How to Paint Linoleum Floors

You guys are going to be blown away by these before and afters – we figured out how to paint linoleum floors and it’s totally changed our pantry.

You know how sometimes at the end of a project you’d rather eat Tide pods than do one single more element of it? That was kind of us with our laundry room makeover. It had come suchhh a long way and was looking so good, but it was a lot of work and we were getting tired of the valley of project debris mounting in every other room.

I thought about skipping the tile stenciling I’d planned to cover the gross old brown linoleum but I’m so glad I pushed through, because it’s now (big deal alert) my favorite part of the whole project. Like in the Venn diagram of easy, budget-friendly and big impact, this was it, and I had no idea how to paint linoleum floors before then.

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We worked with Dizzy Duck Designs on this project – they sent us the stencils we used (the Amira design) and were so helpful with the whole process.

So, here are the products we used and the steps we took to paint our linoleum floors.

Tools & Materials

• Rustoleum flooring kit – This system has a base coat and a topcoat, but you’ll need a second color for stenciling. I used regular wall paint for the base color, but you could buy another floor color for extra protection.
• Tile stencil
• Krud Kutter
• Mini paint roller
• Paint tray
• Painters tape

How to paint linoleum floors

Clean the floors really well

If your floors are a cesspool of grime like ours were (and even if they’re not) you’re going to want to give them a really good clean with a product like Krud Kutter. It’ll help the paint adhere better and will give it a really smooth finish.

Apply your base coat

Tape off all the edges of your work surface where you don’t want the paint to go. For us this was around our fridge, washer and dryer (I didn’t worry about the bottoms of the cabinets because we were adding toekicks afterward).

Then, take your mini roller and do a coat of your first color (we used Dove by Behr, which is the color we’re using for trim throughout the house) all over the floors. Our floors took really well to the paint and we got great coverage but still added a second coat for a solid foundation on there.

Start stenciling

We were gifted our stencil from Dizzy Duck Designs on Etsy and we really loved them. They’re sturdy and thick, easy to clean, and come in a lot of really cute designs. At first I wanted a different, more intricate design but Marie at Dizzy Duck suggested the Amira, which we used, would be better suited to our flooring type and size and I’m so glad she helped us out with that process. She was so responsive, and in this crazy world of 2020, who doesn’t love helping out a small business??

Anyway, onto how to paint linoleum floors. Now there are two base coats of paint, put your stencil in the middle of your area (on an existing tile or just centered if your flooring is flat) and carefully add some painters tape in the corners to hold it in place. This first tile is very important to get right because all the others will be based off of it, so if it’s crooked, you’ll definitely notice. No pressure.

Using a mini roller, add some of your stencil-colored paint but not as much as you usually would to paint something like a wall. The key with stenciling is to do light coats so you minimize how much paint seeps underneath the edges and makes your design look fuzzy.

Add another tile, but not right next to your first

This step actually depends if you’re like me and chronically impatient, but once you’ve done your first tile and are waiting for it to dry, use the registration marks on your stencil (the corner parts that overlap with other tiles) to line it up diagonally from the one you just did and start stenciling.

The idea behind this is if you went ahead and just straight up laid the stencil over the spot right next to the first, you’d risk smudging the still-wet paint. I, however, was distracted by a baby so by the time I got to the next tile the first one was pretty much dry so I just kept going side-by-side.

Anyway, keep going, alternating in a checkerboard type pattern until you’ve done all the full tile pieces you can.

Start stenciling your edges

If you’re using a product like Dizzy Duck Designs’ stencils, you’ll get a couple in a pack. The reason for that is so you can cut them down around the edges to account for weird corners or around toilets, stuff like that. I found the edge that would require the biggest piece of stencil and started with that one, cutting it down piece by piece until I got to the area that would require the smallest sliver.

For me, the biggest struggle was sliding the stencil strip underneath the washer and dryer, or actually, I suppose sliding it back out again without smudging it.

Add your topcoat

Once your floors are totally dry (I gave mine about six hours), start rolling on your topcoat. This flooring topcoat is really thin and spreads easily so you won’t need to use as much as you probably think. Oh, also, it’ll look a bit milky as it goes on but will dry clear so don’t worry about that.

The topcoat will be dry to the touch within a couple of hours but you should really avoid the area for a few days if you can while it fully cures and hardens. I love that this topcoat had a matte look that didn’t take away from the beautiful stencil with any shininess.

Admire your transformation

We’ve only had this floor done for a few weeks but so far haven’t had any issue with vacuuming and steam-mopping right over it. We haven’t seen any cracks or chips, but I’ll make sure to update in about six months to let you all know if the floor painting wears down over time.

It’s made such a big impact in this room and made it feel so much more modern and bright. I literally got right out of bed the next day and went directly to the pantry to admire them.

If you use our tutorial on how to paint linoleum floors, make sure to tag us on Instagram because we’d love to see how they turned out! While you’re at it, make sure to sign up to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with our DIYs.