ORC Spring 21 - Week 2 | Blog | Lindsey Vorwith Group

It's week 2 of the One Room Challenge (ORC) and I am feeling a little behind but I guess thats expected when you join a few days into the challenge. When I decided to transfrom our lake house entry, I absolutely did not think through the AZ summer heat. It is about 100 degrees out here right now so its a little warm to be working outside but a few margarita breaks here and there are helping.

This week I managed to scrape off most of the residual glue from the carpet (yuck!). I cleaned and prepped the concrete to get ready for paint. Then I painted the base coat and started stenciling the "tile". It's already looking a lot better. However, I do know why this project has been sitting for two years. It's a lot of work!

If you've been following me for a while then you've seen the #neverendingbathroomreno. I wanted to pull the black and white theme from there throughout the rest of the house so I decided to go with a classic black and white stencil to match the tile in the bathroom.

Ok, onto the the step-by-step guide for those of you who want to try this yourselves. WARNING: It is not for the faint at heart because it is a lot of work but well worth it in the end if you have the time and energy and don't have the budget for tile.

Step-by-Step Guide on How to Spruce Up Your Patio Using Only Paint

Step 1:

Gather all of your supplies. You will need the following:

Stencil of your choice - you can order them online from Cutting Edge Stencil
Two colors of flat exterior paint - I used Benjamin Moore's Ben in flat finish
Sealer - I used Old Masters Water-Based clear finish Ascend Exterior in matte
2 - 1/2 inch knapp rollers
Weenie roller
Angled paintbrush
Paint tray
Broom stick to attach to your paint roller
1" round brush
1 1/2" wedge brush
Painters tape
SPRAY ADHESIVE
Concrete cleaner - I used Rust-Oleum Clean & Etch
Concrete Patch - I used Quikrete
Hard bristle broom
Bucket

Step 2:

Clean and prep your concrete. If your concrete is old like mine was you are going to want to use the concrete patch (Quikrete) to fill in any uneveness. The smoother you can get your concrete, the better. After you have patched any chips, cracks, or uneveness, you are going to need to prep the concrete. I used Rustoleum XXXXX. Follow the instuctions on the bottle. Using your bucket and hard bristle broom you are going to want to work in sections. I did about a 6ft x 6ft area at a time. Pour the concrete cleaner onto the surface and then scrub with your hard bristle broom until the effervescence stops. Once it stops fizzing you want to rinse the area well. Repeat this until your entire are has been cleaned.

Step 3:

Time to paint! Start by cutting in the edges. After you have cut in the entire border you will want to attach your broom handle to your roller (this will save your back!) and start rolling. It may take a few passes to get all of the little spots filled.

Step 4:

Prep your stencil. Most stencils come rolled up so you are going to want to make sure its flat before you start. Once its flat you are going to spray the back of the stencil with the spray adhesive. This will help it adhere to the concrete and minimize bleeding. Using your weenie roller, do one quick pass. You want to make sure you don't have too much paint on your roller for this step. After you've completed this, you are going to want to use your stencil brush and "dot" the entire stencil. Remove and repeat until the entire area is covered.

Step 5:

Seal. This is probably the most important step because this is what is going to protect all of your hard work. Using the 1/2 knapp roller thinly coat your roller. I want to emphasize THIN. If you go to thick your sealer will turn a milky white color so in order to keep it clear you have to do thin coats and let it dry throughly before re-coating.

Voila! You now have an incredibly chic new patio for under $300.