DIY 101: Flooring

Let’s be honest, making changes to your flooring can be a little scary. After all, it involves moving all the furniture. Anything that involves heavy lifting is a big commitment. But it can make all the difference between a so-so space and something fantastic. To get you in the mood to flex your muscles, we’ve rounded up our best floor inspirations, plus projects that are even perfect for rentals. But sometimes, you just need to start at the very beginning and when it comes to floors, that usually means you’re grabbing a mop. Our Guide to Cleaning Supplies lists everything else you’ll need to get your floors sparkling. –Amy

(If you need a little something to put on your new floor, check out Design Sponge Black Book: Best Striped Rugs and speaking of rugs, don’t miss Sneak Peek: Best of Rugs.)

Image above: The before image doesn’t even look like marble! This is a DIY cleaning technique for getting the city grime off your marble floors.


Image above: The technique for cleaning this wood library ladder would work just as well on grubby wood floors.

See our flooring DIYs and get inspiration after the jump!

Image above: A solution for covering ugly rental tile – painted canvas floor cloths (the before is a must-see).

Image above: A painted floor runner that channels Ettore Sottsass, the eccentric and visionary Italian designer behind the iconic 80s design collective The Memphis Group.

Image above: A painted floor gets an extra punch with a custom fabric-inspired stencil.


Image above: This geometric-patterned rug started out as a plain white rug. A little bit of paint and tape was all it took for a complete transformation.

Images above: If you have damaged or otherwise less-than-perfect floors and are on a tight budget, consider painting them with a dramatic eye-catching design like Carrie has done with this amazing painted pattern floor.

Image above: When this homeowner realized that her floors couldn’t take another sanding, she grabbed a can of paint and tape to create a weathered diamond design.

Image above: Talk about a budget-friendly project. This floor makeover involved cutting linoleum tiles in half and laying them in a striped pattern.

Image above: When it came time to choose flooring for their studio, Cartolina went with a flooring that has stood the test of time –  End grain block flooring is a technique that was used for a long time in factories during the 19th century because it’s sturdy, inexpensive and practical. See the full project here.

Images above: In a small bathroom redo like this one, investing in eye-catching tiles for your floors can make a huge impact, giving the space a chic, eclectic feel.

Image above: For this modern bungalow renovation, two creatives who work from home decided to open up and transform the living room of their 1927 bungalow with bright white walls and gorgeous, longleaf pine floors.

Image above: To create separate spaces and bring more light to her Atlanta loft, Margot built a simple, modern platform and painted her floors a shiny, light-reflecting white.

Image above: When you think of transforming your floors, don’t overlook the stairs! A pink ombre treatment turns a simple set of stairs into a bright focal point and because the homeowners used sample paint cans, the paint project cost only $20.