Can my ages old linoleum be painted and what is the best way to do it?

I'd suggest cleaning the floor, priming it, then painting it with porch and patio paint. As long as your old floor isn't peeling up, it should be fine. Best of luck.

I just saw a post on google where a couple put wallpaper on the floor and covered it with shellac. It held for years until they could afford new flooring.

I just read on home talk that you can put skim concrete on your old linoleum

why not glue down vinyl plank or floating vinyl plank? Price is reasonable and it gives es in over existing floors. Love mone and I have both kinds in two homes.

I agree with Diana Deiley . We had the same problem when we first moved in to our new/old house. Our floor was old linoleum tiles that had an embossed pebble design, " We" were not amused, so "I " did as Diana outlined; After the porch paint dried I coved the whole thing with a home made stencil pattern ( hay, we were in the "rubbin pennies together" phase) after the stencil dried , over coated with two coats of Polyurethane. The job was only to get us through. So when 12 years later(!) we replaced the whole thing with a new vinyl floor- Wheew ! I know you can do this, just be ready to live without walking on your kitchen floor until each of the paint coats dry, but just think of it like an inexpensive, fun, camping trip (yeah, right) Good Luck