August 13

Kraft Paper Floor: A DIY Alternative to Wood Floors {Video Tutorial}

*UPDATE: Check out the definitive FAQ for the Paper Floor Technique where we answer all the many questions we get about this cool kraft paper floor solution to nasty carpet!*

*UPDATE #2: See our Brown Paper Floor Follow Up: How Do They Look 4 Years Later? video.*

Brian and I have created a video tutorial that shows all the steps needed to create a do-it-yourself floor using brown kraft paper and glue like the one we did for both our son’s room makeover and our daughter’s recent room makeover. It’s a great alternative to wood floors and creates a cool leather look.

We are unanimous in our love of wood flooring and our hatred disgust dislike of carpet. Bear with me a minute as I get on a little soap box about wall-to-wall carpet. Carpet is:

expensive
not an easy DIY project (more money for labor)
hard to clean (pets? children?…hello?)
“filter is full after 5 years” (exact quote from a carpet professional- translation: there’s no amount of cleaning that’s going to get it clean)
dusty, dirty edges even with regular vacuuming
an unchangeable color
not great for certain allergies
and, since we moved rurally, shows all of the dirt, mud and other dark things that routinely come in on people’s shoes…

OK, I’m down from the box and obviously you can guess where we stand. And while I know plenty of people who love their wall-to-wall, this video is for those like us who’d like to get rid of it, either because you can’t afford new or because you, too, don’t like carpet.

Needless to say, we are slowly getting rid of the carpet that came with the house we are living in and we are down to two rooms left: the master bedroom and the sunken living room. They will probably get some sort of wood, but for the kid’s rooms, we used this decoupage torn-paper technique that we’d used in our other house with great success.

This paper floor technique is easy, inexpensive and creates a (sort of) leather-look with minimal effort. It’s coated with polyurethane so it wears well, although I wouldn’t recommend it for high traffic areas. How inexpensive? A 12′ x 11′ room cost just $65 total, or about .50 a square foot, which is super for new flooring.

Here’s what it looks like in our daughter’s room:

I love seeing this from the hallway now instead of the brown, stained carpeting. It looks a lot airier, too, and makes the room seem bigger.

Now we can get any color of carpeting we like and when it’s old and stained we can just buy a new one (and since this was just $25, it’s not a huge investment).

Here you can better see what the floor looks like. The pieces of torn kraft paper all came from the same roll, but they dry light and dark (I don’t know why), which I think creates a more interesting look than if it was all one color.

The best part for a kids room? Nice and airy under the bed- no “cleaning up” by pushing everything under there!

Interested in replicating this flooring option in your house? This tutorial video shows you all the steps and tools you’ll need:

Click here to see video full size on YouTube.

And please let us know if you use the technique- we’d love to hear (and see!) how it turned out for you!

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About Jami

Jami Boys is an author, blogger, and imperfect do-it-yourselfer who lives in the green, lovely, and often rainy Pacific Northwest with her husband and two children. Her passion is to help others enjoy life & embrace simplicity through whole-food recipes, easy DIY projects, and do-able gardening.