Faux Wood Floor- ‘Paper-Decoupage-Floor’

Or.... " HOW TO"
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!

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Show off Saturday #2