Which colour/paint for floorboards and stairs?

[PinkCamelias]

I would be very grateful for advice, because I have to choose and tell my builder what to buy very soon. For context, it’s an old house with period features, and the space I’m asking about is in the attic, with nice height under the ceiling and quite spacious.

When we bought the house, the room looked like on the photos attached. We want to keep it pretty much as it is, but sort of finish it. It will be the kids’ playroom with a big sofa and perhaps a TV; to use for sleepovers (there’s space in the mezzanine) and for guests when they stay over (the guest bedroom will be next door). We will put a kitchenette under the stairs (where the worktop seen on the photos used to be). I don’t want to invest much otherwise in this room, because of all the other costs of renovation, and also because I quite like its style. The particle board ceiling and the beams will stay as they are. The walls will be retouched where necessary (they are painted in white satin, so it will have to be the same). However, the floor, stairs and railings have to painted (and a railing added along the stairs), and we will replace the grey plastic cable covers with black pipes, the plumbing type.

The floorboards are made of old pine wood, they are too thin/damaged to sand, so we will paint them white. The same floor will be in the adjacent bedroom and in the hall; white seems the easiest, and will make everything more bright.

So my first question is, which white and what paint? Water based emulsion? Or, as I was advised in a shop yesterday, a 2-phase emulsion (I think it has epoxy in it)? It seems to be for all type of floors, also with heavy traffic, but I read that it can get yellow with time. I am not in the UK, so not linking to it, as it is a local brand. There is no Dulux Trade or Heritage, nor other brands that are often mentioned here, so I am basically asking what type of paint is best for floors, not which brand – unless you tell me that Farrow and Ball is fine, because they do sell it here. Will FB Modern Eggshell (with primer and 2-3 layers) be ok on floors with not much traffic? The cost would be the same as other brands, even a normal Dulux. I got samples of All White and Wevet, among others. The other paint that was recommended can be ordered in any NCS shade (which is the NCS code for pure white?)

Second question: the stairs and railings are to be painted black, because of the black pipes, and to go with the the loft style. I have samples of FB Off Black, Railings and Hopper Head. A bit hard to imagine the actual effect, because the samples are matt, but I think I like Railings best. Is it a good idea?

Please do not tell me to use a completely different colour for the stairs, because I won’t make it to the shop anytime soon for samples, and the builder insists I choose now. Also, my head will explode if I start thinking about a new colour scheme :)

Hopeful bump

Don't paint the floorboards-I assume it is not a student house? Certainly dont paint them white- it is a nightmare colour to keep clean and looks awful as well. You would need to have every gap filled as well with white which is expensive.

Who told you they were too thin? (If they are too thin to sand lightly then you would fall through the floor). Most people just repair first and swap out boards from elsewhere in the house if needed

White walls. matt - no need for fancy paint- dulux matt emulsion equivalent- basic paint

Don't paint the stairs black- leave them as wood. One you paint all of this wood you cant go back easily at all.

Thank you for replying! Not a student house, an attic in a family home.
Maybe it is not clear from the photos, but both stairs and the floor are now painted/ stained brown, and this old layers is damaged in several places. It’s not a natural wood colours, otherwise of course I would not consider painting them. On the floors downstairs we have natural waxed pine floorboards. These here are thin, the type used for attics, and many were not in a good condition and have now been replaced (we used the boards from a room that became a bathroom, the floor was removed for tiling). They are really quite thin, and they have a slight curve/ bend towards the centre, so sanding will not remove the paint from the middle of each board. All these are a reason to paint them, after considering the other options first. The stairs are not in a great condition, with several gaps to be filled, so painting them seems reasonable too.

I will use a bog standard paint on the walls, but in satin, to avoid repainting all the walls, as it’s quite a lot… It actually looks fine, makes the room brighter, even if I’d have chosen matt I myself.

Sorry- I was being glib- students always paint the floorboards white as it is cheap and cheerful but it damages the boards as they cant really be stripped back after that

I see :) I certainly would have preferred to have them sanded and natural looking!

Why would stripping white not work? We have some downstairs and they will be sanded and varnished. The builder has already sanded some from a room where floor is being replaced (another bathroom) to fill the gaps elsewhere, and they look very good. This is a different quality of boards though, they’re thicker.

i don’t have to paint these in the attic white, but I don’t have another idea. I thought white floor would look nice there, and in a bedroom next door, if it cannot be natural wood colour.