Things you can do if you hate your floors

PROPERTY NEWS - You may have neglected your floors or simply found them that way, but ugly floors can be a nightmare.

An ugly floor can change how you see your home.

They're all over the place and if they're ugly, they can make your entire home look drab. The floors of rented homes, apartments and townhouses are notoriously boring.

Here are five ways to spruce up your floors:

Peel-and-stick vinyl floors
Peel-and-stick vinyl tiles are a complete game-changer for DIY tiling. Not only are they easier to apply, carry and remove (well, sometimes), but they also come in such a huge variety.

Use peel-and-stick tiles to completely cover your floors, or work with your existing flooring to create patterns with your stick-on tiles. This can be done with some carpets too.

Paint your tiles
Painted tiles are becoming more popular with DIYers. Painting your own tiles allows you to create your own specific designs by either painting freehand or using stencils. Speckling with multiple colours is a quick and easy way to add colour to your floors with no skill required.

Dye your carpet
There are very few things you can do about bad carpeting. You can pull the carpet out and replace it, cover it with vinyl flooring (if you have the right kind of carpet) - or you can dye it. The dyeing of carpets isn't common, but it is possible and can work very well. Using fabric dye in a spray bottle, you can spray on the dye, allowing it to dry completely before adding another coat if necessary. The process of dyeing a carpet requires patience and good ventilation.

Accessorise
You rarely think about accessorising your floors, but this can really work well. Rugs, carpet pieces or a few well-placed stickers can decorate or revamp your existing flooring at a low cost - and in most cases without permanently changing your floors.

Consider rugs and runners that contrast with your floors and go well with your furniture. Tile stickers are also an option.

They work similarly to peel-and-stick tiles, but can be more affordable and need less work.

Get trimmings
The idea is to make your floors look better, but that doesn't necessarily mean changing the floor itself. Sometimes the trimmings and the other parts of your home simply aren't doing your floors justice. If the flooring you don't like takes up a lot of space (for example if it covers your entire home), or if it's just not practical to change it, replacing other things like skirting boards may be a cheaper option. Skirting boards sit between the floors and walls and can drastically change the appearance of both. Give it a try!

Peel-and-stick vinyl tiles are a complete game-changer for DIY tiling. Photo: Element5 Digital of Pexels