Painting a Concrete Floor

4 Materials
$200
3 Days
Medium

Next to the formal dining room, is a small unattractive storage area. I decided to turn it into a place where I could put my fine dishes, big platters, crystal and linens. With easy access to the dining room, I wanted it to have the upscale and formal feeling as the house. However, its concrete floor was the same height as the adjacent hardwood dining room floor. This prevented me from adding wood flooring or another surface on the concrete floor, which would have created a step up. Even though this "closet" has a beautiful 5 panel door, there would be times the door would remain open. I needed this space to look elegant and not a typical storage closet. I decided to stencil a beautiful pattern as a way to dress up the concrete floor. You can see more projects from Life at Bella Terra here.


Before picture of the Small "closet" off the formal dining room. MDF baseboard was added to match the existing baseboard in the dining room.

After searching the internet for stencil ideas, I selected this one from Royal Design Studios. Anatolia Tile Wall Stencil 21" x 21". The paint colors with this stencil design (and other ideas) can be found online https://www.royaldesignstudio.com/blogs/stenciling-tips/how-to-stencil-paint-concrete-floor

The stenciling kit came from Royal Design Studios. The kit included paint brushes, the stencil and the various paint colors needed. Unfortunately, there were NO instructions on how to paint the floor with the paint colors provided. I called Royal Design Studios and they confirmed there were no printed instructions and advised me to see the video online. There was no Internet connection at the house at this time so how was I going to watch a video while painting? So I went online and took screen shots of each step of the process and printed them out for reference.

The paints are made by Annie Sloan and there are 5 different colors. This paint, Old Ochre, was the base coat paint on the floor.

After thoroughly cleaning the floor, Frog Tape was used to protect the baseboard (which hasn't been painted yet). Old Ochre was applied over the entire concrete floor. Using a foam roller, I applied two coats of paint, allowing the first coat to dry before applying the second coat. It went on very smoothly and covered the concrete floor nicely.

After applying a chalk center line to the room, I placed the right edge of the stencil on the center line, using Frog Tape to secure it in place. In this picture you can see where the concrete floor is flush with the hardwood flooring in the dining room.

I poured the paint colors into small bowls for easier access. Starting with the olive paint, I applied it with the larger brush, following the steps I had printed out. Having the printed instructions was EXTREMELY helpful. Apply the paint by dabbing the paint with the strong bristled brushes over the appropriate stencil area.

The paint dries very quickly so I was able to apply the next color, which was the salmon one.

Having a paper towel handy was helpful when I had too much paint on the brush. I dabbed any excess paint on the paper towel in order to prevent bleeding under the stencil.

Making progress adding the additional paint colors. I used the smaller stencil brushes in the smaller stencil cuts. The last color I applied was the blue. One stencil down, 15 more to go.

Once all the paint colors were applied to the stencil, I moved it to the next location, taped it in place and began the process all over again.

After each row, I began another row. If the complete stencil does not fit on the edges, I used a partial stencil and carefully taping it in place. About mid-way through the project, I washed the stencil to remove the excessive dried paint. It was easy to do with soap and water.

I allowed the paint to dry overnight. Here is the floor after stenciling. I still need to add a border to clean up the edges against the baseboard.


I chose the Olive paint to do a small border around the entire room. I taped a 2" border using Frog green painters tape. I peeled off the tape when I was finished. Once the paint was completely dry, I used a clear polyurethane to protect the painted surface.

Adding IKEA storage cabinets and a butcher block top from Floor & Decor provides plenty of space for fine dishes, crystal, silver and fine linens.

This project was time consuming, however, if you were to use only 2 paint colors, it would be much easier. To see more about this small closet transformation, please click here and visit my website. Also I would love for you to stop by my blog to see more of this historic house and others.

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  • Patty Patty on Feb 26, 2022

    When you say you put the edge of the stencil on the chalk line,are you putting the stencil in the center of the line,or to the right of the line?,

  • Imp Imp on Feb 28, 2022

    Lovely elegant look. A huge amount of work. I have looked at many of these floor stenciling/painting projects on Home Talk. I am reluctant to try this as I fear it won't hold up to foot traffic. Am I wrong to think this?

  • Laura Laura on Mar 05, 2022

    That is absolutely stunning. How do you think it would hold up with dogs on it constantly??? I have 3, 125 pounders ! They put a hurting on everything! But they are my babies.

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