Faux Wood Floor- ‘Paper-Decoupage-Floor’

Or.... " HOW TO" 
** Please be sure and click the link at the bottom of this post and see how my kitchen floor turned out!  I updated my method of papering my floor, with great results there too! 


So in the progress of giving my bathroom a facelift—I decided I wanted a NEW FLOOR.
Problem…No Money. The vinyl floor we have now is old,
SCRAPED… RUSTY… ???? YELLOWED… GOUGED… and just plain yucky. Enter… brown paper.  I had two partial rolls from previous projects. I’ve been seeing (all over the place) all the wonderful ways people have used brown paper on furniture and thought ‘Hey, maybe I can do this on my floor!’
So I start looking around and found a video on Youtube--- Where Jami from the ‘an oregon cottage’ has been doing this on her floors. I emailed her and asked if she’d ever done right over vinyl--- she said, “No.” but offered a few suggestions—like try it first on a spare piece of vinyl. I didn’t. But it was good advice… I mean really, who has spare vinyl just laying around?  I’ve got too much other junk laying around – no room for vinyl.  So I just went for it. THANKS ANYWAY FOR THE TIPS AND INFO ,JAMI! But mainly for the encouragement to do the project.

*** So I cut my paper into about 36 inch lengths and then cut that into strips about 4 inches wide length wise (some strips were only 2 1/2 to 3 inches wide)
This is my dry run---gauging how much paper I would need. As you can see I cut my paper into fairly even strips of various lengths. I then wrinkled them length wise… I DID NOT WAD INTO A BALL. I scrunched them into long strips
*** After I cut my paper and separated by size (roughly) 
I laid them onto the floor to get the lay out I thought would best resemble WOOD FLOOR. Already, you can see the floor resembles wood planks or strips.  FRIDAY:  Then I started Friday evening.  I used ALL PURPOSE ELMER’S GLUE  I watered it down in a 1:1 ratio and brushed it onto the back of the piece…once I got it into the position I liked… I brushed it on very liberally,too.  I laid it in and staggered short and long pieces just as though I were laying a floor. Now this is our only bathroom; so the above photo is where I stopped over night… Cause well, we might need in there! ** you can also see water damage around the cut- off and base of the toilet, not pretty, but I'm just being real folks! 
I finished it the next day.Allowing time for drying in between—again, I might need in there! SATURDAY:  I DID NOT LET IT DRY 24 HOURS BEFORE WALKING ON… It was dry with in 12 hours, using my heater. (the glue was non-toxic or flammable—PLEASE MAKE SURE AND READ YOUR LABELS) SUNDAY: The next day I finished out the floor and waited the rest of the evening for it to dry… by Sunday morning the whole floor was finished drying.

(it blends in with my shoes!) 

I bet you noticed my lovely lines—well, I wanted to give a bit more detail… so I used this… I got this little kit at the Dollar General for $1.50 !!! … (it was $5 but they aren’t going to carry it any longer) It had various shades of brown markers in it. It’s a CONCEALER for FURNITURE scratches . I mixed it up a bit and used all of them… all over the floor.   The Next Weekend-- After that was finished. I stained it with Minwax wood stain. It shaded the lines a little to help blend.
TA-DAH!
I know what you’re thinking…’but it looks like paper with child-like colored lines all over.’  Well, you saw the pictures earlier in the week and…
Everyone who read …”I’m showing my new *wood* floor.”  in the EITHER WAY IT’S FAUX post, really thought I put in a floating wood-laminate floor. I THINK IT LOOKS PRETTY GOOD FOR PAPER!!!

Depending on the light it looks more like wood than at other times. I used a yard stick and drew the lines onto the paper. I made my own and DID NOT FOLLOW the lines of the paper. Instead I let the stain get into the crevices of the paper and simulate a natural grain of wood.

I got it sealed and used 2 coats of polyurethane.  I hope to put two more coats on during the summer—when it’s warmer and I can turn off the water heater again.  We had been walking on it for a week and it has held up just fine. But it needed  a good sealer. Since I’m putting it in the bathroom—I used an oil based polyurethane.
I love it!

***edited to say:  I've updated on how this floor has held up and you can read about it here

** If you're inspired by my bathroom floor over vinyl. Please be sure and see my kitchen floor  (it was featured @ Catch as Catch Can- #196 My Repurposed Life) with updates on technique.  As always feel free to email me with questions!  My email is the orange coffee pot top right side bar with "mail" on it! Thanks! 

I'm also linking here: 

Show off Saturday #2