Subway Art Painted Laundry Room Floor With How-To Tutorial
Submitted By First Home Love Life
Before…
After…
I’m beyond thrilled with the way it turned out! I have so much more storage (and its pretty!!)
I have stained concrete floors throughout the house, but this room was lacking personality. So I decided to take a chance and do subway art ON THE FLOOR! I think that wild idea totally paid off, don’t you?
This light reminded me of a vintage bleach bottle. I love it, and it finishes off the room perfectly.
How-To Tutorial
A few of you have asked me to show you how I did the subway art graphic on my floor, so here’s what I did.
I first drew on a piece of paper the rough design, along with the words in certain spaces and fonts.
I then measured out, and marked off sections onto my floor with painters tape.
This is where it got kind of weird…
I started painting the main word “LAUNDRY” backwards. Why? Well, because just in case my measurements were wrong it would be much easier to move the tape than the wall. ;o)
Sure enough, I did end up moving the tape.
I let this word dry for a good 3-4 hours before I began working around it.
I found some pre-cut paper stencils at Walmart, and used them in the beginning. Taping down the stencils, and using a stencil brush to “tap” paint onto the floor.
I did this a few times, and got annoyed pretty quickly with using the stencil, so I ended up free-handing it most of the time.
What about making mistakes?
Trust me, I made a ton! I would paint a word, and not like the placement, or it was crooked, or too small or too big…ugggh I’m so glad this project is over!
This stuff (also from Walmart) is amazing at cleaning up paint!
If When I made a messmistake, I sprayed this stuff on it, and used a wire scrub brush to brush the word, and a damp towel to wipe it up. Easy peasy!
When I finally had all the words down and in place, I let everything dry for 24 hours. (In case you’re wondering, we didn’t do laundry for a week…door stayed closed at all times!)
24 hours later I painted 2 coats of fast drying polyurethane down to protect the floor, leaving 3-4 hours in between coats for drying.
Total cost for the floor $70, and worth every penny!
I am the husband of the amazing Cassity of Remodelaholic. I love to problem solve and to design and build things inside and outside the house to make life better. I am a professional Landscape Architect by trade and love the outdoors.
Painting the floor definately an overlooked part of the room, but not anymore. Great idea for the laundry this room can always get away with a bit of fun!
Thanks so much for the feature Cassity! Have a fantastic weekend 🙂
I absolutely love this idea! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love your floor! Like I want to go home and paint my laundry room floor RIGHT NOW love it. Great job!
Your floor looks amazing:) Did you paint the floor before the words were painted on? or did the main floor get its color from the polyurethane? almost looks like a dark gray or black?
Could you tell me what kind of paint you used for the letters and did you do a basecoat on the cement? Have been wanting to paint my cement floors for a long time but am not certain what paint to use.
Thanks!
Heather, this was a guest post so I can’t tell you what she used, but at your local paint store they do have concrete paint. I would use that! Good luck, (I don’t think I would use a primer, but I would talk to the paint specialist- or read the instructions on the can of paint!) Good Luck!
LOVE the floor!
I know, cool right!
Love this…too cute! Suggestion…use chalk to first layout your working/lettering THEN paint it…that way you get the placement and size right before you have to try to get paint up…and if it smudges, no biggy! Chalk comes in many colors, so if your base paint is lighter, you can always use a darker chalk! Also, sewing trace paper is great for tracing things…easy to remove! I do this when painting wall murals and it works like a charm!
Thanks for the smart tip, Beck!