A modern room with a black and white theme features laminate wood flooring. A wooden bench holds patterned pillows in shades of black, white, and grey. A textured pouf sits beside a black plant pot with tall green grass. The dark wood floor complements the white and dark green walls beautifully.
| | | | |

Installing Laminate Wood Flooring

ByLisa
4 Comments

Week 2 of the One Room Challenge is here and man it came quick! Full disclosure, we started this challenge a few weeks ago so we could knock out some of the heavy lifting like installing the laminate wood flooring. But we are working in real time now, so the pressure is on! If you missed the week one plans, check that out to see what’s in store. So far we ripped out the carpet, scraped the popcorn ceilings, painted, and installed the new floors. Do you want to see our progress so far?

A cozy room features dark laminate wood flooring. Against a green and white wall, there's a wooden bench adorned with patterned cushions beside a small potted plant. Text on the wall highlights "Installing Laminate Wood Flooring" for an inviting touch.This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my policies.

As a reminder, this is what the room looked like when we started. Dated popcorn ceilings, dirty carpet, and a fan that I was SO over!

The empty room features dark blue walls and white carpet, though a patch is missing. A ceiling fan with a light casts a glow, complemented by natural light from a small window on the right. The windowsill holds a red object, contrasting against the suggestion of laminate wood flooring in the future.

We started off by ripping out that nasty carpet. This was probably one of the easier steps. 

A bare room with dark blue walls and an unfinished wooden floor. A broom and a black trash bag are in the corner. Light streams through a window on the right, highlighting the simple, empty space, envisioning the potential transformation with laminate wood flooring.

Then we auditioned to be on the new re-boot of Dexter. Just kidding. But the room definitely looked like that is what we were doing. Also, I was shocked by how many people voted in my Insta Stories who have never seen it! You have until the end of the year to binge it on Netflix and the new season starts on November 7th! I am SO EXCITED!!!

A room with dark painted walls and laminate wood flooring, protected by plastic covering parts of the ceiling. Blue painter's tape outlines the edges. The ceiling has a textured surface, and there's an uncovered electrical fixture hanging from above.

If you want to see the behind the scenes on the popcorn removal, it is all saved on the 2021 Fall ORC highlight in my Instagram stories. 

With the ceilings scraped an re-textured, we moved on to painting, because painting is so much easier with no baseboards or flooring to worry about. Now I would have focused this post on choosing the right paint color, but we all know from last time, that is not my specialty. I tested 12 different grays before I came to a decision here. The struggle is real.  I finally landed on Sherwin Williams Jasper for the accent wall and Sherwin Williams Conservative Gray for the rest of the room.

Paint swatches adorn a partially painted wall, displaying various shades of white and gray. A dark green wall contrasts on the right. The unfinished floor awaits its future laminate wood flooring, accompanied by a paint tray and paint cans scattered in the foreground.

The new ceiling fan also went up, thank goodness! There were many evenings working almost in the dark with just a lamp. I wish I were kidding.

A modern ceiling fan with two wooden blades and a central light fixture is mounted on a white ceiling. The walls are painted green and white, creating a clean and minimalist look, beautifully complemented by the laminate wood flooring adding warmth to the space.

Installing Laminate Wood Flooring

We have laid a lot of laminate flooring in our family room, downstairs hallway, office, upstairs hallway, our bedroom, and now this guest room. Naturally we have learned a lot along the way so I want to share some tips, especially since laminate is such a great DIY option. 

Buy more flooring than you think you will need. The worst case scenario is running out and the laminate flooring becomes discontinued. This happened to us. The Pergo we laid in our family room, downstairs hallway, office, and our room became discontinued before we got around to the hallway upstairs. There was nothing we could do except pick the closest flooring to what we already had. This is the flooring we chose.

Four stacked boxes of Pergo Outlast+ laminate wood flooring rest against a wall. The orange boxes, featuring white text and icons, complement the room's wooden floor beautifully.

Don’t skimp on the prep work. Prepping for your flooring is one of the most important steps. The sub floor needs to be clear from debris including all the tac strips and staples from the carpet. You will also need to remove the baseboards so have a plan for reinstalling or replacing them. In our experience, it is not easy to salvage baseboards especially if they have been caulked in. We also patch any low or really uneven parts of the subfloor with floor patch.

A bucket of SimplePrep Pre-Mixed Floor Patch sits on a wooden table, ready to tackle any project. In the background, a workshop showcases tools on a pegboard and shelves filled with essentials for installing laminate wood flooring. The label is bilingual, in English and Spanish.

Have the right tools. This one is big. Sometimes when we get started on a DIY project costs add up quicker than we anticipated and we think we can get by with less. In our experience, this only adds to the frustration and stress. Having the right tools makes installation SO much easier and faster.  This is a great starter pack for installing laminate flooring. I would also pick up some knee pads for your own comfort.

A hammer rests on a pack of flooring installation tools, with a plank of dark laminate wood flooring partially laid on a silver underlayment. A small gap is visible between the end of the plank and the adjacent one.

Be prepared for awkward cuts. It is inevitable you will have cuts to make and some will be more difficult than others. We use all of our saws when laying flooring. This goes back to the last tip. Having the right saws will make this so much easier! We use our 12in sliding miter saw for cross cuts at the ends, our table saw for long rip cuts against walls, and our jigsaw for complicated cuts. If you are not replacing door trim at the same time, you may also need a multi tool to cut the door jams. 

A rectangular air vent cutout in dark laminate wood flooring is shown, with the vent cover removed. The surrounding area reveals grain patterns on the floorboards, and a portion of a gray wall is visible above.

Mind your scraps. As you go this becomes easier, but this type of flooring has a male and a female end. If you cut off an end at the wall, that piece can now only go against a wall at the other end to start a new row because one of the locking ends has been removed. If you end up with a piece that has both ends cut off, it becomes useless unless you have a small closet where it will be sandwiched between two walls. Waste adds up fast, so be thoughtful.

A person is installing laminate wood flooring in a room with dark green walls. A green ladder leans against the wall, and there is an electrical outlet nearby. The person is kneeling and using tools to align the panels meticulously.

Math out your room. Figure out how big your room is and how many full size boards will fit. It is unlikely you will not have to rip cut along one wall. Very narrow pieces are difficult to install and we try to avoid them at all costs. Rather than starting the room with a full size piece along one wall, rip cut your first piece to accommodate any partial pieces and prevent small slivers at the end.

Minimalist room with a dark green accent wall and laminate wood flooring. A ceiling fan is above, with a cozy corner featuring a small bench, cushions, and a potted plant. Natural light illuminates the space.

Keep a scrap piece of baseboard handy. Use a scrap piece of base board to make sure your expansion gaps around the edges will be covered by the base boards. I have seen some horrific laminate flooring installs where this was not considered. And no, you cannot just fill it with large amounts of caulk!

A close-up of laminate wood flooring installation in progress. A piece of dark wood laminate is being laid next to a white wall with baseboard. A blue plastic spacer is visible between the wall and the flooring. Image is credited to Garrison Street Design Studio.

Have an emotional support animal by your side 🙂 I must say, when I am feeling stressed, nothing makes me happier than Marvin coming up to give me a kiss. And he has been by our sides throughout the install of our laminate wood flooring. I think he is just anxious for his new playroom to be complete!

A dog's paws stand on two contrasting floorings: one side features rich, dark laminate wood planks, while the other showcases a light gray tile.

I cannot wait to move on to the next steps of the room. We will be building the bunk beds next week and then starting on Barry’s closet! Here is a little sneak peek of the design elements to come 😉 

A cozy corner features a woven basket with a black and white patterned pillow. Next to it, a black pillow with geometric designs and a folded grey blanket sit on a wooden seat against a dark green wall, complemented by rich laminate wood flooring.

A room with dark green walls and elegant laminate wood flooring. A ceiling fan is visible. There's a bench with pillows and a plant on the left. An inset image shows the "before" state with carpeted flooring and a different light fixture.

A modern interior scene showcases a wooden bench with black metal legs, adorned with two decorative cushions in black and white patterns. Beside the bench, a tall black planter holds green grass-like plants on sleek laminate wood flooring.

Join me again next week to see how the rest of our makeover is coming along! Fingers crossed I actually have bunk beds to show you next week, haha! 

A person in a white cap and casual outfit sits on a wooden bench in a modern, minimalist room with laminate wood flooring. The room features a dark accent wall and several patterned pillows, while a small plant stands gracefully on the floor next to the bench.

If you enjoyed this post, Installing Laminate Wood Flooring, please share it on Facebook or hover over an image and save to Pinterest! And if you don’t already follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook, I would love for us to be friends! Also, make sure you don’t miss any of the progress and sign up here to get notifications delivered straight to your inbox.  It’s going to be a wild ride!  

 

Don’t forget to stop by the One Room Challenge to check out all the featured designers and other guest participants and be prepared to be inspired! So many rooms are being transformed by incredibly talented folks! 

Garrison Street Design Studio - Installing Laminate Wood Flooring

Dark wood laminate flooring sample on top. Below, a cozy corner with a wooden bench, various patterned cushions, a black potted plant, and a green wall. Text reads: "Installing laminate wood flooring for our one-room challenge week 2.

This post, Installing Laminate Wood Flooring appeared first on Garrison Street Design Studio.

4 Comments

  1. Your new floor looks fantastic! Installing laminate floor is a big job, I bet it feels good to be finished and move on to some of the more exciting projects.

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much Michelle! It does feel good for sure 🙂 We still have a lot to do, but I am all about checking things off the list!

      Reply

  2. Smooth ceiling and amazing new flooring – this room is looking amazing! Can’t wait to see what you do next.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *