Stunning Painted Floor

Check out this amazing painted floor! We took a risk and stenciled a bathroom floor. It was easy, cheap, and looks amazing!

Do you have an unsightly floor and need an inexpensive fix? Want expensive tile but can’t justify the cost? Just love the look of this stenciled floor? Read on to find out how to achieve this beautiful painted floor.

After quite a bit of shopping I kept returning to the Lisboa stencil by Royal Design Studios. I loved the look, the price, and quality…a trifecta! There were also numerous pictures of other painted floors using this stencil. Royal Design Studios has so many awesome stencils I’m thinking of other projects.

The stencil arrived rolled, well protected, and came with easy to follow directions.

I also purchased the stencil brush from their site. Some reviews complained that it shed bristles, I did not have that problem and actually loved the brush. You can browse their selection or stencils, brushes, and paint here.

I used some white latex paint we had hanging around. Many tutorials recommend using a flat paint but I wasn’t too worried as I was putting a very thin coat on concrete and covering with a mega-sealer. 

 

Prep

First make sure your surface is ready to finish.

We applied this technique to bare concrete floors, although you can do it over almost any surface with the right preparation. First I sanded off any uneven areas or blemishes. If you need to do the same wear a mask (protect those lungs!), make sure the room is well ventilated, and close it off from the rest of the house.

Then we then vacuumed and washed the floor to rid it of all the dust and construction dirt. Royal Design Studio recommends using TSP to prep the surface, we didn’t but it was a brand new concrete floor.

I was applying the paint to bare concrete and really wanted to maintain the natural color variations in unstained concrete…and let’s be honest, I had no desire to add any more painting than necessary to my long list. The base surface can be painted to provide a different background color. 

I then did a dry layout with the stencil to determine the best place to start the pattern. Convention would tell you to start in the middle of the far wall but I didn’t want to make chalk lines, I was worried I would rub off the paint when trying to get the chalk lines off prior to sealing, and I needed to work my way out of the room.

Practice Makes Perfect

You can apply the paint with a stencil brush, roller, or even a rag. I tested both methods on cardboard first and found I liked the variation in texture and depth with the brush for this floor.

Although the technique is simple but there is a little bit of a learning curve to fine tune your technique, practice first!

I think I next summer I might try this stencil with a colored background to make a floorcloth for the deck. If you had the desire or ambition to tackle it before me I would love to see how it looks.

 

Application

Now you are ready to tackle your painted floor. Since I wanted a worn texture I applied the paint with a dry brush technique. I would dip it in the paint and the get the access off on a rag. Then dab the paint on with the brush directly vertical to ensure I wasn’t going under the sides of the stencil. It is really important to keep minimal paint on the brush, you need a surprisingly small amount to make this work.

I did make a few mistakes mainly when attempting to lift the stencil but I was worried trying to fix it would make it worse since the unfinished concrete is porous. Fortunately it is such a full pattern that I really don’t think  my blemishes are very noticeable and does give it a handmade appearance.

When moving the stencil try to make sure you don’t slide it as you lift it. Sometimes you can have trouble getting the stencil up off the floor (this is how both of my mistakes happened). I think in the future I would put some tape in one corner to create a lift tab. The directions recommended you tape the stencil down. I tried that for the first few and found it just complicated matters for me on a horizontal surface. Once I had my technique down I was astonished at how quickly the floor came together. Doesn’t it look awesome? Can you believe this is just a painted floor?

The stencils from this company are very easy to line up so if you can get your first placement well arranged the rest will follow. The busier pattern also allows for more leeway, I think a simple geometric pattern would require more precision. 

Finish

Once the paint dried we applied an outdoor water based penetrating concrete sealer. I’m not sure if this was the best choice but we were given some left-overs and it seems to work well. I figure if it can stand up to the elements it should be able to handle my kids.

I was also concerned that the floor would be very slippery when wet. We had a stamped concrete patio at our last  house and I slipped on there more times than I would like to admit. To address this our mason suggested we shark grip polymer beads to help with traction. It worked. In the picture below the sealer is still wet, the actual floor dried more matte.

Cost 

Stencil: $59.95

Brush: $34.95

Paint: (free)

Sealer: (free) We used a concrete sealer...since our floor is concrete
Shark Grip: $5.98 (lowes)

Total: $106.86 (and I now have the stencil and brush to use for other projects)


Concrete floor (labor and supplies): About $300

Grand Total for the Painted Floor: $406.86

 

This might seem like a steep price for a painted floor but if you factor in the cost of tile, the mastic, ditra, labor, grout, and sealer there is no way I would have been able to accomplish this look for this price with tile. DIYing the concrete floor or using your current flooring would also (obviously) save money.

 

Painted Floor Verdict

I am in love with this painted floor and so is everyone who visits our house! I can’t wait to apply this technique to other projects.

It is soooooooooooo easy to clean which is a huge win for a kids bathroom.

Between supplies and labor (to apply the concrete) I probably could have put down cheap tile for the same price but nothing that gave me the desired aesthetic.  This is also totally DIYable from the beginning and I think much easier than tiling. You could also do this over other surfaces such as your old linoleum. 

People have asked about the weight. Honestly I am not worried. It must less than a tile floor as there is only one layer of masonry.

Want to see the rest of the bathroom? Check out our DIY vanity and the bathroom reveal of the finished bathroom. I can’t wait to show you how it all came together.

Click here for the printable DIY Instructions

Did you try this? Comment below with your finished floor!

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