Here’s All You’ll Need:
Floor Paint
Paint tray
Sand Paper and pole sander
Dust mask
Paint roller and pole
2 inch paint brush
Painters tape
Pencil & eraser (optional)
Image editing software (optional)
Printer (optional)
Small artist paint brush (optional)
Resources: Benjamin Moor floor paint in Chelsea Gray and Sheep’s Wool
Prep Your Floors:
1. Begin by sanding your floor with 150 grit sand paper. We used a pole sander, which is like a Swiffer but it holds sand paper and will save you from having to sand on your hands and knees. I also suggest wearing a dust mask.
2. Use a vacuum and then a mop to clean the floors and get rid of any dust. Once the floors are dry you’re ready to move on to painting.
1. Begin by painting a border (about 6 inches thick) around the edges of the floor. I found that I could do this neatly without the use of painters tape but it’s really a personal choice. If you’re worried about getting paint on your walls or molding you should apply painters tape before you begin.
2. Finish painting the interior sections with your paint roller attached to a pole. The pole, basically a long screw-on handle, really makes quick work of a lot of square footage and saves you from having to lean over. I highly recommend it!
TIP: Depending on your floors and the kind of paint you use, you will probablly need to do a second (and maybe a third) coat. Always work in thin coats and allow them to dry compleatly to avoid clumps. The manufactures instructions will advise on drying times and the use of a primer if needed.
Adding Pattern:
Stanley poses on his new catwalk.
We used two long lengths of painters tape spaced 30 inches apart to delineate the edges of our runner.
Taping together our enlarged Bacterio Template
Creating a pattern template:
We found an image of the Memphis print Sarah wanted, known as Bacterio, online and used that as inspiration for a drawing of our own. We then used Photoshop (but any photo program will do) to enlarge our interpretation of the pattern to our desired scale. Then we printed our over sized image in sections and taped the pieces together to make our life size template.
Next, I used a pencil to shade the back of the template creating a sort of DIY carbon paper. This tequnique will allow you to trace the design on the front of your paper while transferring the design to the floor. You might need to re-shade the back of your template if the transferred lines start getting too light.
Because this pattern is pretty organic, we simply traced our template multiple times moving it between the taped edges until the runner was filled in to our satisfaction.