Limewashing/whitewashing wooden floorboards

[Gincognito]

Sorry, me again. Victorian 3-bed, we are having the floors refurbished.

We saw a house where the floorboards downstairs were their natural colour, and then upstairs were white, with a slightly unfinished, aged look.

We'd like to do similar - is it terribly naff? How would you about it? Would it need doing again in 5 minutes?

Thanks!

We painted ours white, using f&b 'strong white'. It has only been a few months, but it is looking fine. It gets a lot of wear because of the dog. I don't mind any imperfections as it gives the floor an aged, distressed look.

It really brightens the space., and the colour has depth. I think you could bleach the floors white using lye, but haven't tried that.

I'm interested in doing this too. Anyone know if a lightly matt varnished floor needs to be sanded down first?

Also, to get that look, I presume we're talking matt white paint? I don't want a glossy look.

Any tips would be welcome.

Thanks flatbread, that looks perfect.

The f&b floor paints are eggshell, hell, so they shouldn't come up glossy.

Yes you would have to sand first Helltotheno, the paint needs to bite into the wood, rather then lay on top of the varnished surface.

You can whitewash by watering down a matt paint, but the proportions would depend on the darkness of the wood, and quality of paint, so you'd need to experiment.

Thanks for all the helpful tips. I'll play around with it before doing the whole room :)

We painted the bedroom floorboards white, and for a while they looked fabulous. After about a year they looked tatty rather than nicely distressed though, so we reverted to carpet.

Would love that effect on my wooden kitchen floor. Any pre done ones?