Painting Bedroom Floors White

We needed a quick--and cheap--replacement for the dirty bedroom carpets.

After we removed the staples and tack strips, the plywood subfloor had too many bad spots to leave as-is.

I compared laminates and prefinished wood floors, but nothing matched our existing hardwoods.

(By the way, I found the best hard flooring prices at Southeastern Salvage.)

I simply painted the floors with porch paint. I love the shine.

I bought white high-gloss by Sherwin Williams, which coated better than the big box brands I've used in other houses. One gallon cost $40 and covered two bedrooms.

Rolling on another coat is no harder than mopping a floor.

In my heart, I know a green-and-white checkered pattern would have looked incredible.

In my head, I realized none of the beds would fit through the door frames.

I had to move furniture to one side, paint 2 coats, and then repeat for the other side.


The process, though cheap, is not without drawbacks.

We all lost sleep as the kids adjusted to sleeping bags. We had to wait a few days for the paint to cure. We've already had one gouge from a leg without felt pads.

But I'm a rescuer of old and pretty things. A little wear doesn't bother me.

For all the light we gained, an imperfect floor seems like a small price to pay.