Diamond patterned
painted floors look truly fabulous…but be prepared to work for them!
There’s something so quintessentially classic about a
painted floor that I have always found so fascinating. Some might consider it a little too country
and not enough rock-n-roll, but one cruise around the internet shows that
decorators, designers, and DIYers are all having a lot of fun with this
technique…making it edgy and interesting with different patterns, colors, and
approaches to an age-old idea. Because
of this, and also due to the fact that I always (in kinda a sick way) crave a
new challenge, I decided to bring this design element into our almost
century-old abode. It couldn’t be that
hard to do, right?
The first major challenge for me was to find the right room. This doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but you really do need the right conditions to make a floor your new canvas. First, if this is the first time you are trying a technique like this, start with a relatively small room that does not have a lot of traffic–this way you can take your time and let everything dry fully, and since this is a labor-intensive project, you don’t completely wipe yourself out. Also, painting your floor is going to be a pretty permanent step that you need to consider carefully, because as opposed to painting your walls, which can always be painted over in another color, you are applying paint to what could be a costly material to replace, like hardwood. Luckily my victim/room was a sleeping porch off of our guest bedroom that I decided to turn into an office as a surprise for my husband, and after tearing up some extremely nasty sculptured carpeting from the early 80’s I discovered a plywood subfloor. It took some decent prep work (sanding/prying up any old tack strips, staples, protruding nails, etc.), but once the surface was clean, it was in perfect shape for me to have some fun.
I started with a solid coat of low-lustre latex paint
(definitely use the low-lustre because hides imperfections in the floor
beautifully and dries completely in 12-24 hours, as opposed to the high lustre,
which sometimes brings more attention to any blemishes you might have and stays tacky forever) made specifically for
porches and floors. I chose a pale gray
for my base coat so that it would subtly contrast with my white-washed walls
and show high contrast with my diamond color.
After allowing it to dry, it was time to draw on those 7th
grade math skills and create my desired pattern. This is the formula I used:
Measure the room (mine was approximately 7’X8′) and decide
how many diamonds you want in your pattern (I decided on 4). Double the amount of diamonds and divide it
into each dimension of the floor (in my case, 84″ divided by 8, and 96″ divided
by 8). This then gives you the number of
inches to mark off your walls for your pattern (for me, every 10 ½ “on two opposing
sides and every 12” on the other two opposing sides). Start in one corner and using a chalk line (and
a friend…I forced my 11-year old to help me…), connect your first mark to the
first mark diagonally across the room in the opposite corner. Skip the next mark on either side and use the
chalk line to connect the next two marks, and so on. Once you finish these two walls, play connect
the dots in the other direction using the marks you skipped the first time
around. It sounds complicated, but once
you get the hang of it, things move quickly.
The next part does not move quickly however, and it involves
taping off each diamond with painter’s tape.
First, use a pencil to lightly mark each diamond that needs paint, then
use the tape to sandwich in your painting space. You will need a pair of scissors to cut the
tape where the diamonds meet and it is time-consuming, but well worth it to
keep your shapes crisp.
Now it’s time to paint your design! I chose a deep black for my diamonds, and
they needed two coats to cover. After
the second coat I pulled up the tape right away to avoid having the paint peel
up with the tape once it dried, then took an artist/craft detail brush and
touched up the edges because I’m extremely type A about this kind of thing and
wanted my edges to be perfect. My
preteen assistant and I also decided to add a small blue dot to the middle of
each intersecting diamond, which helped to connect the design to the rest of
the room since we had painted the ceiling blue.
Along with everything that’s been said here, keep these
things in mind when you take on the adventure of painting your floor:
*Make sure to paint your walls, ceiling, etc. before
embarking on your floor. The last thing
you want is spatter from your walls getting on your newly painted creation, and
if you want to use a drop-cloth, you could risk damaging your paint job if the
paint hasn’t fully cured yet.
*After your first coat of the base color, go ahead and
spackle any holes, nail indentions, etc., before applying your second coat. If you wait until after your first layer you
will be able to really see the imperfects you might want to hide. Some like to be able to see nails and other
indentions on the floor to give it a rustic look, but in the end I decided I
wanted a smoother finish and spackled–and am very happy with the results.
*Be sure to press down your tape and paint the edges of the
diamonds in the direction of the tape so to avoid leaking under your edges. This being said though, be prepared to touch
things up once the paint comes off.
*If you would like to make the accent dots, an unused pencil’s
eraser end makes perfect dots every time…
*Be sure to give yourself a decent amount of time to work on
this project–it is not a one-weekend kind of endeavor. I found that if you tried to rush this type
of thing, you will end up creating more work for yourself in the end.
*Take frequent breaks–both painting and taping are tough on
your knees and your back!
After a very long two weeks of working on my floor (probably
made longer by having to entertain my 3 children during summer vacation at the
same time…remember how I mentioned I enjoy a challenge?!?!?!), I can definitely
say that all of the hard work was worth it and I am in love with the results. Would I do it again? Hmmm…this might be the type of endeavor that
like childbirth, I’d need a decent amount of time to consider pursuing
again. But it does look so pretty…J
And how did the rest of the room turn out? Tune in next time for the big reveal!!
