8 Affordable Flooring Solutions From HGTV's Erin Napier

HGTV host Erin Napier always finds a way for 'beauty' and 'budget-friendly' to harmonize in her stunning and out-of-the-ordinary designs. On their hit show "Home Town," Erin and husband Ben embrace creative solutions to deliver spectacular restorations and renovations on a limited budget. They leave no stone unturned in sourcing beautiful, affordable materials, a skill they honed while furnishing and remodeling their own homes long before they became TV stars.

Flooring can be a huge drain on any reno project, but Napier refuses to allow flooring costs to impede bringing her design dreams to life. As a result, she's compiled quite a collection of sometimes unconventional, sometimes surprising, but always tasteful flooring solutions that the budget-conscious homeowner can replicate in their own projects. From the beadboard hack the couple used in their first home to an insider secret to making mismatched hardwoods look uniform, here are eight affordable flooring solutions from Erin Napier.

In Season 5, Episode 18 of "Home Town," Napier ditched traditional hardwoods for a unique and budget-friendly alternative — reclaimed brick. Sourced from a local school that was torn down, Napier set the brick in a herringbone pattern for a show-stopping look. To get this style in your home, look first to local reclaimed brick suppliers in your area to save on shipping costs, but there are online retailers that can ship to you. Brick prices vary by type and style, but you can generally find bricks — old and new — for under $2.00 per brick.

Both Erin and Ben Napier agree that vinyl flooring is a great hardwood alternative. On TODAY, they sang the praises of LVT — luxury vinyl tile. "It wears great. It's got a really long lifespan. It's cheap, it's kid-proof, waterproof, and pet-proof," Ben Napier said. LVT is virtually indistinguishable from natural wood and even stone, so you can achieve the natural look you're going for without breaking the bank. Luxury vinyl tiles lock into place for a more durable seal compared to peel-and-stick vinyl, are typically more affordable than hardwood, and will last for years to come.

In one episode of "Home Town," Erin and Ben utilized engineered hardwood, which features a real oak veneer bonded on top of plywood or high-density fiberboard. This construction yields a more water- and temperature-resistant material than traditional hardwoods, so it can be used where hardwoods can't. "It's really durable... You can sand it and refinish it," Ben told the happy homeowners on the episode. Not all manufactured hardwoods can be refinished, but they will cost less than hardwoods, averaging around $4 to $7 per square foot, while traditional hardwoods tend to range from $8 to $15.

Want to DIY your own hardwoods, but don't even know where to begin removing your old linoleum floors? On the Rachel Ray Show, Erin and Ben share just the trick you need that will save you a fortune. They say you can nail tongue-and-groove pine planks right on top of linoleum floors. Before you stain the wood, make sure you sand it down a few times over. "Sanding is critical to the luxurious look," Erin said, and it also allows the sawdust to fill in the cracks of the plank grooves for a smoother finish.

The Napiers used this budget-friendly flooring hack in their own first home — a 1910 loft in their hometown of Laurel, Mississippi. They installed beaded plywood siding panels on their bathroom floors by simply gluing and nailing down the boards, which are conventionally used for wall paneling or wainscoting. They finished the faux hardwoods by painting the floor with a white, high-gloss, oil-based paint. According to Erin, the gloss is the key to giving this inexpensive flooring material an upscale, high-impact look, and it's also what will make it easy to clean and maintain.

Are your mismatched hardwoods driving you crazy? Erin Napier has an economical trade secret for you: Restain the floors with a mixture of stain and polyurethane. Mixing in the polyurethane keeps the stain on top of the wood instead of soaking down into it, creating a uniform look. Choosing the right stain color for your various hardwoods can be daunting, but Napier's wood stain philosophy is that generally lighter stains are preferred to brighten up a space and make the whole room feel bigger, but some conditions are ripe for darker stains.

Erin Napier has been known to embrace some out-of-the-ordinary designs on "Home Town," and painting a pattern on one homeowner's hardwoods as a play on a traditional rug was likely the first of its kind in Laurel. Napier used this flooring element in a small bathroom to add interest to the space and tie the design together without blowing the budget. While a painted pattern on hardwoods might not be to everyone's taste, it's a definite way to make a statement without spending a fortune.

You can incorporate luxury tile or other upscale flooring options in your renovation while sticking to a budget; it just requires a little intention and focus. In fact, Erin Napier utilized this flooring solution for her own dream bathroom by selecting stunning mosaic zellige tiles for her shower floor. It isn't just that upscale flooring is more expensive, but it also requires skilled installation, which can add to your bottom line. If you have a dream floor type you know you couldn't afford to lay throughout your home, consider giving it a small, special spot to shine.