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53 Best Penny Floor Design Ideas
Whether you’ve let the change jar spill over from the years of emptying your pockets or are simply looking for a unique way to make the most of your floor space, copper pennies have become the hip new tiling of choice.
Maintaining both industrial and nostalgic nuances, the best penny floor design ideas add a chicly masculine but seemingly effortless luxury to your pad.
Installing your own copper penny floor is a relatively straightforward procedure, requiring the time and care one would put into any floor tiling project (proper measurement, removing old base molding, evening the surface before application, etc.), with only a few additional components and considerations. The end result is a floor that truly shines like, well, a new penny.
Perfect for the bathroom floor, home entryway, or even a stand-alone tile “carpet,” copper pennies can be implemented into multiple patterns and layouts, from mosaic pieces to geometric figures, and are sure to catch the eye of every guest who crosses your threshold. And with their two-part UV-blocking epoxy sealant, copper penny floors guarantee years of wear and tear with nary a blemish.
A copper penny floor not only makes use of what is commonly discarded or overlooked but shows off a whole new approach to interior design. There’s nothing like the feeling of spotting a penny on the ground and pocketing a bit of good luck for the day, so imagine what you’ll reap with copper penny flooring!
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1. Elegant and Minimalist Penny Floor Ideas
The great thing about penny floors is that their design is really flexible, meaning you can go as wild with the pattern as you like, but you can also keep things simple. If you’re the type of guy who likes to keep things simple but also likes a luxurious touch every now and then, the following images might give you some inspiration to tackle a new flooring project.
The process of laying a penny floor is back-bending by nature, so languishing over every small detail of your floor might be too much for you. As you can see, a simple design looks great and can be a huge improvement over your current flooring. You can grab a handful of pennies and just start laying them, orienting them in random directions with tails up or down. The level of effort you put into it is up to you, but as long as you’re meticulous with your installation, the floor will look great.
One thing we’d suggest if you’re going to lay your own penny floor without a template is to use construction adhesive. It comes in a tube for caulk guns but it also now comes in squeeze tubes. A dab on the back of a penny should secure it in place against nearly any substrate.
2. Exquisite and Detailed Penny Floor Designs
For the type of guy that doesn’t mind a little extra fuss and attention to detail, a penny floor with an intricate design is not only doable but can also be incredibly good-looking. These designs can include stylish borders, Afghan-rug-type designs, or even color gradients to make a huge statement underfoot.
It’s a good idea to separate your pennies by their finish, shine, and patina. Taking an hour or two before you start your project will save you a ton of time later when you’re in the middle of the project and you need a penny with the right finish.
To clean your pennies ahead of the project, you can use the old standby system of soaking them in Coca-Cola. The chemicals that we drink in Coke will also take the oxidation off of an old penny and help to make it look brand new. You may have to buy quite a few bottles, but this method is easy and produces some really shiny results.
Conversely, to patina your pennies before you start, try the method in the video below. It’s a little more involved than taking the cap off of a bottle of soda, but it’s still easy and you’ll end up with the awesome discoloration that these projects thrive on.
3. Vintage Barbershop Charm
One of the most timeless and manly places a man can frequent is his local barbershop. Good stories, hardy laughs, and friendly faces allow a guy to kick back and enjoy a hot shave or clean fade. By checking out the images below, you’ll see that penny floors make a really cool choice for a barbershop floor. Also, the epoxy resin that coats it keeps it shiny and easy to sweep.
While we don’t expect you to have your own basement barbershop, it would be a shame not to try to take a few style cues from these safe havens of manhood. A floor like this in your man cave, office, or even a workshop floor would look awesome. Somehow, every color and hue that you see on a penny floor is quintessentially manly.
If you have a hang-out space that needs something extra to be different than everyone else’s space, consider mimicking one of the looks below. You can be meticulous or just enjoy a devil-may-care approach when laying out your floor. Use leather furniture and matching accents throughout the room to really tie the look together. These floors are incredibly easy to clean and polish, so a few rough nights with the boys shouldn’t cause you any issues, as far as the floor is concerned at least.
4. Captivating Cafe and Bar Inspiration
A huge benefit to any floors that use an epoxy overcoat is that they’re durable and easy to clean. Spills have very little effect on them and can be wiped up quickly. Because of their resilient nature, they’re perfect for floors in cafes or bars where a spilled drink is likely to occur from time to time. You don’t have to worry about a spilled latte or cappuccino staining your grout lines or ground coffee beans grinding their way into your floorboards.
Unlike other metals, copper doesn’t look cold and uninviting. In fact, copper has a warmer feel than most other flooring choices, falling somewhere between tile floor and hardwood. Also, the old-school timelessness of a copper finish is the perfect fit for a classic or trendy space. Penny floors can be at home in all but the most formal of environments.
You may not have a bar or coffee bar in your home, but you can still adopt this look for some of your entertaining or lounging spaces. Living rooms and dining areas may require a lot of pennies, but if you’re looking to use a penny floor to create a relaxing environment, these are the places to do it. You can even consider changing your dining room over into a cafe-inspired lounge, complete with comfortable chairs and an espresso bar.
5. Creative Bathroom Solutions
The bathroom is where the penny floor really shines, no pun intended. The reason penny floors work so well in bathrooms is that they’re clean, water-resistant, and their highly-polished finish can reflect a lot of light without being just like every other bathroom.
You don’t have to be a flooring expert to pull off an amazing floor in your bathroom, and that may be one of the penny floor’s great appeals. They’re easily adaptable to any turns, curves, corners, or bump-outs that your bathroom might have in it. It’s easy to add borders and designs which will really help your bathroom stand out from the rest.
It can’t be stressed enough how versatile and durable these floors can be and why they’re so useful in bathrooms. A penny floor with an epoxy coating makes a great choice in front of a shower or a tub because it takes a lot of repeated abuse before it will show any wear or damage.
6. Welcoming Penny Floor Entryways
Imagine your guests stepping through your front door only to behold the awesome penny floor that you’ve created under their feet. Using a penny floor in your entryway makes a welcoming, interesting, and modern impression that can’t be replicated by any other means. The warm copper color beckons your guests and gives them an excellent stepping-off point to enjoy the rest of their evening.
For many of the same reasons we’ve mentioned before, penny floors make great entryway flooring choices. In terms of durability, these floors hold up very well to repeated use and high-traffic areas, so you’ll be able to have quite a few poker games before your guests start leaving any marks near your front door. You also have very little to worry about when it comes to kicking off your boots after coming inside from the wet weather. The penny floor and resin epoxy will be able to handle more than its fair share of water.
If you decide to use a penny floor in your entryway, you should consider using a pattern that will flatter the room. This can be one of the most formal spaces in your home, and the more time you spend nailing down the right pattern, the more welcomed and lavished your guests will feel when they hang up their coats by the front door.
7. Stylish Closets and Pantries Options
There’s nothing that shows how much you care for your home as much as your attention to detail. By focusing on making a small, insignificant space feel more luxurious and up-scale, you’ll show just how much your home’s smallest nuances really matter to you. If you look through the following images, you’ll see just how much small details can accent your home.
The amount of time and energy that a man puts into his home can say a lot about the type of guy he is. Taking the time to show some love to a closet floor may seem a little silly, but in the end, you’re enriching both your life and your home’s value. There’s something to be said when you can be proud of every small aspect of your home, and putting your personal touch on the smallest of places can make a big difference.
Pantries can also benefit from penny floors for a very practical reason. We’ve already covered this, but any spills that occur in your pantry can be cleaned up easily. It doesn’t matter if the spill is caused by a bottle of soda or a bag of sugar that ripped, it won’t be an issue. There aren’t many flooring materials that are as stain-resistant as a penny floor with an epoxy coating. It also goes without saying how nice it will look to open your pantry door, flip on the light, and see that penny floor shining back at you.
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Penny Floor FAQs
While we aren’t lawyers and would prefer not to steer you in one direction or the other on matters of legality, this has been covered enough through blogs and DIY channels that we think we’re safe. It’s not illegal to use pennies as a flooring material. It is illegal to damage or destroy money and then attempt to profit from that damaged or destroyed money. That does not describe a penny floor, so tile away.
They do not require grouting, but they can benefit from it for several reasons. The resin you pour over the pennies will be crystal clear, so depending on what your subfloor looks like, you may prefer a grouted look. Also, if you’re budget-minded, grout is cheaper than resin. The grout will take up space that would otherwise eat up a lot of your resin material.
One square foot will require 256 pennies. Knowing that information, determine the square footage of your room. A 10×10 room is 100 square feet. Now multiply that by 256 pennies, and you’ll need 25,600 pennies. Head to the bank and ask for $256 in pennies. We’re sure the teller won’t mind.
