Decorating With Class

A Concrete Floor Make-over

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for new stencil designs, plaster molds for gorgeous ornamental plaster ceilings and walls, and so many ideas for making your home the dream home you have always wanted.

A Concrete Floor Make-over: When going "Green" isn't so Great

Preparing our Northern Idaho home for sale is a daunting task. Naturally, we want to get as much for it as we can.
Tackling an ugly basement floor was the order of business this past weekend.
Friend husband thought he was doing me a favor by painting it brilliant green. NOT! Who wouldn't look at that floor and think it resembled a football field!

After a 6 hour drive from Seattle, I arrived armed with everything I would need to give it a new look.
After 3 days on my hands and knees, I succeeded in faux finishing the entire space (over 1,000 square feet!) to look like slab flagstone.

I used dark brown, rust and light brown paints with a sea sponge and blended large, irregular shapes of paint over the entire floor. I applied the rust and dark brown colors next to one another then blotted light brown over the top, blending the darkest colors first then working the light brown color randomly through out.

When I first began to blend the light brown, I left it more visible at first and decided I didn't like it. It seemed too stark. So I blended it until it nearly disappeared which created a much more pleasing and realistic look over the surface.

Once finished, I applied epoxy floor sealer which gave it a protective finish that will now last for years.

What a huge difference! This is the first concrete floor I have completed and I must say, it was much easier than I had anticipated. I had hoped to add a medallion and border stencil designs to the floor but I ran out of time.

A large bathroom on that level will be my next concrete floor project which will come in November. Then the entire basement space will flow with the same finish applied to all of what was once bare concrete.

Now all I need to do is to add new window treatments and the space will become something any future owner would love to have.

If I can do this, so can you!
Feel free to contact me with any questions (as you ponder tackling your own ugly concrete floor!).

A Concrete Basement Floor Gets a Faux Finish-Part One

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.Com website for interesting ways you can add designs to your walls, ceilings, floors and even furniture and wind up with a "high end" results. Raised Plaster Stencils, Wall Painting and Mural Stencils, Ornamental Plaster Molds.

A Concrete Basement Floor Gets a Faux Finish-part one

Getting our second home in Idaho ready for sale has entailed a number of big projects. One of them is giving a painted finish to the concrete lower level floor.

Sure, we could have laid linoleum, carpet or some other covering over the floor, but when considering a budget, paint is the likely answer.

Friend husband took trip over there from Seattle alone a couple of months ago and relayed back to me that he had primed the floor with BIN (red can) primer, just as I had asked him to do...but he decided to take it a step further (thinking he was saving me from a chore) and painted the floor as well. Ah, but what color did he paint it? BRILLIANT GREEN! I cringed but said little, being the good wife that I am.

Upon my arrival, the expansive floor space (1100 square feet), now looked like a football field! Gee, I should just paint the lines and get it over with, selling the house as a sports themed property.

So..(as I let go a deep sigh), I'm headed back over there tomorrow to do a neutral tone faux finish over the green paint. I have chosen 3 shades of brown which I will use to create a stone look finish, by blending the three colors together over the surface.

Today I'm perusing all of my designs because I want to do a medallion in the middle of the floor in metallic gold to give it even more "umph". If I have time, it would be lovely to do a matching border all the way around the floor edge to further add eye catching beauty.

Since the space is so large, adding the designs will help to break up the space somewhat.

So wish me luck and think of me out there in the forest, ALONE! A neighbor called and warned me that a BEAR has been terrorizing the valley lately. Better keep a watchful eye as I take the dog for our morning walks.

Re-do Your Ugly Concrete Floor or Patio

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for lots of tips, tricks, how tos and products to make your home look like a million with no experience and a limited budget.

Re-do your ugly concrete floor or patio

I think back to all the homes I've lived in and there isn't one that didn't (or doesn't) have an ugly concrete surface that I would love to re-do!

I've been searching the internet, reading blogs, listening to the pros chat back and forth in the on-line forums and I'm now relatively confident that I can tackle that UGLY 1500 square foot basement floor in our second home in Northern Idaho.

But it was Dianna Steeves of PaintMeGourmet.Com that has inspired me the most.

Dianna is one of my favorite people. A pro in the faux finish industry who is positively fearless! This lady will try anything! And it seems to always come out with stellar results.

I emailed her recently, telling her about my concrete floor project intentions. She sent me photos of some of the floors she's done recently, so I had to ask: "How did you do it???"

It looked like concrete stains, but Dianna says:

"No, not stain....ITS PAINT! You can do it......grab a Wooley and layer! Grout color goes on first (if you want tiles) I have been using Pittsburgh Paints concrete stain (its just like paint....goes on like butter) roll it on, pick a light base color Golden Ecru or Spiced Vinegar (both Pittsburgh) roll it on over your taped grout lines and whatever color you want to achieve the effect add glaze and off you go! Love to use newspaper to create the leather effect especially on the borders! You can do it or call and I will come out! Wouldn't that be fun!

 

I am actually using a sealer from Menards called SEALBEST about $18.99 gal  ....high gloss (adds to the colors) 3-4 coats and a concrete floor wax that is used over stained floors from Concrete Camouflage. I am leery of the epoxy and this is a water based product that I have had really good luck with but epoxy has come a long way as far as the smell and drying times go."

Dianna was so kind to give me such detailed product information! I feel totally confident now in tackling my big project.

For those of you who feel you need or want a pro, Dianna is a top notch professional who can get the job done and make it gorgeous. So visit her website and take a look at some of the other projects she's done.

With my own project, I'd really like to include some of my own stencil designs within the floor design.

I can just imagine one of my large Medallion Stencil designs in the middle of the floor with a frame of a coordinating Border Stencil design around it in a rectangular shape. Maybe done in the deepest of brown tones. You would do this right before your sealer.

Remember that just because a stencil design was created to be used with joint compound for "Raised Plaster", doesn't mean that it can't be used with paint.

So go look at that ugly concrete floor and with this new information, imagine how you can change yours!

A Fascination With Concrete

We've all become aware of just how easy it is to do plaster stenciling and mold castings with plaster.....but my newest fascination is right along those lines....playing with concrete!

Take a trip to the VictoriaLarsen.Com website for really different and exciting ideas and products to decorate your home! Raised plaster stencils, wall mural stencils and beautiful cast plaster molds for interiors that are so easy, inexpensive to do and drop dead gorgeous!