Redesigning your home can be very expensive, especially when it comes to your floors. This often overlooked part of your home always bears the brunt of wear and tear — whether it's dirty puppy paws, spilled spaghetti sauce, or just the accumulated dirt and grime of everyday living.
So when blogger Malinda of A Purposeful Path had dreams of a big floor renovation with a small budget, she knew she'd have to get very creative. Inspired by the spirit of DIY, she took matters into her own hands — literally!
With nothing but paper bags, glue, and some old-fashioned elbow grease, Malinda transformed her dirty tiled floor into this glorious "faux-wooden" masterpiece. I've seen folks build a brand new floor with wooden pallets, and it was beyond impressive. But paper bags? I couldn't believe my eyes!
Spending only a few hundred dollars in total, she elevated a boring old living room into something straight out of the most upscale home-living magazine.
See all the steps below to find out how you can be the "Queen of Interior Design" with just a few simple home supplies.
To prep her yucky floor, Malinda ripped up the carpet and pad, and carefully removed the tack strip and all the baseboards. Afterwards, she used some all-purpose floor patch to even everything out.
Next, she prepared her glue solution (water-based Polyurethane) and started applying her brown paper, piece by piece. As a side-note, she used a "satin" finish for the most even-looking gloss and tone.
Malinda made sure to start with the edges first, smoothing down each piece so that it lay flush to the floor.
After about 10 hours, the initial paper layer was set. “With just the paper down, it almost looked like a wrapped cigar. It was actually very pretty!”
She shared this bird's-eye angle of the entire floor the next day. It seemed to be shaping up quite nicely!
Next it was onto the stain. Malinda went with a rich "espresso" color, perfect for a lavish finish. She started working with a paint roller, then moved to a smaller brush for the nooks and crannies.
Finally, she added around eight layers of Polyurethane, letting each coat dry before starting anew. This gave the floor an extra shiny glow and reinforced the sturdy paper foundation.
But Malinda's not the only DIY-er using this unique floor technique. Gwynne Gardner and her husband were also inspired by this growing DIY trend — converting their own guest room into a luxe space with gorgeous “faux-wooden” flooring.
Rachel and Mike of "Lovely Crafty Home" also followed suited, papering their staircase to incredible results.
Blogger Kim of "Moss is Awesome" completely transformed her bathroom using the very same technique. From Kim herself, "we’ve lived with [this DIY] for over a week with dogs, cat, little boys, guests, water, spills, etc. and it’s looking still perfect!"
Would you try this amazing DIY on your floors? Let us know in the comments.
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