Soooo, they took the time, energy, and $ to make a worn floor look more worn? Why?
(Coming from a person who has refinished old flooring in his own home.)

I was prepared to be hostile, but it actually looks lovely.

When I clicked on this post, I was expecting to see a black floor. This was a nice surprise! Looks great!

I like both floors quite a bit. What are those panels in the before picture near the wall and radiator? If they're fixtures in the floor, I suspect that the chalk paint helps to blend them in more.

OK...I'm not going to really comment on the floor. It's the homeowner's choice what they want to do with it, so whatever. BUT....I have to gripe about chalk paint. It is EVERYWHERE, and I personally don't get the appeal. I get it for a wall for kids to draw on, or for a place in the kitchen to make notes...but why, WHY would you paint "stuff" in chalkboard paint? This is one of those fads that's starting to annoy me as much as "granite countertops and stainless steel appliances."

I like before.

Jessica ND -- I think you're missing the distinction between "chalk paint" (paint with chalk in it) and "chalkboard paint" (paint that turns surfaces into chalkboards).

It is great that they like it and will enjoy it. I can see that it was an easier solution than refinishing. However, hopefully they aren't planning to sell anytime soon as this would not be to many people's tastes and it might bring the price down a little. Also, I am wondering if the paint will damage the wood in the long run. That would be a shame.

@Jessica ND
As Courtney noted, chalk paint is not chalkboard paint. The reason chalk paint is everywhere is that it sticks to most surfaces without sanding or priming, covers almost anything in one or two coats, and can be used to create beautiful smooth or distressed finishes quite easily.

This is not to say it hasn't been overused lately. I hate to see it applied to wood that is in otherwise good condition, but it can be a good alternative to the toxic process of stripping and refinishing damaged finishes.

I prefer the Before.

Nice! I think it looks great.

I like the distressed look and it makes a lot of sense as far as not worrying about additional wear. Every ding, nick, and scratch is just more character.

Oh - I certainly didn't pick up on the distinction between chalk and chalkboard paint! I guess it is an alternative to refinishing the hardwood floor, while still giving the floor a coat of something that could protect it.

Some wood floors have only a thin veneer of actual wood and cannot be refinished - and if that were the case then this would be a particularly good option.

Great job, I was thinking it was going to be black chalkboard paint.

I'm not an expert on chalk paint -- but it seems doubtful to me that the paint should have any long-term adverse effects. From the DIY example it sounds simply like regular paints with material suspended in it (plaster / non-sanded grout) -- neither of which would harm wood. Paint tends to sit on the surface of a material, so anyone who wants to refinish the floor should be able to easily do so.

I believe that a recipe for chalk paint is, in fact, a recipe for chalkboard paint. That said, chalk paint is a lot more versatile than just a coating on which to draw things. It can be prepped in different ways and is particularly effective at creating distressed finishes (as you can see from the floor).

You don't have to strip and refinish wood floors to improve them. I cleaned the wood floors in my first house with TSP and then used paste wax on them at my mother's recommendation. Mother clearly knows best in this case because they came out beautiful. No sanding, no toxic refinishing.

It's pretty, but it reminds me of that white-washed wood fad back in the 90s. Boy oh boy, did that stuff look dated by the early 2000s.

We have a chalk painted wood kids table. It's a fantastic look. The table (so we were told) was in need of refinishing, so the previous owners decided to do chalk paint instead. It shows the wood grain still, but definitely refreshes the look. I love the after here!

Thanks for clarifying the difference between chalk paint and chalkboard paint--guess I'm out of the loop too.

I like the after--much more than I was expecting. However, I don't consider a wooden floor "worn out" unless it would be impossible to refinish. The "before" was not worn out, just in need of some attention.

I LOVE it! I like the floor before but this is refreshing - you can see the wood underneath without it being SUPER PAINTED.

Not a fan of the faux distressed look. It always looks intentionally distressed to me.

I'm glad that they did something they will enjoy. However, from a resale point of view (if this is a consideration), I don't think they did themselves a favor. And, I'm kind of holding back tears because the before floors were just so wonderful in that raw, "tells you a story" way that wood floors can be.

not my style but it still looks nice and works well in the space.

Before had character. This looks like something you sigh and ask why when you go house shopping.

No I guess I didn't realize there is a difference between chalk paint and chalkboard paint...thanks for those who clarified that...still don't like it, though! :D Just my personal opinion!!

Prefer the Before, but if you like it better, then that's great!

I was prepared to see the floor all monochromatic, but I was pleasantly surprised. The floor looks great, with just enough of the original wood showing through to add interest and say "I am a wood floor!" It really lightens the tone of the room.

The homeowners took into consideration who was going to be using the space and came up with a great solution. Who knows, maybe the kids were the ones that caused all the wear. I myself have a pretty scarred parquet floor, and I've not done a darm thing to it for fear that I will spend the time/money and my boys are just going to tear it up, anyway. Great idea!

I didn't realize there was chalkpaint...learn something new.
I actually like the before AND after but for my personal preference, I would have had the original floors cleaned up and varnished.

I'm not a wood purist. (True confession? I'm often the one rolling my e-eyes at people who freak out about painted wood.)

And I'm also a fan of chalk paint.

But this, to me, looks like the after somehow is laminate and not real wood. I would say this looks like a downgrade.

I will say that the idea of a finish that only gets better with wear in a childrens' room seems like a good idea, though.

Rachel "improved" her nice wooden flooring so much she actually made it worse.... I would also have had the original floor cleaned up and lubricated it with an oil finish.

In the 'before', is that a bed frame on the left & next to the door, is that a covered up old heat vent? If so, indicates an old house. You can hardly see much of the floor in the 'after' but it does look like today's snap together flooring. And then, there's a baby crib? Kind of loses the 'wear and tear' argument. Don't kids now pretty much not wear shoes in the house? Just re doing the floor to it's nice original look would have been preferable & then add a rug(s) for protection.

I'm not a wood purist either, but painted hardwood makes me cringe.

Before shots always get me.

This is really lovely. We live on the ground floor. We get a decent amount of light but we would love some more. Even though our floors aren't dark this would definitely lighten up the room.

Two things about wood floors:

1. if you want to refinish, sanding off paint is no different than sanding off old finish. We had our whole house done where some rooms were previously painted and others had the old varnish-type stuff on them, and it was all the same to the guy who did the sanding (I asked).

2. Cleaning and waxing floors is underrated. I didn't want to do it myself in our previous house and it took a huge search to find a company willing to do it for me, but the results were great and long-lasting. It wasn't free, but it was less than half the cost of refinishing and did not wear down the layer of wood either. The first company I contacted about the waxing refused the job, saying I would not be happy with the results and should refinish, but they were wrong.

All that said, I think the painted floors in the OP are charming. If my painted floors had looked like that maybe I would have kept them!

I'd hate to live in my house for years keeping it generic so I don't have to fret about whether some faceless buyer will like it someday. That's just sad.

Great job. I love seeing this because I am contemplating painting the wood floors in my room. I love painted wood.

I think that the whole thing makes WAY more sense when you read her blog, and see more up-close photos. The original floors looked really damaged and would've required a lot of work and time that one does not have with small children.
The after-shots also look much better when you see the close-ups on the blog, and not so veneer-y as that one photo in this post.
Plus, it's not as though this is forever. When the time comes, it will be just as easy to take off the chalk-paint and refinish as it would've if they had started from the damaged boards.

Looks beautiful. Boy there are some fairly negative posters on this site though!

Wow this is a great outcome. Though this is my first time to hear about chalk paint, I am sure that I seen this kind of wooden floor in Denver residential painting. And definitely, this is great for kids' room.