The Concrete Floor Diaries, Day 5 & 6 (and clarifying what it’s NOT)
Today, I finished my floors. Oh my…this past week was one of the longest of my life. If you missed the previous posts about this project, you can click these links to read the details…
- Refinishing my concrete floors – Day 1 – stripping the old paint
- Refinishing my concrete floors – Day 2 – cleaning and etching
- Refinishing my concrete floors – Day 3 – painting the floors…finally!
- Refinishing my concrete floors – Day 4 – touchups needed
I was beginning to think it would never end. But in fact, it is finished. Wow…that just feels good to say (or, to type).
So here’s how the design on my living room floor turned out:
Once I got all of the painting finished and the thousands of touch-ups taken care of, the design still seems a bit…blah. It just seemed to need a little more umph. And then, I remember this guy, and the power of a Sharpie marker. So, I went to the store, purchased a couple of Sharpies, and got to work on my floor, outlining everything with black. It took about three hours to outline everything, but it did the trick. I love the design, and the black really seemed to bring it to life. I know you can’t really see it in the pic (sadly). But hey…you’ll just have to come visit!
Well, obviously one of the next jobs will be replacing baseboards, but I think I’ll rest a little first.
So the other day, after posting the pic of my living room floor before the tape was removed, I had someone ask, “Is that supposed to be like a rug?” Then yesterday, while I was working on the floor, my parents came to see my progress. My mom commented on the uneven edge on the far side, and I explained that I painted it that way to perfectly contour around the built-ins that will go there. She replied, “Wouldn’t it look more like a rug if it was straight?”
You know, it certainly would. However, I don’t really think my goal was to make it look like something. I mean, let’s face it…there’s no disguising the fact that it’s a painted concrete floor. I never meant for it to look like a rug, and I certainly never thought I was going to fool anyone into thinking it was a rug.
To be quite honest, I don’t really like things that are meant to look like something else. Faux finishes? Nope. (Now decorative painting is another thing.) Trompe L’oeil? I’m not a fan.
So my goal was just to bring some visual interest to the floor without having to use an area rug. Trust me, with a big black dog and two furry cats in 800 square feet, I need cleaning to be as easy as possible.
Well, I’m certainly glad this week is over. Tomorrow will be back to business as usual, and I really look forward to posting about something other than my floors!!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I am planning to have a concrete floor for my room.I was just thinking if you can help me canvas the materials to use and how much would that be?.