White painted floorboards?

[fuzzysnout]

Is this ever a good idea? I love the look of White painted boards, but is there any way to keep it looking good if you actually walk on them. I also have a dog - am I dreaming ?!

Our neighbours have them. They look lovely. No kids or dogs though.

Nuff said

the lady who had my house before me painted ALL her floorboards white, then we moved in (2 adults,3 kids, 2 cats) i was forever cleaning them-by the time i'd finished i had to start again as they'd been walked on. we now have carpets and i have more free time :)

We used to have them in our bedrooms,however I think it would be difficult to keep them looking good downstairs
The paint we used was International floor paint
I loved them,however in our new house we went for oak flooring througout (still miss them but don't think DH would be keen on me painting the oak!!!)

maybe it's a no then

If money isn't especially tight, you could always get one of those robotic floor mop-hoover-type things: they whizz around the floor keeping it clean.

I love love love white floorboards and actually think they would be preferable to our current flooring, which is light grey carpet. At least you can mop up spills easily :)

Why not paint thema mid tone neutrtal colour instead? Much easier to keep clean but same feel as white painted boards.

Our old house had a white sort of cream limewash on the floor boards with clear varnish on top. It was gorgeous, you could still see the grain of the wood. Previous owner did it, she had lovely taste, but not sure how it was done!

Thee never looked dirty either!

We had them in the bathroom. Let's just say it took the shabby chic look to a whole new level!

They were a complete PITA and looked awful most of the time.

We painted the floorboards in the spare bedroom which is rarely used. They still look dirty and shabby despite the lack of traffic in that room. We also had the bedrooms in our old house done the same way. It was a real selling point than many viewers commented on. Little did they know that we were freshening them up on a weekly basis while the house was on the market to keep them pristine looking. I would bet that the new owners carpeted them sharpish

My neighbour had her bredroom floorboards painted black with a high-shine lacquer finish (achieved with many coats of diamond coat varnish IIRC) and it looked amazing and seemed very hard wearing...although she lived alone with no kids or pets so maybe they wouldn't fare so well either in a busier household.

Black painted floorboards in the bedroom - it was bog standard gloss and received two coats about 8 years ago but is very hardwearing and is easily cleaned.
Bedroom is used as a playroom/ sorting-out-laundry/ everything room so the floor has withstood a lot of punishment.

I had very dark painted boards in our last house and didnt find it that easy to keep them looking good.
I thought they showed up dust and they were not ideal with our twop ginger cats!
Mid tones are the easiest IME, but it does depend in pets/DCs/where you have them.

We used osmo polyx White wash in our bedrooms

They look loverly and not grubby at all. But we don't wear shoes up there or spend much time other than sleeping

I used a B&Q Everywhere paint in a room that rarely gets used but it does chip/need going over with a flat pad mop things even though it's barely used. however the room is very striking. It has a very airy feel/Shaker or nautical feel to it.

Apart from a rug my mother insists goes in there :S

We painted floorboards with F&B Strong White. Looks lovely, but can be difficult to keep clean if you have a dog or wear outdoor shoes inside the house.

I am tempted the paint the bedroom floorboards white, instead of the grotty old carpet i have in there, still undecided!

I had white painted floorboards in my attic bedrooms and on the attic stairs. They never looked clean and showed up all the gaps between the floorboards and cracks and dents in the boards.
I stained and then waxed my downstairs floorboards a dark brown and they looked amazing....rich, lustrous, not dark and gloomy as they reflect light from windows beautifully, hide all defects in the floorboards and do not show the dirt. Highly recommend.
Here's an interesting article on just this issue

I think the people that sold us our house must have been doing the same as AnEcumenicalMatter
There were white painted floorboards in our bathroom when we moved in, but they never ever looked good, apart from when we first looked round the house.

We have them in a few rooms and a hallway. It's great as they are wipe-able and don't need an aqua vac like carpets. The hallway does get dirty quickly but it isn't too bad considering we have 4 kids and 4 cats.It's not the kids who are a problem as they take their shoes off at the front door but the cats will leave a short muddy trail if the hair round their paws gets wet due to rain.

Other then that they quickly looked shabby chic which really suits our house.