To get a true checkerboard pattern, you need to tape square by square. If you try to run a piece of tape straight across, the squares won't meet in the corner. If you do tape off this way, there is a way to make it work. One Woman's Cottage Life did a cute treatment with decals on a floor taped straight.The photo below shows me painting in squares. You can also see a hideous faux rug in the adjoining room. I ended up painting over that. My next post will be about my faux rugs.
The photo below is of my loft, one of my favorite spots in the house. The colors here are fantastic and my inspiration came from Susan at T-Cozy. In fact, she's the reason I was willing to attempt painting my floors in the first place. My colors are not the same as hers, but very similar. Her colors are a smidge more green. I used Sherwin Williams, Rainwashed for the walls and Quietude for the floors.
Here are some posts from Susan on her fabulous studio & floors -Studio Sneak Preview
These are a Few of My Favorite Things
My New, Improved Studio
For my laundry room floor (and the loft floor) I added the flakes shown below. They are used mostly on garage floors. I sprinkled them sparingly on the floor as a applied the first coat of polyurethane. They are wonderful. The floor now looks like vintage linoleum and best of all, it hides the fact that I don't sweep as often as I should. I wish I had used these on my coat room floor.
Here's a photo that shows some squares with the flakes and some without. The urethane on the flake squares appears cloudy because it has just been applied. It dries clear and it turned out great. In fact, this is my favorite floor in the house. Unfortunately, its in the room I least want visitors traipsing through.
More helpful articles on checkerboard floors:
Cottage Living
San Diego Tribune