Original Brown Paper Floor Tutorial: A DIY Alternative to Wood Floors
Welcome to one of our most popular DIY’s at AOC! This unique brown paper floor technique has been pinned and viewed on YouTube more than a million times and was even featured in an issue of Cottages and Bungalows! It’s a doable DIY that anyone can do and results in a leather-look flooring that lasts a surprisingly long time.
Below you’ll find a bit more about the technique, the video tutorial we made that shows all the steps needed to create this floor using brown kraft paper and glue, and a supplies list.
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UPDATE: Check out the definitive FAQ for the Paper Floor Technique where we answer all the many questions we get about this cool brown paper floor solution to nasty carpet!
UPDATE #2: See our Brown Paper Floor Follow Up: How Do They Look 4 Years Later? video.
Wondering what the heck a paper floor is and if it’s really doable? It is a really cool, unique flooring method (which is basically decoupage) that I first created in our first house, a 1940 Portland bungalow.
We applied it to the stairs going up to a half story and all the floors in the upstairs, both an office and guest room-studio. I thought it would be temporary, but we were shocked how well it lasted, even on the stairs, and how much we liked it. We had no problem selling the house 5 years after laying for flooring – and the new owners thought it was really cool!
After moving to our 1980’s ranch, we knew we’d use the floor again to get rid of the old carpet, which we did for both our son’s room makeover and our daughter’s recent room makeover.
It’s been such a great alternative to expensive wood floors, creating a cool leather look while still giving the feel (decor wise) and easy upkeep of wood.
What’s wrong with carpet?
Brian and I 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 tutorial 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 all the carpet that came in our ranch-turned-cottage 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 we’re sharing with you that we’d used in our Portland bungalow with great success.
Wait? Really, a paper floor?
Yes! We love the doable DIY aspect of this as well as the look and the cost. It is easy, inexpensive and creates a (sort of) leather-look with minimal effort.
Does it last?
It’s coated with water based polyurethane so it has worn really well in the rooms we’ve used it, although I wouldn’t recommend it for high traffic areas.
How much does it cost?
How inexpensive is it? A 12′ x 11′ room cost just $65 total, or about .50 a square foot, which is actually amazing for new flooring.
Brown Paper Floor
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.
You can also see more of the finished floor in this follow up video.
Brown Paper Floor Tutorial Video
Interested in replicating this flooring option in your house? This tutorial video shows you all the steps and tools you’ll need, plus I’ve created a list of tools and supplies after the video:
Brown Paper Floor Supplies
Floor Preparation
- Wood filler for any gaps or holes in subfloor.Ā
- Sanding paper for rough areas and edges.
Applying The Paper
Brown “Builder’s Paper” – the 140-foot roll covered a 12×11′ bedroom and a 11×11′ for us:
- Amazon: Easy Mask 35-inch x 140-feet Brown Builders PaperĀ
- Home Depot (where we get ours): Trimaco Easy Mask 2.9-ft x 140-ft Builder’s Paper
Gallon Size Glue – one gallon covers a 11’x11′ or 12′ room:
Other Tools:
- Small bucket and stir stick
- 3-inch paint brush
- scissors
- trash can
- container to hold water
Optional Staining
This step isn’t in the video, but would happen after the glue dries but before you apply the polyurethane. See FAQs for more on staining; note that I don’t recommend oil based stains like the examples since everything else is water based:
Water based stain in a color you’d like. Here are two options:
Application:
- 9-inch pad applicator (to work with an extension pole)
- For edges use disposable chip brushes or 2-inch foam brushes
- Disposable glovesĀ
Polyurethane Coating The Paper Floor
Floor Grade Water Based Polyurethane – 1 gallon for a 10×10′ to 10×12′ room will give about 5 coats:
- Amazon: Minwax Polycrylic Water-Based Protective Clear Finish, Satin, or Varathane brand for floors in a single pack
- Home Depot: Varathane Satin Water-Based Floor Polyurethane (pack of 2)
To apply poly with a brush like I show in the video:
- 4-inch brush (attached with duct tape to a long PVC pipe pole)
To apply poly with a painter pad on a pole:
To apply poly with a roller (use only foam to minimize shedding and bubbles – these weren’t available when I first did the floors):
- 9-inch foam roller (attach to a roller with an extension pole)
- Extension Pole
Paper Floor Testimonials
Kee Kee 1/2019
Anyway, thank you sooooo much for sharing this flooring with the world. I am absolutely in love with the look, low maintenance, durability, and cleanliness of it. When we pulled up the Lumber Liquidators laminate flooring, I was absolutely disgusted by the what was underneath. The mildew and whatnot that was able to get through the crevices and fester. Yuck. The seamlessness of this flooring means I never have to worry about that. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Dee 5/2019
I did this technique about 13 years ago in a bathroom – still holding up Havenāt even needed to repoly. Insane
I added stain to my glue mix and I also did over vinyl . No problems . I did small pieces of paper , crinkled . Love It 13years!!! poly poly poly poly ! It looks amazing! And it is a heavily traffic area – our laundry in there also. Simply amazing.
Please let us know if you use the technique- we’d love to hear (and see!) how it turned out for you!
This tutorial has been updated – it was originally published in August of 2010.
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What a innovative idea..Considering this for my son’s bedroom which has icky carpet and we have no $$$ to replace. Wondering though, what happens when furniture is scooted and moved around on it.
Also, someone mentioned doing this to their bathroom counter. Is it really durable for a bathroom counter?
I have just finished my staining and there are blotches. I was especially careful to spread the stain evenly and not drip as I pulled the brush from the can. Oh well…this is a learning experience. I do love the squeegie idea also as I have some wrinkles that I don’t think will go away.
Thanks for this idea. I’ve been walking on (and getting splinters) on particle board for a year. I just never had the money to refinish. This is the perfect solution.
Southern Belle- Great tips! The squeegee one is especially appealing…
Athena- Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner- I think the main issue with concrete is if it’s on top of dirt or not. Moisture will come up from the dirt, so that will always be an issue, I think. If it’s not directly on dirt, I don’t think it would be a problem, but sealing it first would be a good idea, too.
Anonymous- Goodness, that’s a lot of work you’ve got ahead of you! I’m of the firm opinion that as long as there’s a door or some line of change, the floors in all the rooms can be different- do what you’d like! Also a couple of readers have had great success with applying a floor stain after gluing the paper (but before the poly) to create a cool, darker look. And the white trim will look great- I think you’ll be very happy (once all the work’s done). š
Okay, I’m in the throws of talking my husband into doing this to our ENTIRE HOUSE, all 2100sqft upstairs and down PLUS the stairway. We have crappy 2003 whitish/super light beige carpet with stains galore and ugly dated linoleum in the kitchen and bathrooms. Do you think it would look better to do a uniform color throughout the house or do you think doing a variation color such as a lighter creme color paper in a bathroom or transition to kitchen would look okay? We’re also going to paint all of our trim white during the process as it is this horrible light brown color that looks like a mix of grey and brown. Ick.
This is a great idea, and I’d like to try it, but we have a concrete floor in the room I’m considering. I would be really interested in anyone’s experience who has tried this successfully on a concrete floor. I did read the comment above about the folks who tried it on concrete, but it sounds like they applied it to bare concrete. I’m wondering if we painted the concrete floor first, and then tried to apply the paper technique, if that would work better. Or I wonder if applying a coat of polyurethane directly on the concrete first, and then applying the paper technique would work. Or is there something else we could or need to do to prepare the concrete in advance of applying the paper to it? Anyone have any experience with this in terms of concrete flooring? Thanks for any suggestions! It’s a fantastic idea, Jamie, and I’d really like to try it!
Jami, Thanks for the inspiration to try this project! Here are a couple of things that I learned while covering our 370 sq. ft. room. After you crinkle the paper, it will go down much easier if you iron each piece with a clothes iron. If you have a floor that already has a coat of poly on it (we had a painted floor), you can use poly for your glue and it works very well! If you use a squeegee to squeeze the air and excess glue from under the paper after gluing it to the floor (but before putting glue on the top), the floor will dry with very few wrinkles. I’m not sure how to place a pic of our floor on this post, but if you want to see the result, you can visit our blog. Again, thanks for such a $ saving idea! You rock!
What a great idea! Love it!
Someone asked about fabric… this should work just fine with fabric. The fraying mentioned shouldn’t be a problem as the the edges are sealed first with glue, and then with Polyurethane. The paper that goes down doesn’t tear after it is finished, thus the fabric wouldn’t fray.
In regards to vinyl flooring … this should work just fine. Anything that can be decoupaged normally (think glass jars that we all made in Kindergarten, wood boxes, etc.) can be decoupaged as a floor. If sticking is a concern, there are primers made that are “super-stick” that could be applied ahead of time.
People have asked if the floor can be removed … If you installed vinyl or hardwood or laminate or ceramic or any other type of flooring, it would have to be pulled up before reflooring (or covered over). This is just the same. You just can’t re-expose whatever the subsurface of the floor you covered (i.e. if you did this over vinyl, you couldn’t ever re-expose the original vinyl).
Have fun with it!
I just love this idea. I used it on my bathroom counter top and it came out just fantastic! Thank you. I will be doing some floors with this idea.
Hey Jami, thanks for your comments on my stairs! I basically bolt for B&N and read all the current issues over a Starbucks latte before they cool down from the press LOL. I actually have to refrain from reading the ones I get in the mail- there is such a delay!
I hope you’ll check out my upstairs (with stain)…hopefully I’ll post on that this week!
oops, I just noticed that my question is already answered with previous comments.
I noticed the wood subfloor. Will this technique work on concrete floors?
Info- I’m sorry! We’ve never tried it on concrete, and my guess is that the concrete is not acting the same as particle board or plywood. On these surfaces the paper should smooth out as it dries- and then wrinkle up again after applying the finish before drying completely. It then has a few bumps here and there, but is mainly smooth.
Since this doesn’t sound like your experience with the concrete, maybe there’s too much moisture in the concrete?(I’m just throwing out guesses, here…) I’m not sure I can recommend anything for you, not having experience on that surface other than to try some other flooring. Ugh, so sorry.
Hi Guys!
Myself and my wife tried this brown paper flooring in our sunroom which has a smooth finish concrete floor and am a little worried that we have done something wrong but yet have followed all your directions.
Our floor still has the wrinkles and it’s been just about a week since we did it…we haven’t put the finish on it yet as we wanted to see how it was going to look before putting the finish on it, I guess my question is, do you know if some of the wrinkles will pull out when we apply the finish? or should we try and take it all up and start again? Thank you!
What a great idea! My husband and I own a faux painting company and we have done this technique many times for walls and ceilings, but would have never thought about it for floors. To add a little more depth and character you might consider rubbing on a wood stain before the polyurethane. Great post! I’m sharing it on facebook.
i did this years ago with it on my bedroom walls! it looked amazing. i painted the pieces shades of pink with gold accents and then wrinkled the paper. I put it on the wall with wallpaper paste and voila! what a great idea for the floor though. Thanks!
I LOVE this! It looks so amazing!!!
Tracy- You’re the first person that I’ve heard of who had this on a floor! Good to know it held up so well, too. Thanks.
My parents did this on the floor of our house when I was little! But, they just used brown paper bags from the grocery store! It held up really well, it was still in perfect condition when the house was demolished about 7 years later.
What a fantastic idea!!! I finally got fed up with our carpeting a few months ago, and yanked it all up. Since then I’ve been looking at concrete floors, but your idea may be something for the interim until we can afford to put down wood flooring! Thanks for sharing!!!