When we moved in, we stripped all the carpeting out of the house. Under the carpet, pad etc in the living room was solid sheet wood. Not composite plywood or pressboard, but a smooth surfaced wood. Having my budget sucking dry by getting rid of asbestos tile, buying new (used)furnace, kitchen sink, stove, fridge, and new electrical on two floors of the house I could not strip that and refinish what is under there or foot the bill for new wood floors.
So I painted it.
I painted it a serious blue with a serious floor paint that stunk to high heaven but for two years has not scuffed or gotten ugly. Pretty good paint. One cheesey thing I did was I only painted the edges that would show outside the oriental wool carpet we had down. (There is a reason for this, mainly the hundreds HUNDREDS of carpet staples that were scattered pell mell and everyflippin' where on that floor.) Some of those staples were not totally pulled out. After tearing my fingernails ragged, cutting my fingers, going through two staple pullers, I was done.
We put down a new carpet yesterday, and it covers a smaller area than the old rug. SO I needed to add some more paint to the floor. That magnificent floor paint had not been sealed tight when closed two years ago.
There was a 1/4 inch solid surface that I peeled off. I stirred the paint underneath for ten minutes and then painted.
30 hours later it is still not dry. I think I figured out what that layer was on the paint. The dryer dried out of the paint and made that solid top. I have been painting the floor with the gooey tint base that is not drying. Hopefully not attracting dog dust bunnies to it, but I am fairly sure it is.
Note: Four days later, and with a little unintentional dog hair added, it is dry enough for the carpet. yay.
OK so technically I am not totally done in this room as is evidenced by the tools still laying about... and the holes in the floor on the right (not by me, courtesy of the previous owners thorough need to drill holes through the walls and floor preferably in the middle of the room). I am including before and after shots-- these simple things are richly satisfying to complete. I have been working on the bathroom at the same time with help from the my amazing handyman Javier. Photos to come... 
Before - You can see the vibrant green around the edges that used to be. There is a mystery cut-out to the left, and crawl space access to the right. The floor in this room was the original unfinished fir, which had always been covered. I ended up painting it due to the condition and that it is my only layer of flooring for the upstairs. I didn't want to sand and diminish it anymore than it already was. 
Before - No base molding, unfinished wood. This is when I was trying to figure out what color to paint... I am not such a decisive colorist! I probably had seven colors on this wall to confuse me. 
Wilder's favorite color is green, and yes, it is a small room. The desk on the left is to come out, I just need serious muscle to do it, so am waiting for all my friends menfolk to be around at the same time! 
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