DIY Dollhouse Hardwood Flooring....Realistic, Easy, and CHEAP

So my first post in this most likely to be disjointed series about my dollhouse, I wanted to share with you guys how I did/am doing my 'hardwood' floors in the majority of my Alison Jr.

I am currently in love with the wide, rustic-y vibe hardwood that is currently trending about. I love the matte, not quite perfect, driftwood look to floors like this one;

SWOON. I love the greyed out boards. LOVE THEM.

I originally came across this flooring at Hobby Lobby, 

but even if I used a 40% off coupon, it was going to be $8 a room, minimum, and I was going to need about 8 of them to cover everything I wanted to cover. I definitely wasn't in the mood to spend $64 just on flooring. Also, it wasn't the color or width I was looking for, so I turned to the internet in my time of need.

I found several awesome tutorials on using popsicle sticks as hardwood, (like this one and this one), so I started out by picking up a bag of popsicle sticks from the dollar store and attempting to do it that way. 

Y'all. I got real tired of chopping off the rounded end of those popsicle sticks real quick and in a hurry. I had a hand cramp. I ruined a pair of scissors. I was being real whiny (ask my husband). So I went back to the internet, and found one blogger who used thin sheets of veneer chopped into small pieces with her paper cutter. That looked easier so I took myself to Menards to check out their selection of veneer. The good news was they had LOADS of beautiful colors. The bad news is that it \as still more than I wanted to pay (I'M REAL CHEAP YALL)

I ran by Lowe's to see if they had better prices, but their selection wasn't very large. So as I was walking out of Lowe's, I spotted a sign that said 'ADHESIVE VINYL FLOORING'. COULD THIS BE THE ANSWER?? 

I asked the sales associate nearby if I had to buy them by the box, and he told me I could purchase the planks individually! YAS!! I got two 6x36in planks in the color 'Driftwood' for less than $2 a piece!

At first I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to cut it very easily (despite it being thin), but you only have to score it with a craft/utility knife, and it snaps right apart. It was so easy! I decided to cut my pieces 1/2 in by 6 in. I used my clear quilting ruler to help me make the lines super straight.

If you want to make your floors removable, you could cut a cardboard template in the dimensions of your floor, and simply peel and stick the pieces to the template as opposed to the actual dollhouse, but I don't plan on changing this (FAMOUS LAST WORDS AMIRITE), so I simply stuck mine directly to the dollhouse floor.

 To make it look realistic as possible, I staggered the 'planks' so the seams weren't all lined up. It give it a more organic feel and texture. After I finished the first little hallway, I was so pleased! I loved the width and the color! These pieces also have a beautiful woodgrain texture to them. 

After I laid the pieces, I decided I wasn't loving the bits of white showing at the seams, and it wasn't quite as dark as I was going for, so I brushed on a coat of Rustolem's Ebony Wood Stain, making sure to push my foam brush into the all the cracks and crevices.

Next, IMMEDIATELY wipe the stain off with a paper towel or four. I say IMMEDIATELY because this dries very quickly and it will, well, stain, your vinyl. I also recommend wiping with the direction of the grain.

Sometimes you might have to do more than one coat. This is what I had after one coat. You can probably tell I missed some spots. You can also probably tell that I got the stain on the wall. I don't care so much about that as I will be covering all the walls and you wont see it, but IF you are doing this AFTER YOU ALREADY PAINTED/WALLPAPERED, make sure you tape off/cover the walls and anything you want to be protected from stain.

I repeated this process in the rest of the rooms that I wanted to be hardwood.

This next step is optional, but if you find you have gaps/uneven spaces between some of the boards...

...you can mix up some spackle with some regular acrylic paint to use as a 'wood filler' of sorts. I used a tub of lightweight spackle from Dollar Tree, and some regular black acrylic paint.

I mixed it until I got a nice dark grey color. I didn't want brown because I thought it would draw attention to the spaces. Grey is a nice subtle, neutral color.



Then, I just took my finger and rubbed the spackle into the cracks. I wiped away the excess with a damp paper towel.

It might not seem like a big difference in the pictures but I can really tell up close and in person. It definitely makes the floor look more even and polished. There were also several spots where I cut boards too short and the spackle filled it in nicely!

I am so so happy with it! I already had everything but the flooring panels on hand, so it was only like $6 total!

What do you think? Anyone ever try this method? Let me know! 

Also, you can pin this picture to your favorite Pin board for later!