How to Paint a Laundry Room Floor

After we painted the pantry in Valspar’s Silver Leaf, I decided to paint the laundry room in the same color. They’re both right off the kitchen so it made sense to paint them both. There was nothing wrong with the color of the laundry room walls before, I was just ready for a little change and we already had the paint on hand.

What I didn’t anticipate in painting the walls was how much it would affect how I felt about the floors. Years ago and long before we even understood our style, we painted concrete floor in the laundry room a pale gray. This decision was not a bad one in and of itself. Our design mistake was adding those tiny bits of confetti flakes to the paint because that took it from budget friendly laundry room floor to bad garage floor diy in minutes. I know. No words ha ha.

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Thankfully, I’ve learned the error of my ways and now have a laundry room floor I’m excited about. Here’s how we went from drab to fab with a checkerboard painted floor in the laundry room:

The first step in this process was to move the washer and dryer so we could paint the floor. Make sure to use caution and care when unhooking laundry room appliances. If you’re unsure how to complete this step seek professional help and advice.

Next, I had to sand off the confetti flakes from the floor. I used my orbital sander and 80 grit sandpaper and followed with 120 grit sandpaper. Looking back this was not a smart idea. It took forever to finish. I scuffed up parts of the floor. Worse, after all of that work some of the flakes didn’t even come up. Granted, they were smooth enough to paint but still visible in some areas. Don’t even get me started on the thin layer of dust that was over every surface of the kitchen, living room, breakfast area and dining room too. Wearing protective clothing, eye wear, and a heavy duty mask or respirator is a must. It’s definitely a messy job. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably rent a floor sander and get some help.

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After all of the sanding was completed, I used a shop vac to vacuum up all of the dust particles. I swept the entire space, mopped and after the floor was dry I vacuumed again.

The next day, materials in hand (plastic drop cloth, knit roller specially for concrete, roller extender, plastic paint pan, mask) I started rolling the base coat of white on the laundry room floor. Just so you know, the odor is highly offensive so make sure to use proper ventilation during the entire painting process.

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Two coats of white concrete paint later we were ready to map out the checkerboard pattern for the floor. You’ll need a straight edge like a yardstick and a pencil to make a grid pattern. We also used a laser level and a piece of 13 x 13 tile to use as a guide.

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Once you have all of the grid lines on the floor, use painters tape to outline the tiles you want to paint. This is especially helpful if you’re painting two or more colors on the same floor. It will also help to keep your pattern and lines straight during the painting process.

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A few days later, the laundry room floor went from this …

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to this…

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I know, right? Such a change! See you guys back here tomorrow. With all of the big elements in place, I’m ready to share the laundry room makeover reveal.

Many blessings,
CoCo

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8 Comments

  1. CoCo – this is a fantastic transformation…your hard work definitely paid off. We can’t even imagine having to sand those specks from the floor – back breaking work for sure. Can’t wait to see more!

    1. You girls know what a fit I’ve had with my back over the past year so I don’t know what the heck I was thinking sanding those specs off unattended ha ha! You know sometimes you get an idea in your head and you just want to do it right. then. 🙂 Thanks so much for your sweet comments, hugs, CoCo

    1. Thanks so much, Lisa! It has been a great change. Sometimes you just gotta take a risk, you know? Hugs, Coco

  2. Love the change! Not sure I would have the patience to wait for everything to dry and go back and do the second half of the squares, Did you have to seal them once done?

    1. Tell me about it, Nicole, the waiting made it tough ha ha! The concrete paint we used had sealer in it already so we didn’t have to apply an extra sealant which made it nice 🙂 Can’t wait to find out what you’ve been up to! hugs, CoCo

  3. Wow! Great job CoCo. Looks amazing! I love how it turned out. Our Laundry Room needs some attention too. But have a few projects to finish before I even start to day dream about that. Going to check out the finished room now.

    xoxo,

    Brooke

    1. These floors took WAY longer than I expected Brooke. I swore it was only going to take a long weekend! I always underestimate the length of time a project will take but that’s probably because in my mind I have an HGTV crew at the ready 🙂 I can’t wait to catch up on your blog, hugs, CoCo

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