10 Rooms with Amazing Painted Floors

Whether you're designing a room from the ground up or giving an existing design a well-deserved refresh, color is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. Paint gives you a variety of options and opportunities for creativity in a space, but where can you put it that will be fun? There's any number of answers to that question, but one of the most unexpected directions to go with your paint is down to the floor. Painting the floor isn't as crazy as it sounds. From stained wood floors to carefully painted stencils, there's plenty to be said for using your floor to give your rooms a shot of color. And with a bit of skill, paint can even be a more cost-effective alternative to rugs. But you don't have to take our word for it—we've got the pictures to prove it. Here are ten beautiful rooms made even more stunning by their painted floors.

We all know that paint usually goes on the walls. But in a room like this, you don't touch the walls. When that happens, you paint the floors instead. To keep things subtle in a space with a classic look or a rustic charm, a simple checkerboard pattern is a fitting alternative to tiles or rugs.  

Sometimes when you don't have much room to spare, the right colors can make all the difference. In this attic space, the low ceiling and angled shape of the room can leave things feeling more than a bit cramped. In fact, it is for precisely these reasons that painting the walls is likely not the best answer for this space. By using an energizing shade of blue on the floors, however, the room takes on a new sense of life.

Branded markings on a hardwood floor have an undeniably cool look to them. It conjures an industrial feeling that adds a whole other layer of depth to a space. In fact, the only thing better than brands on your floor is not having to brand your floor to get the effect. The floor in this space has traded fire and iron for paint and stencils to a wonderfully eye-catching effect. The painters even used different shades of black to allow some of the brandings to feel weathered and faded. 

One of the best ways to present a complete color story in your room is to have at least two things in the space that reflect the same color. But if there's a color that you truly love, painting the floors is a perfect option for giving the other pieces a way to connect that really lets them shine. This room features a lovely gray painted wooden floor that perfectly matches the gray dining chairs while providing a lighter counterpoint to the dark blue of the walls for a cool, layered and comfortable look.

Traditionally, entryways don't offer a lot of room. So while they are important moments for decor, it often takes a bit of creativity to get the look that you want while providing enough space for traffic to flow comfortably in and out of the home. Paint is a never-fail option for this situation, both because color is a perfect way to set the tone in a space and because paint takes up no space in a room. This entryway is also a perfect example of what can be accomplished in a space where a painted floor is paired with a painted wall. The soft gray of the walls meshes beautifully with the dark black on the floors. The result is a small space that makes a big impact with very few elements.

Stairway landings are another unexpected area where paint can have a profound impact on a space. Here, a small home office space at the top of the stairs is given a bit of personality by the stenciled checker pattern on the floor. 

Paint offers so many ways to be creative, and you don't have to cover an entire floor in color to get the most out of your investment. Stencils are a great idea for fireplaces where they, again, are a less labor intensive, more cost effective alternative to tiles. For this fireplace, paint was the perfect choice as the precisely drawn pattern meshes beautifully with the ornate grating and stark white mantel. By covering just a small fraction of the floor in paint, the whole room gets a brand new look and feel.

No one can deny the beauty of rugs. They are colorful, comfortable and often, very expensive. If the look of a rug is something your room desperately needs but the price of a rug is something your budget definitely doesn't, then paint might offer another option. Clearly this isn't an everyday paint job, and you'll need to be an artist or hire an artist to get this look exactly right. But if you do, you'll be giving your room a design element that will be stopping shows and starting conversations for years to come.

The biggest trend in outdoor living right now is to make it an extension of the indoors. Your patio or deck should feel just like another room in your home with all of the comforts that you would expect if it were surrounded by walls and ceilings. And since most outdoor rugs still don't match the size or design style of indoor rugs, painting your outdoor floors is a wonderful option for giving your newest room a little kick of color. Here, just a little pattern goes a long way to bringing the entire space together.

A lot of times, the reason we don't think about painting our floors is that we feel like it's going to be too much color over too large of an area. But going big with a single color on your floors can make all the sense in the world when the rest of the room is color blocked in it's own way. This room comes together beautifully with a color palette of blue, white and brown and separated into their designated areas.