Painted Linoleum Floors: Before and After, Pros and Cons

A couple of months ago, I decided to update my kid’s bathroom. In my true nature, the update consisted mostly of painting things—mainly because this is a temporary update to hold us over until I budget for a full remodel.

• I painted the cabinets.
• The countertops were painted with chalk paint.
• I painted the linoleum floors.
• My girls and I even did a cool accent wall.
• And, of course, I painted the walls and trim.

It involved a lot of painting and one super cheap bathroom upgrade. But today, I want to discuss painted linoleum floors.

Painted Linoleum Floors: Before and After

My kid’s bathroom was very dingy and dirty feeling. After seeing a few people on Instagram painting their linoleum floors, I knew I wanted to give it a try.

I purchased a Valspar porch and floor paint in white from Lowes.

How I Painted the Floors

I lightly sanded the linoleum with a sanding block. Next, I swept and mopped the floor really well.

When the floor was dry, I taped off all the trim and prepared to paint.

I started by using a paintbrush to paint the outer edges and then went back and used a regular nap roller to paint the rest of the floor.

I did a total of three coats, waiting 24 hours between each coat.

Here’s the result:

The Pros and Cons of Painting Linoleum Floors

Pros

Super cheap – The only thing I had to purchase was the floor paint. Of course, if you don’t already have paint supplies on hand, you’ll need those. I used painter’s tape, a paint tray, a paintbrush, and rollers.

Easy to do – If you can paint, you can do this. There’s no special trick to it. It’s easy.

Can touch up – If the paint peels in a section or gets dirty beyond being able to be cleaned, you can touch it up or repaint.

Cons

The floor shows dirt very quickly – As one would expect, white paint shows dirt very well, which, in a kid’s bathroom, means it gets dirty fast. The good thing, though, is that it cleans right up. I use my regular mop with an all-purpose cleaner in it, and that does the job.

If you use a darker color or a stencil, your floor won’t show as much dirt. I had originally planned to stencil the floor but ended up loving how the white looked all on its own.

It takes 2-3 days to complete – Since you need to wait for the paint to dry between coats, it may take you 2-3 days to finish the paint job fully.

Our bathroom rug caused divots in the paint job – This is the one actual con for me. Our non-slip bath mat caused some lines and divots on the floor. Obviously, you can’t tell with the bath mat in place, but if I ever wanted to swap for a smaller one, it’d be a problem.

Would I Do It Again?

Absolutely! I’d 100% do it again and would recommend anyone with dingy, ugly linoleum to give it a try. It’s a very cheap and easy project with high impact.

In fact, my bathroom looks completely different, all thanks to paint.