When we moved into our house last year we had big plans for our garden. When I say big plans, I mean expensive plans and we simply did not realise quite how expensive. We wanted to replace all of the fences, extend our kitchen to have big opening doors onto a new patio, we wanted to remove about 10 huge trees to gain a whole lot of our garden and most expensive, we wanted to buy a gorgeous garden office/storage shed for the end of the garden. Fast forward 12 months and none of that has happened but I am still over the moon with our cheaper make do version.
The first step was to make over the awful eye sore that was a bit of dirty cracked concrete that we stored our bikes on “temporarily” under a bit of tarpaulin. We bought a 4×6 shed to put at the foot of our garden (which Liam has to learn to lay concrete for). I think on another post I will go into the rest of the garden, including our gorgeous new fence that we put up ourselves! Once the bikes were removed a nasty area of concrete was unearthed. Yet, a gorgeous sun trap was in my mind so I set out to make it over during lockdown with a couple of pots of paint and a stencil.
HOW MUCH I SPENT
£100!!
WHAT I USED
White paint £24
Black doorstep paint £10
Roller £8
Paint brush £8
Patio sealant £18
Kitchen roll £2
Stencil £30
STEP 1
First and foremost, check the weather forecast. Make sure you have a few dry days ahead of you. Brush all the dirt and grit away so that you don’t get lumps of things stuck in your brush.
I probably should have washed the concrete down first but I got over excited and couldn’t bare having to wait for it to then dry.
STEP 2
Use a paint brush to paint the edges of the area. Then use a roller to paint over the concrete. I ended up doing three coats of paint, thinly each time.
STEP 3
If you have a lot of holes and cracks in your concrete like I did you can use a paint brush filled with your base colour and dollop it into the holes and cracks. I did this in the minor cracks but left the large ones because I thought it gave a nice character to the rustic vibe I was going for. Then leave to completely dry. It will probably be the end of the day now, so wait until tomorrow so that everything is completely dry.
STEP 4
Get your stencil and analyse the space you have and work out which way you want your stencil to be orientated. I just went gung-ho into it and didn’t really consider where I wanted it to start and finish and was just lucky that it all worked out.
STEP 5
Decide on what you want to use to paint your stencil. I used a sponge to give a nice uneven look. You could use one of those dappled brushes or a roller to lay it on with more thickness and perfection.
STEP 6
My top tip is less is more when it comes to the painting of your stencil. Sadly when I bought mine you could only get one in a pack. They have now amazingly changed it to 2 in a pack which is super handy. You could either half the time it takes you by having someone else help you or save on stencil drying time. When I first started I used too much paint and didn’t clean my stencil so I just had bleeding paint everywhere.
The way I used it in the end is to dab a tiny bit of paint on my sponge (wear painting gloves to save on mess on your hands) and dab it over the stencil. Then after that I would lay it upside down on a big piece of card from the rubbish bin and use a piece of kitchen roll to rub off all the paint that had bled to the underneath of my stencil. This meant each stencilling looked a little cleaner.
STEP 7
After you have finished stencilling and admired your work you can decide on wether or not to add sealant. Mine is now 12 weeks old and not budged at all. My idea was for it to rub away a little for a used effect before sealing it but it seems that my paint was pretty awesome…oh, and also it hasn’t yet been winter. Before the end of the summer I am going to wash the patio and pour on my sealant to save me having to repaint it next year.
What do you all think? I’m personally so happy with it. It has completely renovated the serious dire looking spot of concrete and all for under £100. Initially we were thinking of putting decking out over the area which would have cost a lot of money in materials and labour so this has been such a wonderful, fairly cheap, lockdown project. If you do it too make sure you tag me in any photos so I can see your works of art @megantaylorlondon
Esta genial el aporte. Un cordial saludo. Un cordial saludo.
Keep working ,great job!
Hello there, I found your web site via Google while looking for a related topic, your web site came up, it looks great. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hi my friend! I wish to say that this article is amazing, nice written and include approximately all important infos. I would like to see more posts like this.
Just a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw outstanding style and design.
Buenisimo el articulo. Un cordial saludo. 😉
Gracias por la informacion. muy recomendable! Reciba un cordial saludo!
Hello very nice blog!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your website and take the feeds additionally?KI am happy to search out so many helpful info right here within the put up, we want work out extra techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
I’m really inspired along with your writing skills and also with the structure for your blog. Is this a paid subject matter or did you modify it your self? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to peer a nice weblog like this one these days..
I am impressed with this website , rattling I am a fan.
I like this blog very much, Its a rattling nice position to read and get information. “No one wants advice — only corroboration.” by John Steinbeck.
Hello my family member! I wish to say that this article is amazing, nice written and include almost all vital infos. I would like to see extra posts like this .
What i don’t realize is actually how you are not really much more well-liked than you might be now. You’re so intelligent. You realize therefore considerably relating to this subject, made me personally consider it from numerous varied angles. Its like women and men aren’t fascinated unless it is one thing to do with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs outstanding. Always maintain it up!
Utterly composed subject material, Really enjoyed studying.
I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your blog and check again here regularly. I’m quite certain I’ll learn many new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!
You really make it appear so easy with your presentation however I to find this matter to be really something which I think I might never understand. It seems too complex and very huge for me. I am looking ahead in your next put up, I¦ll attempt to get the cling of it!
Hi just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same results.
Thanks, I’ve recently been searching for info approximately this subject for a long time and yours is the best I’ve found out till now. However, what in regards to the conclusion? Are you positive in regards to the supply?
Mat6tube It’s my first time visiting this site, and I’m so happy to have everything in one convenient location
Hello, Neat post. There is an issue together with your website in web explorer, might check this?K IE nonetheless is the market chief and a big section of people will leave out your magnificent writing because of this problem.
Rely on BWER Company for superior weighbridge solutions in Iraq, offering advanced designs, unmatched precision, and tailored services for diverse industrial applications.
Hi , I do believe this is an excellent blog. I stumbled upon it on Yahoo , i will come back once again. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and help other people.
Hey! I simply want to give a huge thumbs up for the good data you could have right here on this post. I will likely be coming back to your weblog for extra soon.
I do not even know how I ended up here but I thought this post was great I do not know who you are but certainly youre going to a famous blogger if you are not already Cheers
Thank you for the good writeup It in fact was a amusement account it Look advanced to far added agreeable from you However how could we communicate
It’s just amazingly beautiful. I love it. Well done !!! 💙