apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

you are not crazy! the first time we painted our floors white i was pregnant, so we opted for the less-fumey acrylic white. it got scratched quickly and looked lackluster. we redid it in high-gloss oil-based floor paint and it's stunning. by all means, commit to it!

will such a floor work with 8 foot ceilings? the room in the photo above has very high ceilings. i'm hoping i could achieve as nice a look in a smaller room.

Well they obviously don't have children.

I too was lured in by an amazing photo of high gloss white floors and was excited to try it in my kitchen. Your experience may be different since you're dealing with wood and I was dealing with concrete, but thought I'd share my story. I opted for white epoxy--think garage shop flooring. There are DIY kits, but I hired a professional since I wanted pure white and I wanted it to look good. Well, first mistake was that my square footage was small potatoes compared to the commercial/industrial clients they were used to, so I don't think I got the most dedicated crew. Second mistake was picking white. It's hard to get a solid, opaque white on grey concrete without lots of layers of epoxy (read more $$$). Also, surface prep is key--they left lots of bits of concrete debris which left little pimples in the final surface. Final words of warning: epoxy is stinky, harsh chemicals, and you must be a clean freak--surface was almost like static cling for dust...which shows up beautifully against white! Sorry to be such a downer. I just ended up tiling over it and like that so much better! On the upside I went with IKEA Tundra floors in white throughout the rest of the house and love them. I still deal with the dust showing up somewhat, but much easier upkeep. Maybe it has something to do with the matte versus glossy finish.

We painted a porch floor high gloss white on our Craftsman in Temple Terrace. Didn't really think a whole lot about it. Only went high gloss because it was outside and high traffic. I don't remember much about it except it was fine and easy to clean.

This. Is. Beautiful.
Although it would look very different with coloured furniture because all the colours would bounce right back off the floor. I think this only works with a predominantly white interior.

Yes. You are crazy. :oD But if it makes you happy (and you can afford it) do it! That room is beautiful. (And aren't y'all missing the #1 most important aspect of that room? Not the gorgeous windows or lovely high ceiling, not the white furniture or immaculate cleanliness, but the adorable silver pig!?!)

semi gloss is the better option if you want a live, where cleaning the floor is not a major topic everytime.
I really love the pic, but I would hate to see every black hair me and my partner are loosing, every piece of cat fur and dust ....

I think it looks ethereal and marvelous and airy and heavenly.

If you're thinking of doing this, think long and hard about the furniture choices you've made thus far, and whether they can support this look. If you've already done semi-gloss, then yes. Go glossy.

I was talked (read forced) into installing clear maple flooring in my house. It too is very light, and shows dust easily, but the disadvantage I have is if I get a gouge or scratch, I'm refinishing the whole thing. If you get a gouge or scratch or dirt or wine or anything, you can touch it up. Go for it.

Sounds more manageable than my ebony-stained bamboo... It seems to gets dirty just by looking at it! Our all-white living room stands up much better to our puppy than our hardwood flooring does.
I vote that you wear down your semi-gloss floor and invest in the high gloss when it needs a refresh. I can only imagine how patient you would be to wait for the floor to dry.

I did this. It wa a nightmare to keep clean. It needed to be washed every single day--and that is just not happening in my life. I ended up covering it with sisal.

There's no need to repaint the floors to get this high-gloss appearance - a coat or two of a durable clear acrylic varnish would do the trick.

It looks so sterile I can't stand it. By nature, human beings like darker colors beneath their feet and lighter colors above. It's not how everyone chooses to decorate but it does produce the most comfortable designs. Just like nature.

~Lorrie @ MyDesignSecrets.com

I think it could be fabulous. If keeping it clean is a potential concern, get a roomba, it changed my life.

Kind of OCD to maintain, but so beautiful.

Who wants to clean them....a show of hands please? I didn't think so.

UGghh.. . the very thought makes me cringe. First off - if you have ANY imperfection in your floors they will immediately be visible. Notice that the reference shot is from a distance.

Secondly - cleaning. Nuff said there.

Looks so cold -- I am shivering just looking at the picture.

Its what heaven would look like. But I'm pretty sure no one *has* to clean there.

I second the Roomba advice. If you do decide to go for it (and its gorgeous!) invest in a Roomba.

This would show every speck of dust and dirt. High gloss black would be a much easier - but equally classy - option.

I am dealing with how to REMOVE a layer of white paint from my wood floor! I don't like the look of this at all!

Glossy Black Floors are very cool also, But if you think there less work to keep clean looking you are sadly mistaken.

I have white floors (semi-gloss) and love them. Very easy to clean because dirt cannot hide. =)

By nature, human beings like darker colors beneath their feet and lighter colors above.

Say WHAT?

Dark floors can look dull and dingy in spaces which aren't well-lit. They can offer way too much contrast when paired with white walls and/or furnishings (not everyone wants to walk into a two-tone, chessboard of a room).

This space is calm and relaxing. I love how the high-gloss finish brings out the lovely texture of the old plank flooring, a wonderful contrast of the old and the new.

This is beautiful! Would I do it? Probably not...the thought of dirt everywhere makes me cringe. I can just imagine a child coming in and having a field day with some Crayola 'ultimate paint set'...

i would do it in a heartbeat and if i really wanted to change up now and then, i would drop some rugs down.

i just love the crisp, clean look.

its like a canvas waiting for me to paint it with whatever mood i am in.

and the issue of cleanup does not put a damper on it for me at all.

its a dust mop or a broom..

I've actually been thinking about doing this in my house, but we have laminate wooden floors which are much more uniform than wooden boards. My concern is that the structure of the floor wouldn't show through the paint and it would all look a bit flat. What I really like about this picture is that you can actually see the "imperfections", which to me makes it even more beautiful. Has anyone tried painting laminate floors (and have a picture to show perhaps)?
http://www.notyourgoddess.blogspot.com/

I used to have glossy white floors and loved them. Yes, you have to clean them a lot, but once you've seen all the guck that gets tracked in, you never again want a floor that hides dirt. You know it's there.

I think it looks absolutely gorgeous because I love white floors, but I'm not so sure about the high-gloss. It would definitely depend on what other furniture/furnishings you had in the room.

When I eventually buy my own place, I'd love white floorboards but maybe not so glossy. It almost looks slippery!

I am doing this right now on my concrete floor. My style is industrial modern so it works well withy my furniture (all white).
I remove old tiles from the floor and initially hoped that the concrete would be perfect underneath to stain it. Was not the case. I looked into epoxy but found out it could "yellow". Si, I cleaned and scraped the concrete as much as possible. Added a layer of plasterweld for bonding. Added a layer of white primer and a layer of white outdoor white porch paint. I am letting this dry now and the next step is to add 1 layer of high-gloss polyurethane. Even without the poly applied as of yet, it looks great.

"By nature, human beings like darker colors beneath their feet and lighter colors above...just like nature."

Where I live, this is nature for about half the year (until the snowplows go through and dirty it up). The beauty of a snow-covered landscape is about the only thing that makes winter tolerable!

I keep coming back to this picture, a persian rug under that daybed and I'd be fainting with envy!

I love white!! this is like my future home! ;p

This is a beautiful photograph of a lovely room! I did imagine Uma Thurman in the process of painting it for a moment, but that's okay.

obviously Lorrie @ my design secrets doesn't know what she's talking about.. I was thinking about doing this in my apartment but I had a few questions.. How hard would it be to remove the white paint for resale if need be? Is it harder to remove with an industrial than regular stain?

Secondly I have nice 80 year old pine hardwood floors which have pretty tight joints different than the picture above. I was affraid that our floor would be too flat and not show the grain. Thoughts?

love them. i have high gloss black floor and cabinet in my kitchen, but i think i like the white better