can't stain or paint. live with them or rip them out.

Really? Was hoping I didn't have to rip them out.

It is possible to add a sealant that darkens them. To get an understanding of what it will look like, mop them with water to see the "darker" look. That's as DARK as you can get them. The colours will remain...but they will look darker.

Contact a stone professional to ensure you get it right. Your floors would have been sealed at some point in their life (and normally will need resealing every 6-12 months for ever and ever). Some of those sealants will allow different things to be added...others need to be ground down and a new one added.

If you DO NOT like the look of the floor when they are WET...then you only have two options: remove the floor or live with them. If you don't want to rip them out...then we are down to one.

I also think a natural product such as slate goes with just about any style.

Thanks for the input, but these floors don't "go" with a mid century modern look.

They most certainly do go w/ a MCM look. Sealing them is the best option.

Do not ever paint a natural stone.

MCM homes used a lot of slate. I don't know why you feel that it doesn't work. It's a highly appropriate material for MCM.

I just bought a home and it has a slate entry. I like the slate but not the colors. I was also thinking of stripping them and then staining with a more aesthetically pleasing color to blend with my decor. Why not? I don't see a reason why it shouldn't work. It's natural stone and it can be stained...

Well I imagine anything can be stained, but whether you will be satisfied with the results might be questionable. Check into stain that is designed to be used on brick to change the color. Don't use paint. Results maybe splotchy.

Purchase some slate and practice on "staining" it before you make a commitment to doing it on the whole entry way. Just out of curiosity, since you just moved in are you all settled in so that you know for sure that this slate really doesn't work with your decor? Just wondering as sometimes things stand out more than usual until everything around it is in place... Good luck with your project.

I feel like the stone colors might look more harmonious with darker grout. Perhaps rather than trying to stain the stone, which sounds like a tricky business if it's possible at all, you could use a grout stain in a dark grey.

In regards to the "splotchy" paint comment above, yes, I agree, and that is why I suggested stain, not paint. Stain is more easily absorbed, and can be thinned and more easily controlled. I am not sure what wood stain might do to the composition of the slate, but I would think that concrete stain will work. I stated that I do like the slate, just not the colors. I am not a green, nor orange person, so I know that the colors will not work with my decor. I will only do a little test spot and I am sure it will never be noticed with all that's going on with this particular slate. I can always cover it up with an oriental rug, if need be. I just want to tone it down, so I won't feel the need to remove it and replace it with hardwood, or something that would blend with the existing hardwood. I have plenty of other projects to do before I can move in, so I am trying to prioritize, starting with the floors. Thank you for any of your suggestions, and I'll let you know what happens.

You have some very nice floor there and also perfect for a mid century modern decor. As suggested staining the grout, not the stone, darker would help a lot. I'd accommodate my decor for this floor(though it's very neutral so it should go with a lot).

Before you do anything to the floor, move your furniture and art in, and live with it awhile. Then you'll be able to decide to try and stain, remove, or leave alone.. I was raised in CT, where a lot of slate is used, and there it is a traditional decor. MCM does use a lot of natural materials, so slate, in its natural state, should work fine. Bottom line, if you don't like it, change it, your house, you need to do what you think is best.

I found a page that might help you. Couldn't find the TOS for the forum, but I hope it's okay if I post an external link. (I'm sure if it's not someone will be quick to correct me). Anywho, this link tells how to stain slate tile http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-stain-a-slate-kitchen-floor

jennhi, Thank you for reading and responding to what I was saying, and asking. I do appreciate "original and natural", however some times certain colors are not aesthetically pleasing, or don't work with specific decors, and you got that.

We all like what we like, right? And you're the one who has to live with the floor, so yours is the opinion that matters most.

I'd love to see how it looks when you're done!

I'm curious to know what you ended up doing to your floors. We have slate multicolored tile (unsealed) in our entry and am going to attempt the concrete stain to make them a little more uniform.

I am extremely interested in what you eventually did. I want Montauk Blue slate and it is really grey. I just thought I might be able to stain it with a bluish tint and then seal it. Earth tones are not my thing.

Hi Elie Y : I just wondered if you had ever done anything with your slate floor. Please keep us posted, as I am sure all of us would love to see some pictures. Thank you.

I haven't done anything to the floors yet, but I did paint the fireplace which was the same slate. I like how dramatic it looks for the fireplace, but wouldn't like this look for the floors. I primed first then painted it. I may try and actually darken the grout to see how that works as some suggested or painting them with Annie Sloan chalk paint. If I don't like it I'll tear them out.

The Annie Sloan chalk paints are pretty cool, and they have a floor sealant. We don't wear shoes in the house so we aren't hard on our floors. I was going to try and paint big blocks without painting over the grout.

I definitely think it's possible! I was in a similar situation with the stone exterior of our house. It looked old and outdated....and dirty. Very expensive and labor intensive to replace Stone. No thanks! So I dyed it! Home depot carries a concrete dye product that can be tinted to whatever color you like. Slate is porous, so it should accept the color. I would definitely strip off any sealer and etch it first, but it will work! The difficult part would be keeping the color off of the grout (unless you stain it all....which is possible). I will post some pictures of my stone. I used a paintbrush and painted the mortar a light grey then painted each stone different greys (by mixing dark and light grey to different shades).

Thanks. I'll look for not this.

I mean I'll look into this.

gorgeous.im installing in my kitchen. regroup or stain grout. very essy... i restained my grout in my last home several times over 20 years.. design around the slate

I had slate tile very similar to yours and it was too busy with the granite countertop that was also in the bathroom. I applied a dark brown stain to the tile so that the tile color was still visible, but just muted a bit. I then sealed the tile. It looks fantastic!

That looks really good. I finally got around to painting and sealing mine. I used 2 coats of Annie Sloan in Graphite and then sealed it with their lacquer.

Great job! Your floor looks amazing; much more neutral and timeless. Multi-color slate WAS a mid-century trend however a design trend that should not be preserved, in my opinion. The red, blue and green slate color scheme was so unattractive. I painted the grout grey in my large slate foyer years ago and will now stain the slate, post-haste. Thank you!

How are the slate floors wearing with the Annie Sloan paint? I’m about to do something to my “green” slate floors and love what you did. Little nervous about paint on heavy traffic floors and wondered how your were holding up. Thank you!!

Here’s mine. Every time I see it, I get stressed. Lol. I’ll try doing that Annie Sloan Paint. Oh, your floor looks a lot better now.

The floors are holding up very well. The lacquer is what seals the paint and gives it a slight glossy finish. The chalk paint can be thinnned with water if you want to just give the slate a more stained look. Then it won’t look as flat. My only recommendation would be to not do it in colder temps. The lacquer was tricky with cold floors. I should’ve done it in the summer.

Victoria - what you have is a treasure. Red Purple Green slate is mined only in Vermont. It is the only mine in the world that has colored slate. I have this slate and wanted to get a the purple slate for my fireplace hearth to match the purple slate in the entry. The quote for 3 pieces of slate to cover a 10' x 18" (15 square feet) was $1500.00. That did not include shipping or installation.

This Is a temporary fix until we decide what we want to replace them with. They are holding up really well even when we’ve had my brother’s dog for weeks at a time.

Jennifer, wow, is that right? I didn’t paint the slate. I researched and found a good cleaner for it and sealed them afterwards. Looks a lot better and I bought a nice art on the wall that goes well with the color. I like it now really. Very unique.

For the people who stained/painted the slate: I too want to do this. The slate is in my small bathroom, floor and in shower. Will it work in a shower because of water?

cmunro1 - How are the stained tiles holding up? I want to do a subtle difference to mine as well. They have a red tone but I want to mute them grey but still keeping the shade variances (which is why I don't want to paint them). Again... this is temp until I deal with the floors in the entire house.

Thanks everyone for these posts!! I have slate in my entryway that looks earthy old and dirty and i have a more transitional decor in my house. I’m going to try to stain it or paint it and I’ll post and let you know how it goes. You all have inspired and helped me soooo much😊❤️

I’m curious Elie Y if when you stained your floors graphite with the Annie Sloan chalk paint—did you also use the same thing on the grout? I have green slate and dreamed up the same idea before I looked online and saw people doing it. And how is it wearing? That’s my chief concern since it’s a mudroom. Thank you!

We put that flooring in 23 years ago! I still see it in tile stores... ugh!
Think the only real thing to do is remove it... Or you will have a huge ugly mess. You just can’t fix ugly that easy.

In one of the posts above, someone 'painted' their slate floor using Annie Sloan chalk paints. Here's a link to one of the sites that gives detailed instructions about it: https://www.thepurplepaintedlady.com/2019/03/painting-a-slate-foyer-using-chalk-paint-by-annie-sloan/

And here is another website that talks about changing the color or enhancing, etc. all sorts of slate surfaces with other types of 'paint': https://everythingwhat.com/can-you-use-chalk-paint-on-slate

Thank you!

@cmunro1 what kind of stain did you use?

https://bungalow47.com/how-to-paint-an-outdated-slate-floor/