Painting a Hardwood Floor

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I’ve shared a few times with you all about our farmhouse.  We’ve gone over every inch of this house, sometimes more than once.  In fact, you can view photos of how it looked when we bought it at auction here.

Prince Charming and I often discuss how far we’ve come with our DIY skills because of our desire to create a space we love.  And how this house has been and continues to be the most important and difficult project we’ve ever tackled.  Recently we moved our bonus room from upstairs into another space in the house and converted the former bonus room to our master.

Today I wanted to show you the transformation of the original hardwood floor using DIY Chalk Type Paint and my HomeRight EZ-Twist Paint Stick.

Also be sure and enter the giveaway at the end of this post for a chance to win your very own EZ-Twist Paint Stick.

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The first thing to do was tear up the existing carpet.  We had this carpet installed when we originally remodeled the house 13 years ago.  It was still in pretty good condition but I knew there was hardwood under it and I really wanted to try my hand a painting it.

I’m not going to lie to you though, Prince Charming really didn’t want a painted floor.  He was pushing for new plush carpet and was convinced that was what we needed to do.  However he agreed to let me see what I could do with the hardwood and I agreed that if he didn’t like it we could purchase carpet.  (Yeah, right that last part was a TOTAL lie.  I wanted a painted floor BAD and was pretty determined to get my way.  Shhhh don’t tell him that!)

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After we pulled up the carpet I tested an area with paint and with stain to see what I liked best.  (I used Debi’s Design Diary DIY Chalk Type Paint in Beadboard.  You can purchase it here.)

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The stain looked pretty but would have required wayyyy more work (mostly sanding) that I was willing to do.  I pretty much live in the moment and when I decide I want to do something I want it finished before I even really get started.  So sanding and staining and sanding and staining and sanding and sealing wasn’t really on my list of fast fixes.  Plus all of the other floors in the house are original hardwood that’s stained so I have lots of beautiful woodgrain to admire.

Painting it was!

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I cleaned the entire floor really well with a broom, then shop-vac, then mopped a couple times.

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Next I primed the floor with a water based primer.  I was pretty sure that the tannins in the wood would bleed and man did they ever!  I took 2 coats of primer to cover the bleeding and still in a couple areas it’s noticeable.  But I’m ok with that because let’s face it when you live in a house built in 1827, first you are extremely grateful and second you learn to accept that things aren’t ever gonna be perfect.

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Once the floor was primed I got out my handy HomeRight Ez-twist Paint Stick.  Have you ever used one?  This is the most useful paint stick I’ve ever owned.  It is perfect for walls and ceilings because it has a shield to prevent drips and splatters.  But the best thing is that it doesn’t require a messy paint tray!  It comes with a handy lid adapter that attaches to your gallon of paint.  You simply attach the paint stick and twist the handle to suck the paint right into the stick!  Then as you’re painting your surface you simply twist the stick in the opposite direction and the paint gradually comes out onto the roller.  It’s so perfect and mess FREEEEEEE!!!!!

Genius!  No mess!  I AM IN!

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Rolling the floor was super simple and fast and the shield helped prevent splatters on the freshly painted walls.

I used 3 quarts of paint which I combined all together in a gallon paint container with a quart of water.  This insured the paint was well mixed and thinned just enough to go on smooth.  Once I had painted 2 coats of paint on the floor with my paint stick I cleaned it all with warm soapy water and then sealed with two coats of a water based topcoat again using my paint stick.

All in all the floor couldn’t have turned out better!  I am so thrilled with how easy this project turned out to be.  I have a feeling I’ll be painting more floors in the future.

 Needless to say Prince Charming came around to my way of thinking and we’re not getting carpet!  See how I saved us so much money there?  I’m gonna have to remind him of that.  😉

Be sure and enter my giveaway below for your very own HomeRight Ez-twist Paint Stick!

Painting your hardwood floors seems like a daunting task but in this post I'll show you how easy it can be with the right tools.
Painting your hardwood floors seems like a daunting task but in this post I’ll show you how easy it can be with the right tools.

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You can purchase your very own HomeRight Easy Twist Paint Stick  here.


Affiliate links included for your convenience. 

House Beautiful Inspired | Painted Kitchen Cabinets
Weathered Wood and Beadboard Painted Hutch

67 Comments

  1. Love your floors! I would paint my daughters new house!

    1. Thanks Kathy! That sounds like the perfect thing to start with. 🙂

      Blessings,
      Beth

  2. The paint stick looks like it does a wonderful job. I would love to paint my family room walls, but it has cathedral ceilings and I have health issues that limit my painting abilities. The paint stick looks to be the perfect solution for me and my family room walls. Love your hardwood floors. It brings back memories of the home i grew up in.

    1. Thank you Tommie! Good luck!!!

      Blessings,
      Beth

  3. Ooo, I’d love one of these! I’ve painted more walls than I can count and ceilings are a pain because of splatter! So, I’d paint my kitchen ceiling first…it needs it to get rid of a water stain!

    1. Cecilia it’s perfect for ceilings!!! Good luck!

      Blessings,
      Beth

  4. Theresa Zimmerman says:

    Wow, amazing job!

    1. Thanks Debbie! I’m sure there’s a floor somewhere with your name on it. LOL!

      Have a great day friend!
      Beth

  5. Brenda Iwami says:

    I think my garage would be the place to start painting!

    1. Sounds like the perfect place to start Brenda!!!!

      🙂 Beth

  6. Hi Beth,
    Your floor turned out great!! We have the same in our master and never thought to paint them! I think the first project I’d tackle is the bathroom that the previous owners painted blue… ugh! 🙂
    Thank you!

    1. Thanks Carrie! I’m a big fan of blue but some hues are just not right. 🙂

      Good luck,
      Beth

  7. Rachel C. says:

    It’s hard to say what I would paint first because I really have a lot of projects lined up. But I am thinking the floor of the sunroom would be the absolute first. Love the no mess no fuss part of the paint stick. Sounds like a dream!!

    1. Rachel it really is! I’ve used it on ceilings too and it so great not getting paint drips in my eyes! Ha!

      🙂 Beth

  8. Stephanie says:

    Love the floors!! Many years ago I painted my kitchen floor. At this time I have a dining room & 5 raspberry (not my choice) flat panel doors in the rec room that need to be painted.

    1. Stephanie that sounds like the perfect candidate for painting. Good luck!!!!

      Blessings,
      Beth

  9. Abby Lones says:

    I have never heard of this! Love it & the chance to win one 🙂

    1. It’s a great tool Abby! So glad you know about it now. 🙂

      Blessings,
      Beth

  10. Wow Beth, your bedroom looks beautiful! I need to paint our front porch floors and our screen room floors. So far, I have been procrastinating. Mostly, because it really intimidates me. This method looks like it is less anxiety producing.

    1. It really was Sally. As you know I paint a lot! The EZ-Twist made a BIG difference in this project.

      🙂 Beth

  11. Susan Miller says:

    Wow! What a dramatic change, and so refreshing looking!

    I would love to win a HomeRight Paint Stick! I would so paint my front porch. It’s a small area, and has never been stained or painted. It is in desperate need of an update as it’s so very drab – Bleh!

    Thank you for the opportunity!

    1. You are very welcome! Thank you Susan!!!!

      🙂 Beth

  12. Good morning. I would love to win the EZ-Twist to paint my ceiling. We are TRYING to build a closet and plank the ceiling. Wish me luck! I would love to use this. Thank you.

    1. Tracy you can do it!!!!! Slow and steady wins the race. 🙂

      Beth

  13. Our patio ceiling needs a new coat of paint…and our TV room is next…

  14. Ok, first – I am obsessedddd with your floors! They turned out so wonderful! 2nd, the first thing I would paint with the EZ Twist Paint Stick would be my master bedroom! Itching to get that done, and this looks like it would make it so much easier. Thanks!

  15. Colleen B says:

    The first thing I would paint with the paint stix is my front porch and back patio.

  16. SONJA HANSEN says:

    I am impressed with these products AND your work. Thanks for sharing.

  17. You are a brave woman. Great job on the floors! They are beautiful! This is the first I have heard of the Easy Twist Paint Stick, but I am very intrigued. I’ve been putting off painting my ceiling to cover a water spot for far too long because I just know it is going to make a big mess. This seems like the perfect solution!

  18. we’ll repaint our garage !

  19. nancy abruzzo says:

    The floor is a Beauty…what a brave woman you are! I’m always painting something…it’s meditative ’cause as soon as I tell my husband I’m painting, he leaves the house and I find myself alone with a gallon of something scrumptious and a new paint brush: Heaven. Seriously, I get bored with a color after a year or three and change is good. I’ve never used the paint stick, but would like to try it…I feel a meditation session coming on. 🙂

  20. beverly e says:

    I would love to have one of these to paint my front porch. Thanks for the chance to win!

  21. amy tolley says:

    we are re doing out 100+ house and I never would have thought of painting my floors as you did what an amazing idea thanks for sharing my hard wood floors are identical to yours and was wondering what it would look like to just paint over them rather then have new carpet installed which is extremely costly….this looks amazing..I love this look so much better then carpeted floors…So I will have to say my living room, dining room, and the down stairs bedroom….

  22. Renee Smason says:

    Wow, that floor is flat out gorgeous! I have so many rooms in my house that need freshening up I’m not sure which one I’d do first.

  23. Gorgeous! I love the “old home” feel! And it fits with your decor so much better than the carpeting. Just wonderful. If I was to win I would use the paint stick to paint the kitchen, which is next on my list once the summer heat lets up a little! Thanks for a great post and an awesome giveaway!

  24. Love how the painted floors turned out, they look beautiful as the backdrop for the bed. I’d use the Paint Stick in my daughters room

  25. i would paint my living room, it’s brown & I’m really sick of it! I want to go gray & white!

  26. i would paint kitchen ceiling and foyer.

  27. Brenda Isaacs says:

    I feel like painting everything in sight!!

    1. Ha! Brenda I feel your pain!!!!! 🙂

      Beth

  28. I love the floors! The paint stick looks like just what I need to get started with my high walls in my great room , kitchen and hallways. I have procrastinated this log enough!

    1. Shari-you can do it!!!!!!

      🙂 Beth

  29. Cyn Benson says:

    I love that you stuck to your guns about painting your floor and your understanding that it would not be perfect, but it turned out wonderful and obviously the paint stick is so easy to use. It reminded me of when I was a teenager growing up in VT and my mom and I tore out my bedroom walls, lath and all and redid it. Our house was built in the early 1800’s so it was a challenge, but oh so worth it.

    Cyn

    1. Hi Cyn-it is so very challenging and so very worth it.

      🙂 Beth

  30. You have done a beautiful job with your house. I used to have a pre-civil war stone farm house that had quite a history. We loved that house, but I couldn’t afford to do all the renovations that it needed. It is definitely an expensive undertaking, but well worth it.

  31. Candace H. says:

    I am so glad I found your blog as the spare bedroom is my next project and I really want to paint the floors but was reluctant to try. I LOVE how yours turned out and I am keeping my fingers crossed my turn out half as nice as yours.

    1. Oh thank you Candace! You can do it!!!!

      😉 Beth

  32. Hi, I’m a senior who still loves to DIY! Will tell everyone I see about this great product that enables us seniors to carry on~!

  33. What water based sealer did you use? Also, did you use chalk paint?

    1. Hi Kieley,

      I like to use General Finishes High Performance TopCoat in Satin and yes I use a chalk type paint. I use and sell Debi’s Design Diary Chalk and Clay Paint. Here’s a link for you, http://bit.ly/1LFHEtC
      Hope this helps!

      Beth

  34. Wow! Floors are awesome! I need this for some ceilings!! That way I won’t look like I’ve been to the beauty shop and had high-lights added to my hair from the paint splattering!!! LOL!!!

    1. Hahahahha Patti! Too funny.

      🙂 Beth

  35. Terri Barnes says:

    Beth – Your projects always make the unthinkable doable. I see a painted floor in my future.

    1. Awwww thank you friend.

  36. You have a beautiful home. I love the way you have decorated. The floors are fabulous. I am not the least bit handy and neither is my Prince Charming but this gives me inspiration. My hardwood is sealed with a Matt finish which is quite worn. Do you think I can paint right over it? This is also a high traffic area do you think the paint will hold up?

    1. Hi Lisa,

      Thank you so much for your kind words! I would prime it first with a good primer such as Kilz. The latex version works well and doesn’t have the toxic smells that the oil based versions have. I hope this helps!

      Beth

  37. CARLINA RODDY says:

    What color do you have on your walls? I love that shade!

    1. Hi Carlina,

      Thank you so much for your kind words. The color is called Sleepy Blue and it’s by Sherwin Williams.

      🙂 Beth

  38. Your floors turned out gorgeous! I’m planning on painting my floors soon! I hope they turn out as well as yours did.

    1. Thank you Cate! I’m sure they will!!! Best of luck.

      🙂 Beth

  39. What did you seal the floor with? I’m getting ready to paint the 1948 floors in our house. They are unfortunately to messed up from previous renters with pets to save 😔

    1. Hi Michelle,

      I like to use General Finishes Enduro Clear Poly for floors. It dries clear and is very durable.

      Thank you for reading,
      Beth

  40. Kathy Williams says:

    LOVE!!! Beautiful bedroom! Just pulled the OLD carpet up in my utility room and getting ready to paint the old hardwood floor (like you-too much work to sand and stain!). What color are these walls??

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