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Faux Wood Plank Floors Using Brown Paper

Written by Cass

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Have you ever had an idea that was just so crazy that you knew that it would either be brilliant or a big fat flop? Our guest today is here to share a big crazy BRILLIANT idea that worked and looks wonderful: a faux wood plank floor, made using brown kraft paper. Just feast your eyes on the faux wood glory (and it’s not often that you hear me say that!)

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience.  Click here to read our full disclosure policy.

faux wood plank floor (4)

wood plank floor using brown paper, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

Fabulous, right? I’m so thrilled that Chris is here today to share the tutorial exclusively with our Remodelaholic community. Give her a warm welcome!

Stained Brown Paper Faux Wood Plank Floors
by Chris of Freckle Face Girl

Hi fellow Remodelaholics! I’m Chris and I blog over at Freckle Face Girl. I am so excited to be a guest at Remodelaholic today! I am a freckle face mama of 4 and a lover of projects. I think I’m a project-aholic. They keep me sane in this busy life of mine and they are how I spend my “me” time. If I’m not working on a project, I’m thinking about working on one!

Some of my recent favorite projects are the DIY Black Rubbed Pottery Barn Finish in my boys shared bedroom and my Ikea Chandelier hack with Rub ‘n Buff. But, my absolute favorite is why I am here today. It’s got to be my craziest one yet!

faux wood flooring using brown paper, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

This is our office. And that is my paper floor. This isn’t it’s first transformation (remember what I said about liking projects?).

This is after we moved in and threw everything that didn’t have a home elsewhere, in here.

room before faux wood plank brown paper floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

room before faux wood plank brown paper floor 2, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

For the first makeover, I re-painted the room with stripes, painted the ceiling blue, added some DIY artwork, a new hanging lantern, and cleaned up the clutter.

room before faux wood plank brown paper floor 3, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

room before faux wood plank brown paper floor 4, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

But what I really wanted to completely finish the room was a dark floor. I looked into laminate, vinyl and wood. But there really was no reason to spend so much money in one room just because I had the desire for change.

And then it happened. I saw an idea where others had torn up builder’s paper and glued it to the floor and in some cases stained it to achieve a richer color.

While they were beautiful, I really wasn’t wanting the leather or patchwork look for my room. I really wanted the look of a wood floor. I decided to try and create a “plank” by cutting strips of builders paper, adding a faux bois technique and then staining and sealing the floor. The goal was to create the look of old, reclaimed barn wood, with imperfections and distressing.

wood plank floor using brown paper, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

This is what I used:

  • Builder’s Paper from Lowes $11 (or Amazon)
  • 1 quart Minwax Dark Walnut Oil Stain $7 (or Amazon)
  • Elmers Glue All $15 (or Amazon)
  • Wood Grain Tool $7 (or Amazon)
  • 1 gallon Minwax Polycrylic in Satin $45**
  • Small amount of paint for creating faux bois technique (I used Sealskin by Sherwin Williams).

**Remodelaholic note: Polycrylic is not recommended for use on floors because it would require more frequent recoating in high traffic areas. Instead, we recommend Minwax Super Fast-Drying Polyurethane for Floors (available at your local store or on Amazon) or Minwax Water-Based Polyurethane for Floors (also available in your local store or on Amazon).

You can customize the stain to the color of your choice, or make your own combination. I chose satin Polycrylic because the higher the sheen, the more obvious any specks of dirt or imperfections are.

This is what I did:

Cut your strips of paper first. Turn on your favorite movie (or 2) and start cutting. I got into a rhythm and just zoned out. Before I knew it, I had cut enough strips for the entire room. I kept them in garbage bags until I was ready to use them (note the more crinkled the paper gets, the more the plank looks distressed when it’s stained).

I used a piece of wood that was the width of the planks I wanted to create (5 inches). I rolled out the paper about 5 feet at a time, laid the board width wise on the paper (so at least my ends of planks would be straight).

Then I drew a line using the board as a guide. I did this over and over again and cut when I had about 10 or so planks done.

creating faux wood planks for floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

Then cut along the line.

creating faux wood planks for floor 2, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

You will repeat this process until you have enough planks.

I really wanted that reclaimed wood look, so a wood grain was required. You will need a garage or dedicated space for this part because you are going to apply a faux bois paint technique to your planks, and they need space to dry.

I had leftover dark brown paint that I used for this project (Sealskin by Sherwin Williams). Put your paint into a plastic container with a lid so you can stop/start without having to create more of your mixture. Add paint to the container and then add enough water so that when you paint your plank, the paint slides easily and quickly with no drag. It doesn’t need to be completely watery, but not as thick as normal paint.

Quickly paint the plank top to bottom with enough paint to cover the paper but not so much that it is puddling or dripping. Just a thin coat, enough to cover the paper will do.

how to paint faux wood plank floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

Now, quickly take your wood graining tool and, using the back side with fine teeth, pull the tool from top to bottom so you have these fine lines. Note that my paper has some small spots without paint, that is ok, perfection isn’t necessary here. The paint will dry quickly, so you will need to move fast.

use faux bois tool for wood plank paper floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

Now pull the other side of the wood graining tool down over the lines you just made, slightly rocking as you go. The more you rock, the more knots you will have. Again, there is no need to worry about perfection. This process goes very quickly. I think I finished all of my paper in about an hour.

use wood graining tool to create faux wood plank floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

faux wood plank from brown paper, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

I laid all of my planks out on my garage floor and they were dry within about 1/2 hour.

Rip out your carpet, pad, tack strips and a million staples. Clean the floor really well. Be disgusted at that pile of dirt that was hiding under the carpet pad! Yuck!

ripping up carpet for faux wood plank flooring, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

Because I had OSB plywood instead of a regular plywood, I couldn’t get away with putting my planks in at this stage. I tried it in a closet and it gave a strange ripply appearance, because the paper highlights any flaws/ripples/bumps in the floor. I did try a practice board with a regular sheet of plywood, with the paper directly over it and that turned out great. I had to cover the OSB with something smooth, and plywood is expensive. So instead, I essentially created a floating floor much like laminate.

First I screwed down Hardboard Panels onto the OSB. Putty the seams and screw holes with wood filler and sand until they are smooth.

When you are ready to start gluing your paper down, you will need a bucket (something large enough to hold the glue mixture and a few papers while you are working). Add 1 cup Elmer’s Glue-All to every 3 cups of water. Make just enough of this mixture to use while you work, you won’t be able to save it. The papers will need to be completely submerged. Mix thoroughly. You will also need a small paint tray mixed with 1 cup glue to 3/4 c water.

Dunk your paper plank into the bucket of glue/water mixture until thoroughly wet and it softens and relaxes the paper. Only wet enough paper to work with in about 10 minutes. Lay paper on a towel or side of bucket until you are ready.

Using a paintbrush, use the glue mixture from your paint tray and paint onto the floor where your plank will go. A thin coat will be fine because your paper also has glue on it. Lay down your plank and use a squeegee to gently press out any extra glue or water under the paper, wipe up and continue this process. This will ensure the plank is completely glued down, without wrinkles or bubbles. It’s a messy process, so be sure to not use too much glue/water mixture and allow the water to drip off the plank onto the towel a little bit as you go. Otherwise you will have big puddles.

It goes very quickly. I was worried about being straight so I used a carpenters square just to check every now and then. I was able to finish this part in about 1/2 hour.

gluing down faux wood plank floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

Butt your boards up as close as you can when laying the planks. You can see some small gaps between my planks, because it’s so difficult to cut a perfectly straight line. Don’t worry about those. You will take care of that later.

install faux wood plank floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

Be sure not to lean your hand on the paper after you glue it down, or the paper will come up with your hand!

Turn a fan on and let the floor dry for a couple of hours or overnight. If you have any gaps between boards, this is the time to get your paint/water mixture and a fine paint brush and go dab it in the cracks.

Now you can apply the stain! I wore socks so my feet wouldn’t tear up the damp paper. Using a rag or an old paint brush, I started staining in the corner and worked my way out from there. I gently and quickly pulled my stain and wiped with a clean rag if it looked too heavy.

how to create a faux wood plank floor using brown paper, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

Continue until you are finished with the room. It will not dry, it will remain slightly tacky until you seal it.

I applied my polycrylic with a brush because I preferred the control it gave me. I tried a lambswool applicator and I always got little bubbles and it was hard to control the amount applied. Don’t put it on too thick or it will create a cloudy effect. You will be putting down about 7 coats or more depending on the foot traffic your room gets. But it dries VERY fast. I was able to put all of my coats down in 1 day! Because this room get’s a lot of foot traffic, I put down 10 coats.

I decided to nail down small furniture tacks from Lowes that are square and resemble vintage nails to add to the reclaimed wood look.

detail of faux wood plank decoupaged paper floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

How long did it take?

I had already cut the paper into strips when I had time here and there. Painting the paper took about an hour or a little longer. The rest of the process, from ripping out the carpet to laying the final coat of poly, took a full weekend.

It is a beautiful floor, resembling laminate. It feels similar to laminate, but without the hollow type sound they all have. It is abused every day with push toys, crafts, kids and the dog. So far so good. I did put felt pads on all of the furniture. If you get a scratch, you can wipe some stain in the scratch, and reseal.

I love it. I love that I created it. I love that it’s beautiful. How beautiful is it?

faux wood plank floor (3)

brown paper faux wood plank floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

decoupaged faux wood plank floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

faux wood plank floor (2)

faux wood plank flooring in office, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

office with decoupaged wood plank floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

striped office with faux wood plank floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

faux wood plank floor (4)

office with decoupaged brown paper faux wood plank floor, Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic

faux wood plank floor

I hope you love it too! Be sure to stop by Freckle Face Girl and say hello and follow me on Facebook to see what other crazy projects I dream up.

Thanks Remodelaholic and Cassity for letting me be your guest! It’s a dream come true!

xo-Chris

DIY faux wood plank floor using brown kraft paper | Freckle Face Girl for Remodelaholic.com

Paper Painted Faux Wood Floors DIY Project By Freckle Faced Girl For Remodelaholic.com (1)

Paper Painted Faux Wood Floors DIY Project By Freckle Faced Girl For Remodelaholic.com

————————————–

Thanks so much for being our guest, Chris — so glad your idea worked out and WOW, I love it!

Pay Chris a visit over at Freckle Face Girl and check out her fun and creative ideas, like her boys’ vintage industrial bedroom and her Busy Momma’s Guide of easy “immediately gratifying” projects, like a quick solar chandelier DIY. 

Looking for more inexpensive DIY floor finishes? Try one of these:

Grouted Peel and Stick Floor Tiles

grouted peel and stick flooring

Painted Concrete Floorpainted concrete floor

Whitewashed Floorwhite-washed wood floor

Plank Floor Using Plywoodstained plywood floor

Leather-look Floor Using Brown Paperkraft paper floor

Painted Vinyl Flooring

painted vinyl flooring

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Remodelaholic is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Please see our full disclosure here.

Published: April 18, 2014Filed Under: Guest Bloggers, How To, Tutorials Tagged: Flooring, Guest Bloggers, Wood Flooring

About Cass

Cassity started Remodelaholic with her husband, Justin, to share their love for knocking out walls together. Since then, Remodelaholic has become a great community and resource for all those wanting to know how to make their builder-grade home BEAUTIFUL on a budget!


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Comments

  1. Vanessa says

    April 21, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    Would there be any way to make this appear white washed? I’m remodeling my basement and would like a lighter floor. Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Mary Howard says

    April 24, 2016 at 9:13 am

    Beautiful pictures. Did you make that desk in the office? We are looking for something similar

    Reply
  3. kelley milhoan says

    April 25, 2016 at 10:09 am

    Do you have to put a stain on. I have used white paint and glued all the peices down and love the look without stain. I just dont know what will happen if I dont stain it and apply the poly?

    Reply
  4. Trish says

    April 29, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    I am in awe of you. The project is very cool. I don’t think I have the patience. But, applause applause.

    Reply
  5. Dawn Silva says

    June 5, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    LOVE this idea!!!!!
    So cost efficient, good project for family to help with & looks awesome.
    I was thinking of doing this in my kitchen. I have very high end heavy appliances, 3 dogs, & lots of foot traffic ( we love to entertain ).
    My kitchen has linoleum, can I do this over the linoleum or should I rip it up? There are a few rips/holes, how would I cover these?

    Reply
    • Darnell s. Collier says

      August 21, 2018 at 4:04 pm

      Beautiful.
      I have a few floors and rooms that need to be refinished
      Thanks
      I will post before and after photos

      Reply
  6. Shannon says

    October 24, 2016 at 10:34 am

    This is AMAZING! I can’t even believe that worked and looks soo beautiful!

    Reply
  7. Shannon says

    October 24, 2016 at 10:36 am

    Ps how is it holding up after a couple years?

    Reply
  8. Kristen says

    June 24, 2017 at 7:06 am

    Hi, I love your desk! Do you have a tutorial for the desk as well?

    Reply
  9. tami says

    March 25, 2018 at 6:11 pm

    I was researching how to create faux wooden beams to put on the ceiling and around door openings for a kind of cabin look. I think I will try this on some Styrofoam insulation panels. Thank you so much for the ideas!!floor you did looks so real and even looks better than the laminate or vinyl flooring that we bought for our kitchen and living room. I will post pictures if I can get it done.

    Reply
    • Cass says

      March 26, 2018 at 9:58 am

      Way to think outside the box! We’d love to see pictures of what you end up doing!

      Reply
  10. sbg says

    May 14, 2018 at 7:33 pm

    I wish I could figure out how to do this over honeycomb tile in my bathroom. Which I like, but it’s white and I have long dark hair. About 30 seconds after sweeping and/or mopping – hair, hair, everywhere! I tell myself a darker floor would hide it better so I could be lazier longer.

    Reply
  11. Anna says

    October 13, 2018 at 10:38 pm

    How did this hold up? Do you think you could do something similar with sealed contact paper?

    Reply
  12. Bernadette Fausz says

    January 8, 2019 at 6:25 am

    They look amazing. I am actually going to attempt this to my floors very shortly. I had two questions though before I start. Why did you use a polycrylic and set up a polyurethane? And did it hold up? My other question is at what point did you apply the carpenter nails? Was this before or after you poly the floor?

    Reply
  13. House needs a new look says

    September 12, 2019 at 5:58 am

    I have done the paper bag floors on concrete, but do you think I could do the wood floor planks with paper bag over laminate?

    Reply
  14. Jill Young says

    September 17, 2019 at 3:32 pm

    I’m in love with this project and want to do it. I’m remodeling an old horse ranch built in 1946. The costs are incredible and I’ve been discouraged recently after shopping for flooring! The look I want can be achieved this way at such an incredible savings. My concern is how it’s held up and if you think it is house pet friendly? I rescue both large breed dogs and cats as well. I have to sweep and mop about twice a week in some cases.

    Reply
  15. Jackie Moss says

    March 11, 2020 at 5:11 am

    I just started painting my planks and all the ends are rolling up! Is this normal? Did it happen to you?

    Reply
  16. Victoria says

    February 14, 2021 at 5:04 am

    How did the faux wood paper bag floor wear? I’d like to do something like this in a VERY high trafficked area and I’m not sure how it will hold up. Any advice?

    Reply
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Hey there, I am Cassity! Nice to virtually meet you!

This blog is about DIY at its finest. We are obsessed with it and so are you, so while we're working and have nothing to show you of our own projects we show off yours. So submit your projects! More About Us…

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