it out for me! Did you use the Lowe’s house brand (Valspar) porch paint? I love Valspar paint for my interior walls but I’m a little skeptical of their porch paint after reading the reviews on their site. I don’t mind paying more for another brand if I need to….

    1. Hi! I did use the Valspar brand of porch paint. I have used it in a prior home to paint the floor of our pantry. I have been impressed with it! Good luck. I would love to see how your project turns out!

  93. Love this! I also have linoleum in my laundry room and I contemplated living with it or painting it, but after seeing yours and Kelly’s transformations with just a little bit of paint I might have to take the plunge and paint it. Great job!

  94. Oh I am so thinking about doing this–took notes and everything! We redid our master bath and ran out of funds for the kids bath, so this might be the perfect solution; thanks Kim!

    1. Hi Kelly! Thanks so much for stopping by and for the compliment. Again, thank YOU for the inspiration behind the painted floors (and really, the entire laundry room makeover)!