26 DIY Flooring Ideas for a One-of-a-Kind Space

Updating your home floors can often be an expensive and long process, from finding a professional to choosing materials and designs that work for your space. However, you can choose the latter and go the DIY route to transform your outdated floors to look more modern and suitable for any room.

Especially with timeless materials like wood planks, engineered tiles, and peel-and-stick vinyl panels, the options are endless. You'll be able to achieve a classic mosaic, wood, or stone look for cheaper. We've gathered the 26 DIY flooring ideas to help inspire your next renovation, so you can have a beautiful space on a budget.

Be Bold in Black

Although natural finishes and lighter timber species are in the spotlight these days, there’s no harm in trying out a blackened wood tone, which can look especially sleek and modern in any space. If you want to go more dramatic, consider shou sugi ban–inspired wood looks.

Lighten Up

You can hardly go wrong if you choose to decorate with lighter Scandinavian-inspired wood tones. They’re still all the rage and just timeless. You’ll find that the Scandi looks can be at once both minimalist and warm.

Inject Some Pattern

If you’re you're looking to make an eye-catching statement, consider geometric patterns. Fortunately, there’s a large selection of flooring panels and tiles that recreate the look but in modern colorways to tone things down.

Try Being Brutal(ist)

Those interested in adding an industrial-chic aesthetic—that doesn’t scream factory floor or laboratory—should consider faux concrete floors to go with warm wood furnishings or built-in millwork. It'll look sleeker when there are less visible seams, so try to find a large-format ceramic slab, luxury vinyl tile, or large laminate sheets.

Play With Illusion

If you have a penchant for geometry and graphic arts, consider a large-format tessellated pattern that creates a subtle three-dimensional illusion without making you dizzy.

Be Knotty

Knots—minute wood imperfections—add character that uniform flawless planks might not convey. It’s the timely version of a concept that was popular eons ago: Reclaimed barn wood with exposed nail holes and cracks.

Consider engineered wood planks with knots as well as non-repeating grain patterns to create a more believable wood floor at a fraction of the cost.

Make Like a Bee

The honeycomb craze may be dying down, but hexagonal shapes are still relevant, particularly in the bathroom tile scene. Try a medium—or large-format hex pattern in black or a non-neutral hue.

Visit Venice

There’s been renewed interest in terrazzo over the last decade—and it’s got staying power. You can find faux terrazzo that sports a subdued look where the flecks almost blend into the background or a much bolder design with high-contrast chips, sometimes in quirky atypical colors and larger shapes.

Draw the Lines

A minimalist linear pattern, such as this starburst-like radiating graphic, adds a whimsical touch to a space while maintaining a sparse aesthetic. Find one you like, preferably with color to give the space personality.

Play With Geometry

If you want to incorporate some geometry but in a much subtler way, think monochromatically: Consider patterns made to resemble tiles of the same color and material cut in such geometric motifs.

Throw a Bone

If you’re itching for a bit of parquet, but want to keep it contemporary, consider herringbone patterned wood. Some vinyl floor tile, laminate tile, and porcelain tile makers offer pre-configured herringbone patterns to shave off some installation time.

Find the Wrong Angle

Just like herringbone, chevron wood allows you to fake parquet floors without going too traditional. What differentiates it from herringbone is its alignment and symmetry created by 45-degree—as opposed to 90-degree—corner cuts that result in stacked V's. Some would argue that for this reason, chevron layouts are sleeker and more modern.

Ooze Luxury

Beautiful, clean, and bright, Carrara marble has a timeless and elegant quality that makes it well-suited to a range of surfaces and spaces, from kitchen counters to foyer floors.

Save time and money by working with a faux marble rendered in a vinyl, porcelain, or solid-surface panel. The vinyl won’t be as authentic in appearance, but it’ll be cheaper and faster to install on your own. And it will be less of a hassle to replace should it not work out.

Black It Up

Black marble is yet another—and perhaps more up-to-date—way to ooze luxury and you’ll find black marble or granite styles in various mediums, from ceramic slabs to vinyl.

Make Waves

You’ve likely seen marble-vein or agate-slice designs for the wall, but have you checked out floors that replicate that swirled look? You can find them in vinyl or porcelain, but tufted rugs or carpet tiles—which intentionally are made to appear unrealistic—are fun alternatives.

Look to the Past

If you prefer your floors to retain or recapture a classic feel or bygone era, consider checkerboard patterns, with squares measuring a minimum of 12-by-12 inches. Black-and-white is the quintessential pairing for this, but you can also try other neutral colorways.

Get Cracking

Channel an abstract look with a crackled look. While ceramic and porcelain will simulate cracks realistically, there’s nothing wrong with depicting them in soft flooring.

Go Antique

Consider aged flooring—you can find the latter in ceramic slabs where you see and feel slightly raised reliefs in some spots and a smooth surface in others. There’s a plethora of carpet tile designs that fade in and fade out the patterning to produce an antique look.

Spot Patterns

Add visual interest to a space without overloading it by selecting a mod pattern on a basic, neutral ground such as black or white tile.

Throw Diamonds

Diamond motifs on a wide range of scales have been particularly popular of late whether they’re rendered in hard or soft flooring. Consider large-scale diamond patterns in tile-mimicking panels, area rugs, or carpet tile.

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

Consider one of the many carpet tile collections that mimic animal prints—from rosettes to cow spots—or area rugs that are cut in the silhouette of fur rugs. The latter is often available in a shag pile for an extra dose of realism.

Go Geometric

Large geometric patterns are currently enjoying a revival which consist of smaller shapes like triangles and diamonds. You can play with different color geometric tiles to get the look and a unique pattern, but a much quicker solution is to consider an area rug or carpet tiles.

Brick It Up

Sometimes brick is just right for a space, such as a foyer or mudroom. But you don’t have to lay down real brick-and-mortar or find a masonry specialist for this. There are peel-and-stick or porcelain tiles that simulate classic brick in various layouts.

Make It Creamy

To achieve a classic look, consider faux travertine or other light cream-toned stones in the form of ceramic or vinyl tile or slab. The creamy limestone—especially with a polished finish—can present a luxurious look in a space, even though it’s not considered a precious marble.

Whitewash It

Somewhere between reclaimed barn wood and Scandinavian light-toned timber lies whitewashed wood. Depending on your room's color palette, choose a wood that'll complement the space whether it's gray or beige tones. You can find numerous peel-and-stick varieties for a quick install.

Get Puzzled

Consider going whimsical, such as different color asymmetrical tiles akin to jigsaw puzzle pieces. It may take more planning before installation, but if you want a space to exude a unique playful spirit, such tiles might be the answer. Find a vinyl or ceramic panel with an asymmetrical tile pattern that speaks to you.

Read Next: How to Clean All Types of Tile Floors

Read the original article on The Spruce.