Learn about 5 bathroom flooring ideas on a budget and the pros and cons of each of them! We are in the planning phase for our guest bathroom makeover and I’ve been trying to make a decision about what flooring to use because our current floor tile is really outdated and dingy looking. I thought it would be helpful to share some of the main budget friendly flooring options that are available because flooring can get expensive fast in a bathroom makeover. But, it can also be one of the best ways to transform a room so it’s worth updating!

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1. Floor Paint

One of the cheapest and easiest DIY options is floor paint that can be used on tile, hardwood, laminate, and more. You just clean your floor, paint it, and then add a top coat. A few years ago we gave our master bath a $100 bathroom makeover and I used regular, interior, latex paint with a top coat of polyurethane to update our bathroom tile with paint.

Recently, we used an actual floor paint, Rustoleum floor paint, to paint our pink porch tile. It’s more durable than regular paint. Check out the how to paint tile floor tutorial here!

You can even add a floor stencil design to your painted tile to jazz it up!

No matter what paint you use though, paint, over time can chip and may need touch ups. It’s one of the least durable options. So I’d use it as a temporary solution in a bathroom.

Peel & Stick vinyl tile is another inexpensive option and easy to install. Although, it costs a little bit more than paint, depending on your room size, it still doesn’t require professional installation and can be done in a day or weekend. After cleaning your floor, you just peel the backing off and stick it to your tile. You do have to make special cuts with it though. We haven’t used this tile in a bathroom before but we did use it in the kitchen of our first home and it made a big difference for a low cost.

Another pro is that you can just stick it over your old tile with no grout or special tools needed.

The cons:

• It’s typically water resistant and not waterproof
• It’s long term durability isn’t that great for a high traffic bathroom that gets really wet
• Up close and underfoot it can feel cheap and look cheap depending on the brand you use.  There is a chance of separation of the vinyl tiles over time

Luxury Vinyl Plank tile looks like tile but it’s vinyl and you don’t have to grout it. There are many waterproof options available too. We used a waterproof luxury vinyl plank tile that looks like slate in our small bathroom makeover on a budget at our old house. I really loved it.

It’s a floating vinyl floor, which is nice because no glue or sticky adhesive is involved.

It was relatively easy to install ourselves, we just laid it over our old laminate flooring.

It’s more expensive than peel and stick vinyl tile, but it’s a much better quality flooring for bathrooms and long term durability. The biggest con is that there aren’t that many stylish or pattern options available. The slate one I shared above is the best looking one I’ve found, although that one comes in a few more colors!

4. Waterproof Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is another great long term bathroom flooring option. There are many options that look like real wood. You can install it yourself or hire it out. It’s similar to the vinyl plank tile, with a tongue and groove interlock. We haven’t used this in a bathroom yet, but we did use it in our son’s nursery makeover. We used Pergo Outlast in Vienna Oak. It’s waterproof, extremely durable, looks like real hardwoods, comes in wide plank sizes (which looks more high end), and it’s easy to clean. It comes in a lot of pretty color options too! I really love the look of it and it’s one of my favorite flooring options for any room. I have a full Pergo Outlast flooring review too.

The biggest con is that it can be more difficult to install yourself especially for a larger room. But it’s still very doable in a weekend.

Also, because the flooring is so durable we had to buy a new miter saw blade while cutting it. The material for the flooring really dirt’s up on the blade.

Finally, the last budget friendly option is ceramic or porcelain tile. Both ceramic and porcelain tiles are great for bathrooms and high moisture rooms. Tile is waterproof and extremely durable. It comes in a bunch of different colors, styles, and options. There are a lot of beautiful options that can be used to really design a bathroom the way you want. It’s one of the most expensive options if you don’t install it yourself and have to hire it out. But if you pick an inexpensive tile and or DIY the install then it can be very budget friendly. In our master bath makeover we installed a hexagon, porcelain tile that looks like real marble. It was our first tile job and it took a lot of time, effort, and patience, but it was totally worth it for the cost savings and the beautiful end result.

I absolutely love this tile and I have a full review of this porcelain tile that looks like marble.

I think the biggest negatives with tile are the installation process and demo of the old floor. Also, having to clean and maintain grout over time isn’t fun.

I hope this list of 5 budget bathroom flooring ideas on a budget was helpful! Let me know if there are any budget flooring options for bathrooms that you love!