21 Brilliant Ideas for Painted Floors

Take a cue from Country Living Design Director Maribeth Jones' cheery country kitchen and use a mix of perfectly distressed paint and a natural wood stain to achieve that been-around-forever feel.

Use a classic black-and-white checkerboard pattern in the kitchen for a retro feel.

To give her Birmingham mudroom a touch of timeworn charm, Alabama-based designer Heather Chadduck Hillegas worked with a professional decorative painter, but DIYers can re-create her weathered look with a hand sander. Opt for fine-grit sandpaper in spaces that need a more delicate touch. Tip: Wait at least three days for unsealed paint to dry before distressing, then finish with your preferred sealant.

The deep blue-green painted floors in this modern-style barn space were inspired by the surrounding coastal views. The homeowner chose a similar shade for the cabinets (Blue Toile by Benjamin Moore) to complement the warm wood tones of the rustic room.

Embrace a classic country blue-and-white color palette from ceiling to floor—literally. In this breakfast nook, plaid painted floors set the tone for the rest of the freshly decorated room. Tip: Pick a light and dark shade of your "weaving" color to get a similar look!

To add interest—and to skip the cost of a runner—homeowner Christina Salway painted the steps of her New York farmhouse a crisp white and then added a wide stripe of slate paint bordered by brown stripes on the outer edges.

The wide middle stripe is painted Stonybrook by Benjamin Moore.
Thinner outer stripes are painted French Press by Benjamin Moore.

Turquoise and lime checkerboard floors make for a bold statement in a colorful kids' bedroom.

Pro tip: Typically used for garage floors, Break-Through! Paint (ppgpaints.com for stores) dries in less than an hour, which makes applying two-toned patterns much easier (and faster!). Consider it for high-traffic areas or where durability is a must.

To get the weathered look of painted hardwood floors in the attic, homeowners Natalie and Tim Hamm painted inexpensive subflooring white and scraped “gaps” in with a flathead screwdriver.

In this creative entryway, a graphic chevron pattern is achieved by alternating a darker stain with exposed natural colored wood.

Designer Brian Patrick Flynn chose a high-gloss finish (Stone White by Glidden) on his kitchen floors as a bold contrast to sleek black cabinets.

The fresh green hue on this low country kitchen floor is a nice balance with the bright white walls and lower cabinets skirted with cheerful blue-and-white-checked fabric.

The avocado green floor pattern is original to this charming Michigan cottage. The homeowner loved it so much she hired a specialty painter to copy the existing design onto newly added floorboards after expanding the space. Instead of paint, the pattern is achieved using different shades of stain.

In this colorful and collected sunroom-turned-nostalgia-rich sleeping porch at Wisconsin's Camp Wandawega, durable painted floors (Light Gray Oil Porch & Floor Paint by Valspar) hold up to the great outdoors.

Try a fun stenciled pattern on stair risers. Here, the family applied bright white numbers in ascending order on matte black painted plywood, which they then nailed to the stair risers. Other ideas for stair risers include painting each a different color (think rainbow, ombre, or alternating hues) or applying a more decorative stencil to mimc the look of tile.

Interior designer Jessica Davis of Atelier Davis created a stencil for these kitchen floors and brought the look to life with Annie Sloan paint products. The design is sealed with Chalk Paint® Lacquer by Annie Sloan in Clear Matt.

White walls, ceilings, and floors create a clean backdrop for vintage-inspired decor. Pro tip: To keep painted floors looking pristine, consider priming and painting them annually. They'll need a thorough cleaning before doing so. The floor is painted Strong White by Farrow & Ball.

A fresh minty green-and-white checkerboard floor adds graphic punch to this casual dining space. The color choice and pattern has a '50s diner appeal.

A black-and-white striped treatment brings a graphic punch to this narrow porch floor. The simple color combo underfoot provides an anything-goes base for the eclectic mix of furniture, plants, and textiles.