IMO the painted floor with paint that really won’t stick to the vinyl will lookl alot worse than what you have now.

I actually researched and have found a lot of people who have successfully painted linoleum floors. I bought a special exterior floor paint. So, I'm not worried about the chipping.

Well, the floor really matches your art. I love a black floor, but it will show every piece of lint. Have you found a paint that will stick to the laminate? Maybe there's a primer that helps.

Ha, unfortunately it does match that picture...which is a beautiful map of the Puget Sound, where we live...hoping it won't have to compete with those ugly floors for long!! I have read lots of diy how to's of people who have successfully done it and have reported their painted laminate has been holding up for several years now. I spoke to the paint guy (who was very knowledgeable and the paint he recommended is for floors) This will need to last 2-5 years, so not long term by any means. I do like black and have thought about it, but I had a dark charcoal tile floor once and it ALWAYS looked dirty.

I've thought about a dark blue or the color of my kitchen cabinets too, just worried about dirt showing up on that dark color, even though it would probably look great when it's cleaned. BUT, worried a dark floor and a dark rug wouldn't mix.

I've thought about Wolf Gray by Benjamin Moore, but again, not sure if it would work with my rug. Here's a swatch and it used in this kitchen.

I like the idea of the floor trim!

I will say the kitchen is up three steps from the hall. If you walk out of the kitchen doorway (old house, we removed the doors that went into the kitchen) and look left you'd see three steps and then the hallway, so it's not like they're connected. I have a lot of blues and blue greens that run through my house.

I'm a fan of the wolf grey, I think that'll nicely pull some of the tones out of the runner!

I love the idea of the blue with wood trim. I recently painted my floor and like you said, sticking is not an issue but IMO if you paint a solid colour it really looks like a painted floor. If you put a stencil or some sort of design on top it will look much better. Much more like tile, even if the design and/or colour is subtle. No matter what it seems that you have a great sense of style and my guess is you will make it look fabulous.

Wow, Kitty, great idea about the tinted primer!

mrc345 Thank you!! The cabinets are Cyberspace by Sherwin Williams, but we used Benjamin Moore paint. I've actually thought about that color for the floors, just worried about it being too dark. We live in the PNW so muddy shoes and paws wouldn't be forgiving on a dark floor in my experience.

Ilikefriday that was actually my original plan, to use a stencil! But, I thought it might be too busy with the rug and I know it would be a lot of work. I think if the floor is a bust, I could always stencil regardless.

You could do a stencil runner down the length of the hallway. I think that would look awesome with your rug. Just a thought but still a bit of work. Here is a photo of my plain painted floor and then the same floor with a stencil.

Marta, I have actually looked up stick on tiles and might actually use some that I found on etsy that look identical to some cement tile ones I love as a quick fix to a tiny bathroom that is just off this hallway (so many projects to do!!). I think for cost sake, paint is the cheapest way to go for now. Is that your house in that photo you attached? SO cute!

Ilikefriday, a stenciled border could be fun...I don't think your photo came through.

Marta, and thank you for your compliment! I should have cleared off the counters before snapping this pic!

Oops. I got sidetracked. The left side is what the tile looked like originally. The right is after it was painted. I think solid painted tile looks like plastic is poured over it.

Wow, CUTE kitchen and that runner is to die for!

I'm in the grey camp; it will be just right to highlight the runner. The blue and red would pop really nicely against a medium grey such as the one in your kitchen tile.

ilikefriday how does your painted floor hold up? Do you have to do touch ups or anything?

Lindsey, this is the second time I have done this floor. The first time I did it I didn't paint a solid colour. I just painted the stencil on top of the tile and then put polycrylic on top of that. Essentially it looked the same as it does now. But the polycrylic is not as durable. It didn't chip but the polycrylic coating was thin and I would imagine it would have lasted 2 years without needing to be touched up.

I decided to scrape the first stencil off and the picture above is the second go round. This time I did the solid paint surface underneath which adds durability. I also use used polyurethane instead of polycrylic. Polyurethane is much more durable but it yellows the paint. I have not done any touchups. My guess is it will last 3 or 4 years without touchups. Also, I went with a busy stencil so that places that need touchups wouldn't be as noticeable. Really I still haven't finished the floor there are mistakes I see that I will get around to correcting at some point. I treat this painted floor just as I would any other floor in my home. I am not concerned about chipping at all. The surface seems very durable to me.

Ilikefriday nice work, it turned out great!! That looks like it was tedious. I was all on the stencil bandwagon, but my husband (who is sick of projects!!) talked me out of it. I think if I hate the plain paint, I always have the stencil to fall back on at least.

lindsey, Thank you! That kitchen was a labor of love and it's my favorite spot in the house. It sounds like a medium gray is winning here. Wondering if you saw that wolf gray color I posted above in this thread. It reads a bit blue, which I like, but not sure if that would mesh with my rug.

No thoughts just that your kitchen is super cute. I love it!

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Hi Flo, thank you for your suggestion! I totally agree with you, upgrading to vinyl tiles would probably look nicer than painting the linoleum. And I'm not adverse to doing projects, I've actually done a lot of demolition and tile laying, etc in our house already...it's actually fun for me, working on our house has become my hobby! The issue really is money at this point. We've renovated most of our home (mostly doing all the work ourselves) over the last 2 years and we're saving for our next big project, which is landscaping our yard and backyard this Spring. We're on a big spending freeze! I know vinyl tiles aren't too spendy, but my husband was grumbling about the paint we had to buy! We have a postage stamp bath off this hallway that I am planning on using stick on vinyl tiles for it as a temporary fix, but only because it's going to be so cheap. I have seen some painted vinyl linoleum that turned out really well (I'll attach a pic)...as well as it can at least for painted linoleum...so I'm crossing my fingers over here!

I LOVE YOUR HOUSE

Flo, I'll update with a picture once we do it (this weekend!!). I get it, it might be just putting lipstick on a pig, but I can't imagine hating it more than the current ugly yellowish faux rock I have going on in there now. Ha! Fingers are crossed.

What's under the vinyl? Could you remove it and stain or paint the subfloor?

Lila, wow. I never even thought about looking under there! GREAT idea. I know it's for sure a plywood subfloor or concrete b/c it's an addition to the house, but that might be 10x better than painting the vinyl. Thanks!

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Hello, Everyone! Well the floor has been painted and we are really happy with the result!! It took awhile to dry because of the cold weather. We ended up waiting almost a week to put everything back in the hall and start using it again. Hope you like the after more than the before! Thanks again for everyone's input! Next month we are putting shiplap up and the project will be complete...for a few years at least when we put new flooring in back here!

It looks terrific! What a transformation - good job!

Marta, thank you! Yes, I'm glad it's not shiny too. We shall see how it'll hold up. Hoping for at least two years.