Unique Flooring: 5 Low-Cost DIY Ideas

By Bridgette Meinhold
Published on March 9, 2012
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Brown paper bag flooring looks chic in the upstairs of Lovely Crafty Home blogger Rachael Evans' Asheville, North Carolina, home.
Brown paper bag flooring looks chic in the upstairs of Lovely Crafty Home blogger Rachael Evans' Asheville, North Carolina, home.
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A bottle cap floor adds fun to the
A bottle cap floor adds fun to the "Bone House," designed by low-cost homebuilders Phoenix Commotion.
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Vintage leather belts create the look of lush leather floors for less.
Vintage leather belts create the look of lush leather floors for less.
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Denise Sabia of the blog The Painted Home used stripes to glam up her living room floors and a checkerboard pattern in her kitchen.
Denise Sabia of the blog The Painted Home used stripes to glam up her living room floors and a checkerboard pattern in her kitchen.
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More than 300,000 pennies make up the floor of Revolver shoe store in Noblesville, Indiana.
More than 300,000 pennies make up the floor of Revolver shoe store in Noblesville, Indiana.
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A wine cork floor is another low-cost option.
A wine cork floor is another low-cost option.

Today, it’s easier than ever to find eco-friendly, unique flooring options. From FSC-certified hardwoods and bamboo to natural linoleum, cork and recycled-content tiles, a wide range of light-on-the-earth materials is available to cover the ground beneath your feet. But for those of us who are looking for something out of the ordinary or hoping to cut costs, the eco-friendly options might still leave us searching for options outside the box. Lucky for us, a good, durable and eco-friendly floor can be made from a variety of upcycled materials–although it may take a bit more creativity, planning and time than traditional options. We’ve picked our brains and searched the country for innovative ideas, and we’ve come up with six inspiring and unique flooring examples that will have your artistic nature (and your bank account) thanking you.

Brown Paper Bag Flooring

Maybe you tore up your old carpet hoping to find beautiful hardwood underneath, but were disappointed to find plywood. This stunningly beautiful remedy for that dilemma involves everyday brown paper bags. Much like a decoupage project, these paper floors are made by gluing down scraps of paper in a random organic pattern, then covering everything with a layer of polyurethane. Rachael Evans of the blog Lovely Crafty Home used brown craft paper to transform the upstairs floors of her Asheville, North Carolina, home into something that looks like a cross between hardwood, cork and leather–all for a superlow price.

Installation: Rachael provides excellent instructions in her blog post “Ultimate Brown Paper Flooring Guide” about how she papered her floors. Basically, she soaked the scraps of paper in glue, laid them on the floor, let them dry completely and then covered the floor with a couple of coats of clear polyurethane. To make this project eco-friendly and fume-free, use either old paper bags or recycled-content craft paper. Instead of the Elmer’s glue, whip up a watered-down recipe of wheat or rice glue and use a low- or no-VOC polyurethane such as those available from AFM Safecoat.

Cost: Approximately $1 a square foot

Bottle Cap Floor

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