Painter Girl

Speaking of Floors...

A few weeks ago I painted the floor in the home office of the Big House Job.  I used a floor enamel, oil based in a pale shade of green.   The floor had never been painted before, and was quite old and worn.  After a coat of primer and 2 coats of the green paint, I felt like the floor was not durable enough to withstand too much abuse so I opted to apply an oil base polyurethane.  I know that oil polys do yellow over time and warned my client this will happen.  We decided to go ahead in hopes of having a strong finish.  Well, less than 1 week later, the floor had already yellowed terribly!  Because the floor is old and uneven, the yellowing also was uneven and looked like dirty stripes on the floor.  I did some more research and decided the best bet would be to scuff up the poly w/sandpaper and then repaint with a floor and porch enamel. 

My client decided to go with white this time.  I used Benjamin Moore's Floor and Porch Enamel.  Last week I applied the first coat and as soon as I started, I could see this paint was a much better floor paint.  The green floor enamel I had used was made by Pratt & Lambert.  I don't often use Pratt & Lambert paints because they are not readily available in my area, but I have been using a their Designer White for the trim in this house as well as on the ceiling, and have liked the wall and ceiling paint.  I put two coats of the white on and we both decided we like the white in this room much better than the green!  I will take some more pics when the furniture is placed back in here.  So far, all the furniture is white, a table, desk and filing cabinet.  She is thinking of getting a pink desk chair.

Not taking any chances... I taped out the door while it dries!

This is the chalkboard wall I did a few weeks ago in the 2nd floor playroom of this same house.  As you can see, the room is still not put together yet, but you can see how much fun this wall will be for the 3 yr old twin boys!  I added the alphabet in chalk at the top, so it can be erased and changed to something else later on.  The bottom 2/3rds of the wall is also magnetic.

Porches

This past weekend I gave my tired old front porch a fresh coat of paint.  The wood is very worn, and has been painted many, many times...both by me and previous owners.  Over the years I have done painted rugs, large diamonds, and various borders on this porch floor.  I have also painted the risers of the front steps, using various stencil designs.  But, because there are so many layers on the floor now and because the wood is old and deteriorating, the paint does not survive after the Winter.  This year I must replace my back porch floor, which is in even worse condition.  So, I decided to just sand the front porch floor and stairs and give them a coat of grey porch paint, to get one more year out of it.   However... if your floors are in decent shape, I strongly urge you to do a little experimenting.  I searched through my digital pictures and could not find any of my own porch.  I only have some actual photos and no scanner, so I am posting some work done by others to give you a little inspiration.

This porch floor is by Norman Warren. 

This image came from this great website, Manage My Home. The link will bring you to a page that has a wealth of information about painting floors.

ArtSparx is another great site with a lot of information about painting floors.

Look for more ideas and information about painting porch floors in my next e-newsletter, which will be out in early May.    To subscribe, please use the box in the right hand column. ;-)

Floorcloths

While I await the start of my next ceiling project, the home office previously mentioned, I thought I'd come down off the ladder to talk about Floorcloths.  Floorcloths have been around since the 1700's, when people used them on their dirt floors.  They go in and out of fashion, like everything else, over the years.  I have not had a request for a Floorcloth in over ten years now, but they are still very much in fashion and in use in my own home.  I love them for three reasons.  One, they are both pieces of art and functional.  Two, they are great if you have kids and/or pets.  Three, they can be made in any size or shape, to custom fit your needs.  Are they durable?  Take a look:

This Hopscotch floorcloth has lived in this same hallway for over 12 years.  I made it when my daughter Sarah was 9 or 10.  It looks as good as the day I put it down and I have never resealed or touched it up.  I simply clean it with a damp mop.  Whenever Sarah's friends stop by to visit, they always "hop" down this hall to the kitchen, even though they are all out of college now.  Many of them recall playing Hopscotch in this hallway on rainy days after school.

I have the runner pictured below, in my kitchen, although it was in my front hall for many years.  This is a fun project to do with your children.  I remember when I created this with Sarah, I rolled paint on the soles of her feet, which brought on much giggling.  After each step, she would hang onto me, while I re-rolled a foot.  When she got to the end, I had her sit down on the floor so I could wash off the paint on her feet.

This Floorcloth was created about 5 years ago for a Trade show Marc a I participated in.  I was hoping it will sell there, but since it did not, it came home with me.  I had it rolled up in my basement for a 2 years and then one day after throwing out yet another rug my 2 cats had damaged beyond repair, I decided this was the answer for my living room.  I don't know why I didn't think of using this sooner.  I do like the warmth of a rug in the Winter months, but right now, with these 2 cats, it is just not practical.

The first 2 Floorcloths pictured above were done using a heavy, primed artist canvas.  This last Floorcloth pictured was done on the back side of a scrap piece of linoleum I bought at Home Depot.  The picture below shows the underside.

My inspiration for the Hopscotch Floorcloth came from a wonderful book by Kathy Cooper and Jan Hersey entitled, "The Complete Book of Floorcloths".   This books gives an introduction to the history of Floorcloths, a step by step guide to making Floorcloths, as well as complete instructions for 8 different designs.  It is very well illustrated.  For more information about Floorcloths and books by Kathy Cooper, visit her website at http://www.kathycooperfloorcloths.com/about.html.

This has me thinking that I really would like a new, big Floorcloth to hide my ugly kitchen floor!