I’m a huge fan of hardwood floors for both their beauty and their durability, but I’ll admit that they can be pretty boring. Paint can do a lot to fix up a dull floor, but painted wood floors can be a little overwhelming if you’re not showcasing them as the focal point of the room.

Painted checkerboard floors that feature wood floors are a good compromise, as they’re not so in-your-face as, say, a bright blue floor or as blah as a plain white floor, but at the same time they appeal to the eye. Here are six examples:

A soft, low-contrast checkerboard floor doesn’t steal a room’s thunder.

This patterned floor adds a lot of oomph to what might otherwise be a fairly drab kitchen. (via)

This red and white checkerboard floor is playful and fun. (via)

The border on this painted checkerboard floor gives the floor the finished look usually provided by a fine rug. (via)

In a room with built-ins like cabinets, your checkerboard floor colors can match or not, depending on the sort of look and feel you want to achieve. (via)

And when I say you I mean *you* — as DIY projects for the home go, painting a floor is one of the easier ones. The Wood Floor Guide has a how-to that takes you through the floor painting process step-by-step, though I much prefer the how-to on the This Old House web site because it includes not only steps, but also a video.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 5:50 am by Christa Terry and is filed under Flooring, Paint and painting, Remodeling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.