8/22

Painted Patio Tile DIY

D.I.Y. Project, Home Decor, Outdoor Spaces
By Laura Gummerman

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial It’s always bittersweet to move from one house to another. With our new house in Nashville we moved to last year, there are definitely a few things I like a lot better about the new place (more space, better bathroom layouts, more natural light) and a few things I wasn’t as thrilled about (smaller closets and no kitchen counter space to name a few). One of the things I really missed from our last house was the backyard setup that we had with a wooden deck area and a pergola covered patio area as well. Our new house only has a small cement patio off the back porch and not much else to speak of. So I really wanted to give the area a bit of help to make it feel like a cozy space.

One of my favorite things I did at our last house was paint a rather elaborate painted rug on our patio, and since I was so happy with that result, I thought another painted floor might be just the solution at this house as well. Rather than a rug, I wanted to try a black and white tile pattern instead, and after a few hours of inspiration scouring, I decided that a slightly  amended version of this beautiful tiled patio would be just right for the space. Once I had the pattern picked out, it was time to roll up my sleeves and get to work!

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Before painting the concrete area, I cleaned the concrete with a degreaser/etcher (I used this one) and a long-handled stiff broom. The cleaner helps remove grease and makes the concrete more porous for paint adhesion.

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Once the cement was dry, I painted 2 coats of a porch and floor paint over the surface (I left the white untinted).

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Once the paint was dry (I gave it a day to set), I used painter’s tape and a tape measure to mark off 8 even segments all the way around the concrete so it would be 64 segments total. Since my concrete wasn’t a perfect square, my tiles are rectangles and not squares, but I didn’t want to have any “half tiles” somewhere. So I adjusted them to fit the space, and it still keeps the same overall vibe.

With the sections marked off around the edge, I was able to tape off whole rows at a time by connecting the marks to the corresponding ones on the other side of the concrete. Once I had a row, I could tape off the smaller sections within the row as well.

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Since the “tiles” are supposed to be touching, I worked on painting every other row and every other square (with Sherwin-Williams Tricorn Black) until the whole area was filled in. So, as in the photo above, I worked on rows 2, 4, 6, and 8 and taped off and painted every other tile in those rows.

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Once those triangles were dry (2 coats of paint), I removed the vertical and angled smaller lines of tape but left the long horizontal lines of tape marking off the whole row. Once I added new vertical and diagonal lines, I could fill in those triangles as well until the whole row was complete.

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Now that half the rows are done, the pattern is starting to take shape and I removed all the tape so far.

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Since half my lines are filled in, I basically taped off every other square in the blank rows by simply connecting the existing triangles in the other rows. Once I painted those in, removed the tape and repeated with the other sections, my floor was almost complete!

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Since the concrete is rougher and smoother in different parts, I had a few rough spots where the paint bled under the painter’s tape. So I used a wide craft brush to simply touch up the line with some of the white paint.

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Once I did my touchups, my floor was complete!

Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial Amazing! Painted Patio Tile DIY (click through for tutorial AGGGHH! I love it!! The space is feeling SO much better with the faux tile, and I love how the pops of green plants stand out against the pattern. Projects like this can be a lot of work, but the saved money vs. tiling and the happiness payoff are pretty big deals. I also decided to rig up a patio lighting system that didn’t require a pergola. I’ll show you how I did that soon, but I can’t wait to spend a few end-of-summer evenings outside on this baby! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman

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