Several weeks ago, I shared some initial thoughts and photos on putting down a brown paper bag floor. Today, I have some updates! While I still have a lot more of this project ahead of me, I’ve been super pleased with the results and I’ve learned a lot along the way.
I’m grateful for friends who planted this idea in my head years ago when I first began blogging. I’m even more grateful that after many years of hazy memories I could google the words “brown paper floor” and find every tutorial and answer known to man! However, even the best tutorials didn’t address some questions and information I later learned through experience.
All you need is a desire and a few supplies to get started. You can use any type of paper, for the leather look using a brown paper is best. I ordered a roll from Amazon for about $16. It covered well over 700 square feet. The only other product required for application is a glue for wetting and adhering the paper to the floor. Once the floor is dry you need to protect and strengthen it with several coats of polyurethane. This is the brown paper floor in a nut shell. It’s an incredibly inexpensive flooring option that looks great.
Application is a simple process of tearing the paper into whatever size pieces you desire and like the look of. You crumple the paper into a ball, let it absorb glue and then smooth it out flat on the floor. You overlap the pieces as you go and let it dry.
This is what it looks like when it’s wet, and the same area when it’s dry:
There is a BIG difference in putting down this floor on wood versus concrete. Both work, but there are definite differences. Concrete requires a stronger adhesive to stick and the paper doesn’t dry as smooth or flat. I couldn’t find a way to avoid this, you can work and work each piece to lay flat while putting it down but as it dries there are just places where it will wrinkle and lift a little. The good news is that the look you’re going for is worn leather so wrinkles fit in just great!
Both of these photos are from the basement where I put this floor down. The one on the left is a direct look down, the one on the right is a distance shot across the floor. Both pictures have the same dried coats of top coat (polyurethane), the lighting and angle are what explain the different look. The color variations in the paper are a natural process of the way the crumpled paper absorbs the glue and how it dries. You can see from the picture on the right how the gloss sheen adds to the finished look of the floor, if you prefer a less glossy finish you simply use a satin version of polyurethane. I read many recommendations to lightly sand in between each coat for a smooth finish. I found this impossible on the concrete floor because there are some seams and wrinkles that already interfered with the completely smooth finish. At this point, I’ve simply paid more attention to these areas when applying the sealant coats giving those spots a little extra. Honestly, I can’t see that not sanding between coats has had any negative impact on my flooring. Additionally, it’s flooring that will eventually be covered with area rugs and furniture. To date, I’ve put down three coats of polyurethane, I plan to do one or two more. One great advantage to this floor is it’s flexibility. Additional coats of polyurethane could be added at any time during the life of the floor for added endurance and shine. It is also extremely forgiving! If you don’t like the look of a section or if you have a scratch or trouble spot you simple glue more paper over the top. I’ve already had a few touch up spots.
You can see what it looks like to put new paper over old. The picture on the right is this same spot, looking down, after it’s dried. The “fix” fits in perfectly. You can also see how a floor imperfection will show through your work. This seam of two concrete pads is significant. I thought I had enough floor leveler over the seam to hide it. But you can still see perfectly where the seam is. Paper is very thin so imperfections in the floor they’re covering will show through. Prep work pays!
Paper on concrete also looks differently when dried. On a concrete floor I found the paper dried very light compared to that on wood. You also can clearly see the paper sections and seams. The wood floor finish is more even and camouflaged. It’s not hard to see why people like working with it on wood better than concrete. However, that said I still think both look beautiful!
So this is where a little control comes in with color. These photos show the natural color, or the look with the paper, unaltered dried. Again, there’s a difference between concrete and wood. Because the only adhesive strong enough to glue the paper to concrete is polyurethane, there is already a coat of protectant on the paper once it’s dried. This means putting any stain for color will be problematic. I did try one small area with a combination polyurethane and stain. It glides on the same way a coat of polyurethane does.
The stained floor is a darker brown. Ironically it’s the same walnut stain as you’ll see on the stairs although it clearly doesn’t look anywhere near that dark on the concrete. For this small space, I used a brush to apply the stained polyurethane. On the rest of the floor I used a paint roller and brushed in the edges to apply the top coats.
On a wood floor you can control color by applying stain directly onto the dried paper and then applying the polyurethane top coats. I found it helpful to run a dry paper towel over the top of the stain to absorb excess stain and better control the look I wanted. I also found the stain remains quite tacky even after drying. I wrapped my feet with some press and seal plastic wrap when applying the first coat of polyurethane, which dried in about four hours. This removed the tacky finish and started the gloss look.
One of the things I’ve loved the most about working with paper is how easy it is. All you need to do is fold over the wet paper to make a straight edge. This was very helpful when applying it to the stairs as there were a lot of straight edges. It was wonderful to see the ugly wood transformed into a picture of perfect edges and beautiful finish.
You can see from the earlier pictures how I used a plastic garbage sack over a small dish to work with the polyurethane to glue the paper down. On the wood it was a simple plastic bowl with a mixture of one part water to one part Elmer’s white glue. One thing I think would be important is to use a water based polyurethane for applying paper to concrete. I think an oil based product would make it harder for the paper to absorb the mixture as well as dry. The paper doesn’t get wet as fast in the polyurethane as it does in the elmer’s glue mixture. I found it much easier to get the paper too wet with the elmer’s glue. When this happens the paper tears, but you quickly learn what the balance is. As long as the paper is adequately wet with glue you won’t need to put additional glue on the floor. You smooth out any air bubbles as you go and let the paper dry.
Here’s the stair’s transformation:
The upstairs hard floors will match the color and look of the stairs. It’s a lot of work left but the results are wonderful. It’s the most inexpensive and deeply satisfying DIY project I’ve ever undertaken. It’s been really fun to see this project come together.
I’m looking forward to some finished pictures when everything’s done but for now this is a wonderful start!
That is simply amazing Holly! It looks so professional, and it seems very easy to do from reading this. We’ve been wanting to replace all the carpet in our old house with wood floors, but I love this much better! Anything that saves money and looks GREAT is a bonus in my book!!! Can’t wait to see the rest of your pictures when you’re finished with the whole house!
PS…..I probably will be contacting you when we start our floors with this technic.
Jennifer Chambers
Thanks Jennifer! I look forward to hearing from you. Replacing a ton of old, nasty carpet was my motivator as well!
Cool floor!
A few weeks ago, I was looking through all of your activity day ideas. Now it appears that they are no longer on the site?
Is there any way, I could get the ideas.. as I had quite a few written down from your website. You can email me at evieccurtis@gmail.com
If you don’t mind, I could really use the help, as I’m new to the calling! Maybe my email address could be deleted from this post after?
Thank you so much!
Hi Evelyn,
I’ve reviewed the Activity Days page and can’t see any links that are broken. Was there something in particular you were looking for?
Hi Holly, Love the floor, but what kind of glue’s did you use to soak the paper in before applying to floor? Did you apply glue to the floor first also.
Thank so much
Hi Tammy,
I used a mixture of half Elmer’s white glue to half water. The paper soaks it up and you lay it flat on a wood floor to dry. I didn’t put any glue on the floor.
Hi Holly,
What do you use on the floor to prevent it from getting the white spots from when the glue gets wet from a small spill? I know there has to be a remedy but am searching the net to find one
Thanks!
Hi Michelle,
I didn’t have that problem. I wonder if it’s because my glue mixture was more watered than yours? I mixed 50/50 water to glue, there is a some white visible when wet but as soon as it dries I never had any spots. I also put a sealant coat of polyurethane over the top as soon as my paper (and/or stain) was dry enough to do so. That’s what really protects the floor and paper from any spills. In fact, my stairs have not yet had more than the first sealant coat and have held up to a lot of abuse! I look forward to finishing them up pretty with more coats of polyurethane.
Hi Holly – I am going to do a concrete floor and you mention that concrete requires a stronger adhesive, so what should I use and what ratio?
Thanks!
I used the same polyurethane I put on top. I used it full strength from the can. It worked great.
Hello. I am going to try this and pray it comes out as beautiful! I had an appointment to get carpeting put in but cancelled after seeing the websites. I am on a budget as it is and the whole carpeting idea was not really what I wanted to do. I have a concrete floor to do this on so the polyurethane will work best? I want a little darker effect than the brown paper bag but not too dark, what should I use to have a darker look?
Thanks.
Hi Noelle, I think you’ll be happy. It’s pretty foolproof! When you don’t like something you just slap another torn, crumpled piece of paper over it. I used the polyurethane for concrete glue and it worked great. I found a product in the wood stain isle at my hardware store that said it was combination of stain and polyurethane. I used that to make one room in my basement a little darker. I just brushed it on and had the poly and stain done in one step.
I don’t know how pure stain would go on the concrete floor as the polyurethane is used as the glue so the top of the paper already has a sealant of sorts, but I do know that the combo product of stain with poly worked great. Just be sure to use it as a finishing product only. It WILL NOT work as the glue to put the paper down.
Thanks Holly for taking the time to respond! How many coats of the polyurethane do you suggest using? I am going to do my boys room with a darker stain/poly combo. I saw online that Minwax has some dark choices.
Thanks again for your help!
I suggest no less than 4 and more like 6. It depends on how much finish you desire on top. I can tell you that with nothing more than the first sealant coat of poly the floors are extremely durable! But they look much nicer with a nice finishing coat of several layers of poly. If you use the combo stain poly, I’d do it as the first (maybe second too if you want it darker) coat, then put clear poly on top for the finishing coats. I really liked using that on one of my basement floors. Good luck!
Hi Holly I just came onto this site. I’m so excited to try this. Can I apply this to tile?
I believe the paper process could cover absolutely anything with the right glue. As it is paper and paper is thin, you’ll see every grout line from the tile. I suppose you could fill the grout lines first and smooth them with a floor filler to deal with that problem. You’d just have to try a spot and see if the elmer’s glue mixture works for the tile finish. You may have to go to the concrete method of using the polyurethane for the application glue.
Hi Holly I was wondering which brand of poly you used on the concrete. I read on another blog that rustoleum worked better than minwax. Do you have a preference? Thanks!
Generally, I like Rustoleum as a brand. However, I haven’t felt a strong pull to any polyurethane. My only personal preference has been to use a water based one with gloss finish.
Nice floor! I’m hoping to do this over some 70s linoleum. I am doing a test patch, but wondered if you think glue will adhere to the linoleum. And my bigger question…can I do my room in sections and have it look okay at the end? My room is centrally located…it’s the room where you enter the house and you must pass through it to reach nearly all our other rooms.
Hi Becky, you can definitely do this in sections. Mine has been done that way all along. In fact, you can leave walking sections for places like hallways, etc. and fill those in as the other has dried. I did every other stair on the stairwell for this purpose too. The only thing I know about doing it over linoleum is that the patterns of the old floor will show through the new brown paper floor when you’re done. I have removed the old 70s linoleum in the rooms I’ve done and I’ve put an underlayment down for a smooth surface before papering.
My floor two different colors and included sparkles, but no raised patterns. There are cracks from the house shifting before we jacked it up too. The paperbag floor will be a temporary improvement before we do a major remodel (in about 10 years!) Anyway, even if it isn’t perfect, it’ll look better with cracks covered and just being one color! Thanks!
Well no worries if no patterns! I think you’ll love it! I’m so happy with mine.
I love this site! I’m doing this to concrete floors. Can I use the poly/stain combo to glue it to the floor or do I have to use regular poly first? Also, do you soak the paper in the poly like you would with the glue?
Hi Brandi, You cannot use the combo poly/stain to glue it down. The stain is oil based and prevents adhesion. You do soak the paper in regular poly just like the glue mixture to glue the paper down.
Good luck!
Thanks for the info! What do you think about staining the paper and letting it completely dry and then using the poly to achieve the darker finish?
I think the oil in the stain would still be there even after it dried, preventing the paper to ever lay flat or glue down. I’ve found that stain on top of dried paper never fully dries anyway, it always stays a bit tacky until you put down the first coat of poly. I’m not sure why, but I’m guessing it’s the oil in the stain that causes this. The combo poly/stain works great after the floor is down on the concrete. You can still achieve the darker finish this way. You could always use a darker paper too. Ultimately, I can tell you I didn’t mind the poly/stain combo on the cement floor. The stain doesn’t take quite the same way as it does on the Elmer’s glue version but it’s still pretty. Honestly, if I were doing a cement floor again I’d put down a 1/4 wood subfloor/underlayment first. But whatever you decide, the paper floor looks nice on either!
Hello Holly, I am so glad I found this site! I am planning on doing this on concrete and bought all the supplies (including Elmer’s glue because that’s all I have seen). There are several areas that need to be leveled and holes that need to be filled from the tack strip that was removed. What leveling product do you recommend using for this step? Did you have to sand the areas after using the leveler/filler? Also, you mentioned poly with stain. Is this a product that already has stain in it or is it mixed like a paint color? What kind of prep work did you do (other than filling holes and leveling)? Did you clean the concrete with anything other than soap and water?
Thank you!
Hi Christi, I used a premixed cement crack filler I found at the hardware store. The leveling and smoothing is up to you, it is only paper covering it so you will see any imperfections in the floor underneath. I emphasize YOU will see because others probably won’t – the style of floor is that of worn leather and the seams and texture of the look of the floor camouflage a lot, but it will not hide holes, cracks or large imperfections. Yes the poly/stain combos have both in them and you can buy them premixed in a variety of colors at your local hardware store. I did not clean the concrete before laying paper. But I did read that Elmer’s glue was not strong enough to hold paper to cement only to wood. So I used straight polyurethane to glue the paper to the cement. It worked great, I never tried Elmer’s glue on the concrete.
Hello Holly. I’m so glad I found your blog. I just started this project last night. I have a concrete floor and used water-based poly as my “glue”. I finished the walk-in closet and about half of the room (this is more time-consuming than I initially thought and my back is reminding me that I’m not as young as I sometimes think I am). The floor is already looking awesome and I can’t wait to see the finished product.
I have a question regarding the stain/poly combo. I want a really dark floor and plan to use MinWax Espresso Satin. How many coats do you think I will need? Also, should I roll or brush the stain/poly? Which brand of stain/poly combo did you use? I’ve heard MinWax is difficult to work with on furniture due to drips/puddling so I wasn’t sure how it would work on a floor. I wanted to use MinWax because they have the satin finish. Varanthane has semi-gloss and I don’t want a super shiny floor.
Thanks for your help!
Hi Debbie, I’m so glad you found my blog too!
I hear you on how time consuming it is! I’m not sure why but I felt my basement was more time consuming and harder than my upstairs. Hang in there, it’s worth it!
I used the MinWax combo on my concrete floor in one room. I put down two coats and was happy with the color result. It does get darker with each application so if two didn’t do it you could keep going until you got the color you want. While I generally use a roller to apply the poly, in that room I applied the first coat with a brush as per what I’d read but I wasn’t happy seeing any brush strokes so I applied the second with a roller to even the color and remove visible brush strokes. I didn’t have any complaints about the product and thought it looked great. One thing I would do differently now, had I known, is to apply one sealant coat of clear poly BEFORE putting down the stain combo. For whatever reason, some areas of a few of my seams remained more porous and I only learned this after applying the stain as those spots seemed to suck up the color in an irregular fashion. While it’s not a big deal I wasn’t happy seeing a few irregular stain spots along a few of my seams. I think the sealant coat of clear poly first would prevent this. Additionally, another fun thing is seeing how easy it was to apply color to just one room and have a brisk, clear line. It’s made me think bigger for my dining room where I plan to tape of a pattern of large diagonal tiles and small border. It would look awesome and it only require taping the seams and using a variation in stain color.
One final tidbit of advice is I’ve found a “magic” point where the top coats of polyurethane seem to hit the mark of satisfaction. For me, that’s been somewhere around coat #5 or #6. Those coats suddenly start showing more leveling of the seams and giving you that solid surface you’re expecting so don’t give up on applying those final coats of poly!
So excited to find your blog post! I am doing this in my low traffic half bath this weekend and am wondering about the poly/stain combo. Seems like it would be easier to do this to get the color I want and also way cheaper. Will it work with a wood subfloor? My concern is that it would stay tacky like a regular stain does. Or will the poly mixed in stop that from happening?
Hi Mandi, I’m happy you found a helpful post too!
I found the poly/stain mixture dried to the same finish as straight poly so there shouldn’t be any tacky factor. However, you might end up with a darker look as it takes several coats and I found each coat of the poly/stain mixture deepened the color. If you get the color you want you can put straight poly over the top too. 
Hi Holly, do you remember the type of Kraft paper you used? I have read that the surface of some papers vary from one side to the other. I looked at a roll of paper on Amazon and it described one side of the paper as being smooth and the other side as being “toothy”. I know another blog I read talked about the paper absorbing stain differently depending on which side was laid down. Do you think that an initial coat of the poly over the whole floor prior to staining would alleviate this a bit. I understand there will be some variation but would like to try to avoid large blotches.
thanks for all of your great info!
Hi Julie, I honestly didn’t do that much research on the paper. The paper I got was plain brown craft paper, I’m not sure of the brand name or type. It came in a long roll, about a yard and a half long. If there was a difference in the sides or the way it absorbed the stain I didn’t notice. I found the greater factor of look and absorption was in how crinkled the paper was, the more crinkled the softer the paper was the greater absorption, especially in those wrinkles – which generates that worn leather look. I also found a slight difference in the glue mixture made a minimal difference in the look of the paper after it dried. I could see where I’d run out of a batch of glue and started a new one after the paper was dried. However, it was probably only noticeable to me and was moot when the stain was applied which evened everything. I personally, like the look of the stain if you don’t wait for it to dry but put the poly on right over top. I applied my stain with a simple paper towel/rubbing method and then when I had it all done I put glad wrap over my feet and walked over the stain to apply the poly. Doing this not only ensures a walkable and non-tacky surface within a few hours, it also softened the stain in a very appealing way to me.
A sealant coat of poly could help with uniformity, but having done both no stain and stain, I found the same areas that absorb more (and thus look a little darker) will do it the same with the poly as with the stain. If you do poly first you’ll need to use a combo poly/stain for the staining. The best advice I can share is if you have some areas that you don’t like you simply layer more paper over it until you get what you want. 
Thank you so much for the additional info! I am looking forward to this project. My husband raised his eyebrows over a paperbag floor but quickly admitted it looked great after seeing your work. Have a great rest of your week. Julie