Those of you that are looking for an affordable, attractive, totally doable flooring solution have come to the right place! You may remember in January I posted my plans for remodeling the boy’s room. I mentioned in that post that I wanted to do paper flooring, mostly because it was cheap and I thought it looked great. But mostly because it was cheap. My boys room is about 10 x 12 and I did the whole thing for about $80, but I have enough supplies left over that the next room will cost about $30. Most of you are probably wondering what the heck paper on a floor looks like and I don’t blame you, it’s kind of a weird idea. Here is what the finished product looks like…
The tutorial I used can be found over here at Lovely Crafty Home. She did a great job and it is full of useful information both in the post and the comments. The difference here is that I did mine on a concrete subfloor while she did hers on plywood. People have not been having success on concrete floors, but I went ahead and tried anyway. So here is the tutorial…well, part tutorial and part anti-tutorial (just like most of my projects). I thought I had completely ruined it halfway through and was going to have to live with hideous floors or start over, but I managed to save it. Hopefully I can keep you from making the same mistake!
Before we get started with the tutorial/story, let me give you a materials list. You will need… (these are links)
- A roll of brown paper. I bought this “builders paper” from Home Depot (cause I didn’t plan ahead), but most people recommend this Kraft paper from Amazon
- A gallon of Elmers glue
- Oil based stain (I used one quart for a 10 X 12 room). I used this one by Minwax, in “provincial”
- Water based floor polyurethane, I used this one by Rust Oleum
- Something to apply the stain and polyurethane, I used a 9′ Shur-Line “deck pad” and “mopped” it on
If you are doing this on a wood floor then that is all you need, if you are doing this on concrete than you may also need…
- a small amount of concrete to patch holes from carpet tacks
- a pole sander and sandpaper
The first thing I did was empty the boy’s room and rip out all the trim. (We were planning on replacing the trim anyway, but even if you aren’t I would remove it and then replace it when the floor is complete, that would be much easier than trying to work around it.) I wasn’t planning on starting the renovation that day, I just got a wild hair and started moving furniture and tearing stuff apart. Elijah got in on the fun, he actually removed most of the trim after I showed him how. How cool is that? His future wife is going to sing my praises, I’m sure of it.
Adam is going to flip when he sees that picture, he’s a total stickler about shoes (and I’m not at all). So as Elijah and I were in the process of rebelliously barefoot DIYing when Adam happened to call and ask how our day was going. I was like “umm great…Elijah and I have emptied his room and started ripping out trim, and in the process completely destroyed the house. Then Adam paused and said…
Such a good man.
Next we prepped the floors. First I mixed up some concrete and patched the holes left from the carpet tacks.
Then I (well, Adam) took a pole sander and sanded the concrete floors.
I’m not sure this was necessary, but our floors were previously polished and I was worried that they would be too “slick” to hold the paper on properly. Plus the floor had a ton of previous concrete patches and impossible to remove paint splotches and I wanted to even those out a little. After you do this (and even if you don’t) make sure to clean the floors thoroughly and let them dry before you start.
Then we started ripping the paper. What you want to do is rip the paper into natural looking pieces, kinda like stones. Mine were about 12 inches or so in diameter. Don’t cut them, just rip…they don’t have to be perfect or even close.
We learned later and what I would recommend doing is after you rip a piece, ball it up and wrinkle the crud out of it, then flatten it out and move onto the next piece. You want to wrinkle them so that when you add stain the wrinkles will show through and give it that awesome textured “old leather” look, like this…
Then you are ready to mix your glue. For my floors I did 50% water and 50% Elmers glue mixture. If you are doing this on a wood floor then I think a 3 to 1 water and glue ratio is the one you want. Don’t mix all your glue at once, gluing the paper to the floor will take longer than you think and you don’t want it to dry out.
And so, we began gluing.
I really thought in my head that I would be able to slap these puppies down and be done in a night. Truth is it took Adam and I five nights of both of us working to be complete. We just chatted, watched Netflix on the laptop, and had a jolly good time. That might be exaggerating a bit, mostly I just scolded him every five minutes for trying to glue a straight edge piece in the middle of the floor. He loved that, as you can imagine, but after the first twelve or so times I started to get responses like this…
Umm…maybe. They weren’t dirty yet…at least not enough to justify adding more clothes to the dirty laundry pile. Back me up here. (If you are not getting these “Hey Girl” photos then you will want to check out this post).
The easiest way I found to apply that paper is like so: Take your piece of paper and hold it over the bowl. Use your hands to scoop up some glue and spread it evenly over both sides. Then lay your paper down on the floor and smooth flat, working from the inside out to remove any bubbles. Keep in mind that the paper will shrink as it dries, so give each piece a decent amount of overlap.
You could leave your floor this “natural” color if you want and skip the whole staining process, but I think the stain looks great and really gives it depth and character. Plus staining is the quickest part of this whole process (if you do it correctly). I applied the stain with with a “mop”, actually I used this by Shur Line. It worked great and went on really quickly ..I snuck this in while my kids were busy watching an episode of Dinosaur Train (so less than 30 minutes).
Make sure and “feather” the stain so that you don’t end up with any lines, it will dry just like you put it on. Also be aware that you will get a little bleed under the edges of the paper, like this…
I’m honestly not sure how you would avoid this, you are just going to have to embrace the imperfection.
After I had finished staining I let it sit for two days before I added the first coat of poly, and even then it was slightly tacky. I added the polyurethane the same way I added the stain, but I was extra careful to make it a thin coat…at least I thought. When it was dried I came back and it looked like this…
About 50% of it had dried white. Crap. I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t know this when I started, but the “builders paper” that I used has two sides and they look different after they are on the floor. It looked as though the poly had dried white only on one side of the paper. I tried to sand it off on places, but that wasn’t working so I did something that I was sure was going to be a terrible idea…I stained over the poly.
It worked, and you couldn’t see where it used to be white and where it didn’t. So I “mopped” stain over the whole floor again and let it dry for FOUR days this time. Even after four days it was still tacky and I couldn’t step on it to re-poly. So this time I worked backwards…I started at the doorway and added a THIN layer with a small foam brush (by hand), let it dry, and then stepped on that to do the next section. I was terrified that after all that work it would dry white again, but it didn’t, not even a little. Phew.
After that I added about ten more layers of poly with the mop. This didn’t take as long as you would think, It only needed to dry about an hour between coats and took about 20-30 minutes each coat. As an added bonus, the water based poly has almost no smell at all, so your not going to need to air out your house or feel lightheaded while doing this. Now, you should let the final coat cure for about a week before you put anything on it, but I was so antsy to get the kids out of my bedroom that we put everything back the next day. We did get a few scratches, but I just added some poly over them and it looks fine. It looks better than fine actually, it looks freakin awesome.
So there you have it. It’s a bit shinier than I would have liked, but I do think it has dulled down a bit since I took these photos (about two weeks ago.) If you have any questions feel free to leave it in a comment below and I will do my best to answer you, or you could visit the brown paper flooring FAQ page over at An Oregon Cottage.
I love this look! I love the price as well. I’m glad you posted your finished project and I love the “Hey Girl” blurbs…they were the best and really made me laugh out loud. :) I think I might try this in a small bathroom I have…do you think laying the paper around the toilet would work?
Yes, I have seen it done successfully in a bathroom before. Actually another reader commented after you that she has has it in her master bathroom for three years and it is still going strong!
Ashley recently posted..Paper Bag Floors – A Tutorial
I was wondering how this would work on a small kitchen, dinning room area. It is a very busy area, it goes to the back door. It would look sooooooooooo Cool if it would work..
Kay
Yes, I think it would be fine…just don’t skip on the poly!
I would just remove the toilet to make it easier – not a big deal at all.
Looks fabulous, like ancient leather. I’ve done this on walls that had uneven textures and then faux finished over it, worked great. I may try this on a floor now, thanks for the inspiration.
I am truly impressed…who new how good paper could look, you will be putting floor stores out of buisness..and take stock in the paper …and elmers glue…thank you for the reality and your kids are always the best part….
I know, when I first read about this idea I thought “ghett-o”, but now I don’t think so at all :) And for whatever reason my kids think running on the new floor is the most hilarious thing ever!
Ashley recently posted..Paper Bag Floors – A Tutorial
This is the neatest thing! When I first saw “Paper Bag Floors” in the email newsletter, I was like “Huh?” but it looks great. Thanks! Oh, and I don’t get the shoe thing either. Barefooting is the way to go. :)
I’d have to agree with you…. “it looks freaking awesome” !!!!!!
Turned out great! But was very time comsuming, huh? BTW, being a grandma, I did cringe when I saw your son “working” while barefoot! Lucky he didn’t step on a nail! Better to be safe than sorry! Great project though and great blog!
Yes, it took much longer than I anticipated, mostly just because I had to ignore it while my kids were awake. And you are totally allowed to cringe, you (and my husband) are right about the shoe wearing. I just didn’t think of it. The nails were only in the baseboard though, and we carried them right outside after they were removed (if that makes it any better).
Do you know if this would work over linoleum? We live in an old house. I pulled up the carpet. The old floors are worn, no longer shiny. I do not want to scrape that stuff off. I know the sub floor is pine, but pine splinters into bare feet. What do you think? Thanks, Marilyn
Yes, I have seen this done over vinyl floors, here is a post about it http://lovelycraftyhome.com/2012/05/24/out-west-where-home-depot-is-still-my-home/
Like how it has that “leather” look. Great job! Keep us posted on the wear factor. Showed my husband the pic with Elijah pulling baseboards (that’s to cute!), his first thought…no shoes…nails…
Made me laugh when I saw the “Hey Girl” pics inbetween, love your sense of humor!!!
This is crazy amazing! I never cease to be amazed at the things you do.
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Ashley, this is really cool looking and what an economical way to go! We recently pulled up ancient orange tweed carpet in a 1950s trailer that we renovated at the beach. We had no money for floors either and had good luck just painting the plywood subfloor with grey porch and deck paint.
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I’ve done that as well! When Adam was in the Army we rented half a trailer and it had the grossest carpet I’d ever seen. The landlord refused to replace or even clean it, so I ripped it all up and painted the plywood floor. Worked great!
A couple questions. How do you rent half a trailer? Do I need to do something about the seams in the plywood floor before putting this down?
Haha, the half trailer…yeah, it was ghetto. It was just a old mobile home and the landlord had added a wall in the middle so he could get a rental income out of his “vacation home”. It was one bedroom, one bathroom, and he threw some appliances in there and called it a day. When we ripped out the carpet and painted the plywood we didn’t do any prep because we didn’t care, but you could see all the seams. If you want it to look nice you would probably want to put some wood filler or spackling in the seams before painting.
It looks fantastic! Nice job.
I put a paper floor in my master bathroom 3 years ago. I love it so much I left it when we put wood in the rest of the house. We also finished a room upstairs and I put paper floor up there also. My bathroom was done like anoregoncottage.com and my upstairs like lovely crafty home. I have to say I personally like the look of the oregon cottage better than the lovely crafty home version. But that may be because my upstairs is 400 square feet, the wooden subfloor was in pretty bad shape, and they were a lot more work. Your floor looks beautiful. Linda
I hadn’t seen the one at An Oregon Cottage, that one is beautiful as well. I’m glad to hear that it is holding up, especially in a bathroom!
Laughing and speechless at the same time. I had never heard of doing this before, so if I was having a contest you just won! And I’m pinning it. And sending it to my son to see.
Bliss
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I love it! I’m trying to convince the hubs that this is perfect for our staircases and hallway in our home. Do you think a light shade of stain would still give good results? Specifically something like Minwax Golden Oak- the staircase doesn’t have natural light and gets pretty dark so I want something to lighten the space up a little.
Yes, I think a light stain color would work just as well. I would test it on a scrap piece of brown paper before you start on the floors just to make sure you love it…I tried five different colors before I settled on the one I used. But I think this would be a great solution for stairs!
Help! I’ve just done my hallway and stairs, and stained them last night. This morning there’s several huge dark splotches, and they kind of have a “hazy”/dull look to them, whereas the other parts are shinier. Is this something to be expected, do you think? And will sealing them with the poly make them shiny, possibly? The color difference doesn’t look bad, I’m just worried about the dull finish on these parts versus the others. I haven’t read a tutorial yet that addressed that issue, so of course now I’m freakin’, thinking I just screwed up a week’s worth of work lol Thanks, in advance for all the help!
Did you use water or oil based stain?
Oil based- I actually bought all of my supplies from your links above ;) same color stain and everything
Good girl :) It’s hard to give advice without seeing pictures. I had dark spots too (leakage under the paper) but none of them were huge and there were a bunch, so I just left them. If you have big annoying ones you could always cut them out with an exacto knife, glue down some more paper and restain that area. A for the shininess, I would probably choose a small hidden spot and add a THIN layer of poly and see what it looks like. It might just fix the problem.
Hey Ashley, Love this look! Bet it would also look cool on a wall, using a tinted color of stain (blue, red, green). Love that you let Elijah help and I’m sure (knowing how much you care for your children) that you made sure to clear the floor of nails or anything that could harm him. Love to go barefoot as well! Love that every time I read your blog it makes me smile……
Love Love Love Love Love Love Love! The floor looks fabulous! This is going straight to the man…I know he will veto immediately, but I’m just planting a seed. If I give it about 6 months, the idea will become his and these floors will become mine!
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lol, I love it…you know your man well!
well done!!
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I can’t believe how long it took for the floor to dry, but it turned out beautiful. When you factor in the cost of the entire room it’s definitely worth the time invested.
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Forgot to mention, I have always done everything barefooted
i would love to do this in my basement. Occasionally my basement gets wet when it rains heavy. Will this still work?
I’m not sure. I read on a blog somewhere that a woman did it in her bathroom and it has made it through the toilet overflowing twice, so maybe. But I would hate to do all that work for it just to get destroyed the first time it rains heavily. So I don’t know…sorry!
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awesome! i love it! i just wish that i had a space that i could do this in!
Wow, it looks great! I’m glad it worked out so well. Didn’t something similar happen with the penny counter top, where you used polycrylic when it dried unevenly? I’m glad you were able fix the problem fairly easily. Good thing you are adventurous!
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Actually the penny countertop was the epoxy drying uneven, but same idea. It’s always something isn’t it?
Ashley recently posted..Paper Bag Floors – A Tutorial
Yes, it’s always something! Chalk it all up to experience, hey? :)
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I did this in my kitchen on the walls to give it the old world european look. I put a coat of thinned paint followed by a colored glaze and some brush work and it looks so fabulous, its not just for floors!!You did give me an idea for a small floor I have been thinking of doing tho, thanks!!!
I am in shock over here. That looks AMAZING. I am super jealous. I wish had a room I could do this in. Do you think it would work over ceramic tile in a bathroom?
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Wow…just wow. That seemed like a ton of work but the results were so worth it!
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Dang girl, my back hurts just looking at you on the floor! But WOW what a makeover LOVE LOVE LOVE!
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This is SO cool. Oh my goodness. What an awesome way to achieve natural looking floors without having to invest in something like hardwood! Thanks so much for this tutorial, I am absolutely bookmarking!!!
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Hey girl… did you know that is probably the most awesome flooring tutorial I’ve ever seen?
I’m floored…haha…
This is seriously one of the coolest things ever! Pinning and adding this to my “one day” dream list for our home!!
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Found you through Pinterest. These floors are amazing! REALLY wish I had the guts to do this. Can’t wait to check out the rest of your blog =D
Wow…incredible…imagine, paper on floors. Sounds very strange, but boy does it ever work!! I’m pinning this…I love it!!!
Debbie :)
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Thanks for the pin Debbie!
that is frickin’ awesome :)
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I love this! I am going to do this in my basement. Thanks for the post.
Great job who would of thought this as a floor my ? do you think this can be done on stairs and did you just cover the back of the paper with the glue or did you put the glue on the floor first i did see the paper in your hand which way is better please let me know thanks so much for taking the time to read this Donna from Ma.
Yes, I think this is a great solution for stairs! I covered both the front and the back of the paper with glue and then laid it down and smoothed it out.
I love this flooring do you think it would work on counter tops?
I have heard of this done on both furniture and countertops. It would work…though I’m not sure I would use it as my main kitchen workspace. I think bathroom countertops would be great though.
I think the color difference in where the paper showed white against where it didn’t (after the re-staining) is fabulous. Adds depth and flow. Really nice job!
Love this idea!! do u think it would work with actual paper bags from the store?
Yes, I think that is where it started, then people just switched to using rolled paper when it got harder to find paper bags. Just make sure to put the printed side against the floor and you’ll be good to go!
The floors look amazing. I have done two floors so far. Once over linoleum and on concrete as well. I find that no matter how long you leave the stain it remains tacky. I just put on an old pair of sock to walk over it when applying the polyurethane. This summer we plan on doing our master bedroom also.
You did a great job. I love it. And as said before, the price is right! Thanks for taking the time to do the tute.
So which side of the paper do we not use then that caused the white?? love, love, love! And fyi, I’m always barefoot!
I couldn’t even tell you, the sides look nearly identical. I’ve heard this Kraft paper doesn’t have two sides and works better… http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AZ9RJY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001AZ9RJY&linkCode=as2&tag=domestiimperf-20
Wow! I’d been thinking about this for months… you’ve pushed me over the edge! :) You’re somewhat right… it looks WICKED AWESOME! I cannot wait to try it this summer when school is out and I’m bored out of my mind… the thing is… I’m doing the kitchen. Small space… but there’s appliances involved. After reading this… I’m! Doing! It! :)
Hubby and I are looking to buy a home soon. We have looked at a few and those that we can afford all need new flooring. I probably wouldn’t do an entire house like this, but would absolutely do several rooms like this. I’m always looking for inexpensive ways to update a home and this is a keeper. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. On second thought, maybe I would do an entire house with floors like this and then use area rugs to give the rooms their own character. And use different colored stains to keep the rooms separate, but still cohesive. Yes, that’s what I would do.
This is like decopoge! You make sure that you have your paper well glued before you lay it down.
Ashley….I did my kitchen counters similar to this and they have lasted 4 years and are still beautiful. My concern with the floor though is would it scratch easy when walking on it, like dog toenails, people in high heels etc. Let me know your thoughts.
You did an awesome job!!!
Donna
First, I have to say that I have been so undecided on whether to do this kind of floor style in my new shop or planked plywood. Gosh, I love the way this looks!
But, my favorite part of this post is your take on the “Hey Girl” quotes! ROFL!! I love YOURS the best! I may have to make my own sign using that one. It SO fits me too!
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How awesome is that?! Love it!! You always have such neat ideas. Love the “hey girl” pics too! Thanks!
Hi Ashley, I found you on Hometalk and wanted to come over and tell you that I absolutely love this floor. I’m scheming out ideas for my basement re-do (probably far in the future project) and I think I may have found just the what to do with the floors! Way helpful tutorial with lots of details and Hey Girl! humor. Great post!! – Amy
This is AWESOME!!!!
XO
Kristin
What are the chances that this would work over linoleum?
I have seen this done successfully over linoleum! Here is a link to a post about it… http://lovelycraftyhome.com/2012/05/24/out-west-where-home-depot-is-still-my-home/
I love the way your floor came out! I’m recovering from surgery now, but I’m making a list of things to do when I’m well. This is going on the list! Thanks for sharing!
Oh my word!!!! This is absolutely gorgeous! I love, love, love it! Little Bit from http://www.DecorateWithaLittleBit.com
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I have seen this done in a magazine well over 10 years ago and have wanted to do this for a long time. I just don’t have a floor to do it on in my house. That’s not to say I won’t ever have a floor to do…we do have a rental house that I may be able to do this on.
Wow – great work! Love it and all of the tones in the finished stage!
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YES on the “hey girls!” and HECK YES on the whole tutorial. This is KILLER, my friend. I am in love with the whole thing.
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This is the coolest things I’ve seen! So unique and unexpected…totally love the look!! You did a great job!!
Selene @ restorationbeauty.com
This post has my eyes as big as saucers and my jaw on the floor! I would have never thought to do this to a floor and it looks absolutely stunning!!! I love how it looks! I have to show this one to the hubby!! How do you think it would do in a bathroom? Julia @ http://www.juliakendrick.coom
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Great job–it looks amazing! I would never have thought to do this…. I may just try it! Thank you!
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That is very beautiful, I would love to do this in my basement but how do you know which side of the paper turns the poly white?
Thanks
I couldn’t even tell you, the sides look nearly identical. I’ve heard this Kraft paper doesn’t have two sides and works better… http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AZ9RJY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001AZ9RJY&linkCode=as2&tag=domestiimperf-20
This is fantastic! You so sound like me in taking on so many projects at once. And having this project take way longer than you planned, is also something I end up with on quite a regular basis. But the results… so worth it!!!!
By the way, I have stained concrete floors in my basement, and this looks so much like that it’s kinda eerie! Again, major props for this awesome project!!
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That floor looks awesome. I can’t wait to try it ou for myself. Thank You
You gotta know that I just LOVE this!!! I like this even more than the “penny floor”. I must say that y’all did an awesome job.
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In 1968 or so, a church memnber hosted a garage sale at her home. She had applied this same process to her kitchen floor and it looked great and lasted years.! This idea has been around a loooonnnngggg time.
This is really wonderful! I love all of the texture and color variance. It looks like it was quite a bit of work, but it really is beautiful! It sounds like it’s really durable, too, so that is perfect for a boy’s room. I’ll be pinning!
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You did an amazing job!! I have a 4 year old son and 3 year old grandson that will be assisting me :o) I was thinking about using scrapbook paper (river rock look) instead of the paper-bag. I wouldn’t crumple it, not sure of all the details, just thinking about different paper. What do you think?
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I did this to my floors but instead of staining it I added some liquid brown rit dye(1 capfull to 2 cups glue and water(distilled). This was easier than staining and removed one whole step. I used a piece of cardboard to test my pieces on til I got the recipe I wanted. I’m sure red rit dye could be used as well as other colors. I will be doing my bedroom next and will experiment with a border.
Your floors turned out great!
Two thumbs up. Great job.
My wife discovered this and I’m contemplating it for a basement kids room. Since it’s a kids room, I’m actually contemplating putting down the paper and letting them paint/draw/whatever all over it then doing the poly. A few questions for whoever might know:
How hard is it to rip up when I need to get rid of the kids’ art in favor of something more traditional at sale time?
How durable is it? Kids room with a play area for a 3 year old and a dog who walks around there. Also my treadmill is in the corner.
Can you vacuum it or is the a sweep only floor?
I’m not sure how easy it would be to get up, we are planning to leave ours (even when it’s time to sell) so I didn’t really consider it. For being a floor made of paper it is actually really durable, though I guess anything with 12 coats of poly would be durable, haha. But the beauty is that even if it scuffs of scratches, you just sand a bit with fine sandpaper and add more poly. I have had comments on other places I shared this saying that people have had this as a floor in their house for 20 years! As far as cleaning I have vaccumed, swept, and damp mopped the floor with no problem.
WOW! It looks great! You are so talented!
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I have spent the past two weeks on this very project! I began by pulling up our old carpet and discovered that under the carpet was chipboard and not plywood. I hadn’t come across anyone who has tried this project on top of chipboard so I was hesitant but I went for it anyways and it turned out great! I too had several spots where the stain left dark splotches that to me resembeld an ugly grease stain. I couldn’t embrace them so I took some more of my crumpled up brown paper and reglued pieces over the areas I didn’t like and then stained my new “patch jobs”. Problem solved!!
Hurray for you for hanging in there! I think it looks awesome! GREAT job, Ashley!
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Thanks so much Roeshel!
ps. your ‘hey girl’ memes crack me up!
Roeshel recently posted..DIY Home at Number 53 blog
I did this treatment to line the inside of my sons’ dresser drawers. I would never have thought of using it on the floor! Neato!
Am I understanding correctly that by putting the poly on a little at a time it saved the whole “turning white” business? Or should you just pay attention to what side of the paper you place facing up?
It’s hard to say exactly. I would thnk that putting on a super thin first coat of poly would solve it, but I already had a coat on so I can’t be sure. And putting the same side of paper up would be nearly impossible cause they really do look exactly the same. I have read that if you buy “Kraft” paper rather than the “builder” paper it isn’t two sided. Here is the link the the Kraft paper http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AZ9RJY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001AZ9RJY&linkCode=as2&tag=domestiimperf-20
I saw this done to a wall and it was beautiful.
Love the floors and have been contemplating do the treatment to several rooms. My question is what do you do for a room that may lead into a different flooring type and maybe a little higher. Hope that makes sense. I would like to do my office that has a concrete base but the hallway outside the door has tile so there is about 1/2 inch difference. Thanks
This room has the exact same thing going on, the hallway that leads up to it has a wood floor that sits 1/4 or 1/2 an inch higher. I have’t gotten around to it yet, but I plan on adding a quarter round piece of trim (like this, thought it will need to be trimmed to the right height http://www.homedepot.com/p/Woodgrain-Millwork-WM-106-11-16-in-x-11-16-in-Pine-Quarter-Round-Moulding-PNE0106/100321565#.UU9iJhxQHIc ) and staining it the same color to blend the two floors a bit.
Wow, it looks like a lot of work but the end result is absolutely stellar. That and your cute little helper. Too adorable. :D Thanks for sharing.
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It looks wonderful! Every time I see a paper floor project, I totally want to do it. I had a problem with poly drying white on a dresser I painted recently. So aggravating!
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I did this to my son’s floor probably 15 years ago. I love it still….so glad it is still hanging around! I have cowboys that I live with, so we put an image of a saddle with wings on the floor in random places! So cute for the little cowboy’s room! He is now grown, but his Dad is moving his office in there….still looks GREAT!!!! It has lost a bit of the shine, I’m sure where the overlaps have been, but maybe a new coat of poly before we move the office in would perk it right up! I love bare feet, little boys(I had four!), and husbands who try to get in digs! lol!
That’s such good news….15 years is a long time for a paper floor to hold up!
This floor is awesome!! I want to try this in my bedroom. Do you think (I truely don’t no anything about poly or stain, etc.. thats why God invented husbands!) that the stain could be added to the poly, as long as it was mixed really well and then applied as one step instead of two?
Hmmmm…probably. I mean, I don’t see why not but I’m going to guarantee success either. I’ve read about people adding RIT dye to the poly and having it work. But just so you know, doing the stain separately was the easiest part of the whole process…it’s the gluing paper that will kill you :)
What is the sound like? Is it loud & “echo-ey” like laminate flooring, or concrete? Or does the paper kind of muffle sounds?
A little of both? It’s not as echo-y as concrete but I wouldn’t call it non echo-y either.
This technique works well on walls, floors and even ceilings — and will stick to just about any kind of material. I did this more than 20 years ago, and it’s nice to see that it still has the WOW factor!
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This looks fabulous! I did a PB floor in my daughter’s room, but didn’t stain it. May have to go back and fix that. Hmmm. But I do have a hint to combat the shininess and slipperyness (?) Behr makes some stuff that you mix with your top coat or paint to help prevent slips on their porch paint. I painted my studio floor and loved it, except it was a bit slippery for a while. When I painted the bathroom floor, I added in the Behr stuff (I figured bathrooms are slippery enough as it is), and it worked great! It is just like a very fine sand that you stir into your paint or clear coat. Might want to give it a try to knock down the gloss. :)
I’ve never heard of such a thing! Does it feel rough at all, or just…not slick? Thanks for the heads up!
I was worried about that too. That’s why I tried it in my teeny weeny 5×8 bathroom first, figured I could sand it down if it was a total fail LOL. It doesn’t feel rough at all, but it didfeel a tiny bit textured at first. The first few days I could tell the difference in my socks but not bare feet. Now I don’t notice it at all. I didn’t add as much as they suggested since I did it in the clear coat and not the paint. So far I am happy with it. If you are looking for it, it is in a little bag next to the porch paints at HD. I think a bag is about $5-6, so you could do a test board for only a little investment.
It’s looks Great!! I done this same technique in my home about 15 years ago, only I done it on the walls in my kitchen. I loved this look so much I did it again a couple years ago in out new home, only in the laundry room this time. Like you mentioned I made balls all crushed up then smoothed out. When I applied it I didn’t worry that some of the edges didn’t glue flat down, once the poly was on it gives a nice crisp finish. Just beautiful!!! You did an awesome job!!!
We are doing this in our dining room right now and the paper isn’t sticking flat everywhere. Will the poly make it stick up or will it lay flat one we have a coat or two on it?
Do you mean that it has wrinkles or bubbles? This is the one problem I actually didn’t have, so I can’t really give you any advice from experience. The paper does shrink as it dries, so if you give it a day in two it might even out a little. I don’t think putting poly over it will make it any flatter, but if you have some really big wrinkles you could always cut them out and add a new piece of paper over them. Sorry I’m not more help…did you read through the comments on Lovely Crafty Home? There is TON of information there.
I am originally from Kentucky….so I totally get the barefoot thing! I would love to do this in my den and hallway (which are the main walk through areas of the house). My problem is pets and how to keep them from walking on the floors and how I can manover around the house if it takes that long to dry.I am currently painting the concrete floors in my office (which I can completely close off), and yet when I opened the door to put on the first coat of poly….yes there were little kitty prints all over the paint (dang kittys are so clever in sneaking in places). Lucky for her the prints wiped off with a paper towel and I did notice a few of their hairs are now saved forever in the poly coats.
Ashley,
IT’S AWESOME!!!! I have wanted to do this on the wall for many years. I KNEW it would work but my hubby said NO WAY! I can’t wait to show this to him. I am going to skip the staining process to keep it lighter brown. What are your thoughts on paper bags from the grocery?? That’s what I had thought I would use. Again it looks GREAT!!!
Lisa :)
Thanks Lisa! I think paper bags would be great, just make sure and put the printed side down. And how can your hubs say no to a practically free floor where you do all the work?
Hey Ashley! I recently found your website by doing a search for DIY counter top makeovers and found the penny countertop (which I LOVE btw) I am currently working on a project similar to the paper bag flooring except I am putting it up on my walls. I found a forum about the brown bagging wall treatment by doing a search on how to cover paneling…anyway….I have started the project and notice that when the paper dries over night, some of the paper lifts up. I have been using zinnser wall sizing to “glue” the lifted pieces back down, but I was wondering if this happened when you did it for the floors? Based on the forum I saw this in, the gal said she left the walls “oh naturale” so that is kind what I had in mind. I am think that maybe if I poly the walls this would help those loose spots, so that I wouldn’t necessarily have to go back and stick each little corner that has lifted back down. Any ideas, or suggestions?
I actually didn’t have any corners lift on me when they dried. I was SURE I would get some so I SOAKED my paper, seriously pressed it down, and smoothed it out.
So you were planning on not sealing the wall at all? I would think you would need some sort of sealer or else the paper will just soak up any humidity in your house and eventually fall off. My guess would be that if the corners aren’t big lifts you could paint on some poly and they would be okay. Then if they are not you could go back after the fact and use poly to glue down the corners, but that may not be needed. Hope that helps!
I love the look and would love to try it in our soon to be converted garage. We are going to convert the garage and I will be using it as a home business. Rather than apply the glue to both sides of the paper, do you think you could just use a paint brush and brush a good coat of glue to a small section of the floor (say about a 3′ square at a time), place your paper down, then brush a coat of glue over the completed section? Thanks.
It might, but I would recommend you dip the paper in water for a bit to soften it and allow the glue to soak in. Also, air pockets might be a factor. I do a lot of paper mache and you have to saturate the paper to get really good strength and adhesion.
I’m sure that would work just fine, though it would probably take longer. Also, you will need to use your hands to smooth out any bubbles on the wet piece.
I’m ready to begin but realized that I didn’t know which side of paper to put down so that it doesn’t turn out with white fog……do u know which side to use??
No, I don’t. Sorry, I know that’s not the answer you were hoping for. I didn’t even realize it was two sided until after I stained and polyed it. If you bought the Kraft paper its not two sided…if you bought the builders paper, well, I wouldn’t really worry about it. I really think it clouded over because my first coat of poly was way too thick and that is where you are going to have to be careful.
Do you think this type of paper would work?
http://pacon.com/product/bulletin-board-paper/fadeless-designs-48-x-12-weathered-wood/
I’m not sure about this one. I’m guessing you would want to lay it down in long strips (instead if ripping into smaller pieces) so that it looked like an old wood floor. It would probably work but you would have to be really careful (and probably use a partner) to lay it down so that you don’t get any bubbles.
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http://www.amazon.com/Rainbow-Kraft-Roll-White-PAC66001/dp/B000F8TBS4
would this work too?
I think this one would work great!
Hi, I love this idea and just have one question. Did you have to match up the edges to each other? I know you said you overlapped some but doesn’t that make it so you can see and feel the overlap underfoot? Bare foot of course :)
I do a lot of fabric work where I have to match the edges up exactly so that’s why I ask. I’d post a pic but don’t see where I can do that.
Thanks!
Di
I didn’t match up any edges, every edge has about an inch overlap. The paper shrinks as it dries so overlapping is a must. You can see it plainly (I don’t really notice when I walk on it), but since everything is overlapped so much it doesn’t look weird, it kinda just looks textured.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing the tutorial and pictures. I have been researching to do this myself. This is so far my favorite look!
Can you mop and bleach these floors just like you would any other?? I love this… I want to try it in my kitchen!!
Hi Ashley
This looks awesome!
2 questions:
Could I do this with a light color, non brown color? I am thinking turquoise…. or robins egg blue?
Also, could I do this on a sub floor of a mobile home? it is some kind of mdf..
Thanks
Julie
I’m pretty sure both would work just fine! I might try it out on a scrap piece of MDF first to get your formula right though.
How would a white colored stain work? Maybe look like white washed..? Looking for a brighter look. Love your floor, it rocks.
I was wondering if anyone has used different colors of stain I really like this idea but have just had my kitchen painted a blue gray, with white chair rail done. I would love a mingled look with browns, little grey mixed in so would blend in with what I already have done to my walls?? any ideas? Thanks
I’m inspired to try this on a counter top.
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We just did this the other night on a concrete floor and are on our 4th coat of poly but our edges are starting to come up just a bit. Any suggestions for how to keep it from coming up and ruining our floor? We thought maybe about putting silicone around the edges to hold them.
I actually don’t have an answer to this. We took off our trim before we did the floors, so when we put up the new trim it holds everything down. You might try e-mailing some of the other bloggers that have done this (I linked to them in the post), they might have more insight. Sorry!
I recently started my floor. I am having a problem with large wrinkles once the floor dried. Will they go down a little after staining and putting on the poly? Do you think I should cut them out or patch them?
No, staining and poly-ing won’t fix your wrinkles. Not the answer you wanted, I know. I think cutting them out and adding new paper on top would be the best solution…it should be pretty easy with an Xacto knife or something similar.
Hello! I love this idea. I would love to re-do our utility, kitchen, and both bathrooms which have ceramic tile on them. Can I do this over the tile? (I don’t mind the “tile lines” showing, it gives it a neat look). These are high-traffic areas, considering it’s myself, sweet “hey girl” hubby, and our 5 boys. Thanks!!
If you don’t mind the lines then I say go for it. Actually, try it on a little section first just to make sure, but I don’t see a reason it wouldn’t work. Just make sure to let it cure completely before you let everyone walk on it. So like a week, which I know is hard if not nearly impossible. The good news that it is easy to do touch up when needed!
We have a laminate wood floor. Should the laminate have a light sanding before starting this project?
Sent you an e-mail!
I love the paper bag flooring!! I made sure to share on Facebook. I have a house to sell and carpet is just too expensive (even the cheapest), so I am going to do this for the living room, hall and 3 bedrooms. Thanks for such an ingenious and inexpensive idea!!
Thanks for sharing Alma! This is a great solution instead of carpet…it’s going to take you forever to do, but it will look great and be cheap for sure :)
Looks great. Personally though I dislike polyurethane. I have never understood sealing wood and other natural surfaces with liquid plastic. I wonder if there is a natural alternative?
I found some non-toxic natural based floor sealers here: http://www.earthpaint.net/
Your floor looks beautiful! I did this to my walls a few years ago. Instead of glue I used poly-acrylic. I crumpled up the paper and dipped it in the poly-acrylic and spread it on the walls. It stuck great and I didn’t have to put anything else on it. Just let it dry. Of course I didn’t stain it, but it looked great. The color had variations from light to dark. It looked like worn leather. Everyone that sees it loves it. I may have to try it on my floor. I wonder if it would work to put it over existing vinyl.
Great tutorial. I am a fellow paper floor lover…….here is my floor on you tube http://youtu.be/IDoVCl94uLU or you can google “we love paper flooring”. I just wanted to add that the builder’s paper that I used had a definite difference in the 2 sides…..one side was darker than the other and I put the darker side face down for a more uniform look. I also used a credit card to smooth out the paper on the floor and that worked great so I didn’t have any wrinkles or excess glue. I ended up doing three bedrooms, one hallway and entranceway….we absolutely love our floors. I love how you added the male perspective into your tutorial. I chucked when reading about wearing the same clothes for 3 days ……I could really relate to that as well………LOL.
Oops, typo……..I “chuckled” when reading about wearing the same clothes for 3 days. Anyhow, thanks for a great tutorial Ashley.
Your floors look great! I love how you can take this technique and make it totally your own, our floors look pretty different. I plan on doing our guest room at some point but have to admit that just thinking about starting over makes me cringe a little :) Nice work doing so many rooms!
how long to do let the paper dry for?
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Nice job, Ashley. I used to do shabby chic furniture and I once used this technique with tissue paper. My husband and I saw the penny treatment on the Congress Hotel floor in Tuscon. We loved it! We have converted our two car garage into a bar. We were going to do the penny thing.
I just showed him this and we both want to try it.
One question. Any reason why you went with a clear latex acrylic rather than an oil based polyurethane? I would think the poly would make for a harder surface. I know poly does yellow over time and the latex doesn’t. Just curious?
Our bar/garage still opens like a garage so it will get a fair amount of sun (we are in AZ) and whatever weather blows in – lol.
Keep up the good work. I am off to find your penny countertops.
Maria aka Barefoot Mama!
I used that water based stuff because when I researched other websites about it each one said that oil based didn’t work, and in the comments section people were saying the same thing. I can’t remember exactly why…I think it ruined that paper or made it super blotchy…something along those lines. I decided not to push my luck :)
I was going to leave you a link to my penny countertop post, but I see that you already found it!
Holy crap! I heard of the paper bag floor a while ago but thought to myself “ya like I would ever do THAT!” but I am stunned at how gorgeous your floor is! maybe it’s the stain step that makes it stand out more to me. I LOVE this, fantastic job!
OMG I am so impressed!
Thanks Anne! When I first heard about it I thought it sounded cheesy and a little ghetto, but it really does look stunning!
Looks great!! Have seen it done on walls as well.
Note to others—unless you have an unlimited amount of time and patience–a smaller room is the way to go. I decided to do this to my (800 sq ft) basement. HOLY MOLY. Maybe it is just me, but it is taking forever. I spent 6+ hours just putting paper in the hallway. (One more small area and another hallway to go!)
My cement floor was BAD–I’m using RIT dyed water base poly as my adhesive–more expensive but it sticks well and I am getting the staining and first coat done in one step. I’ve used FOUR gallons of poly so far and am still papering. (Again, 800 sq ft)
Thanks for the great idea.
I did use the Home Depot paper and have not had a problem with the sides.