Here’s what it looked like after we painted the door, added a new fixture, and potted plants.
It looked fine…great in fact. Well except for one little problem…
Cracked, old, dirty, and very boring concrete.
So I went on my merry way to Home Depot for some inspiration, and there in the spray paint aisle is where the angels sang, the sky opened and I was shown the light…
Okay not really, but I did do a happy dance down aisle two rattling my paint cans like maracas. True story.
What is that purple thing you ask? That my friends is a concrete stepping stone mold. Something I happened to pick up at a yard sale a few months ago for an entirely different project in mind, but when flipped upside down it just so happens to make a perfect stencil!
Supplies:
2 cans of each color-Rustoleum Hammered Finish Spray Paint (copper,brown,and charcoal)
Scrub Brush
Stepping Stone Mold
Concrete Sealer
I started off by giving my concrete a good wash with the hose and bleach. Let it dry overnight, and then began to stencil away.
I kept rotating my mold to give the ‘stones’ a natural pattern, and I just painted them randomly. I didn’t think about a pattern or anything. I actually didn’t think too much about this project at all. That’s why it has such a real look to it I think.
Every once in a while I would mix the colors, and then take my brush and scrub them together. Again, trying to make it random, as in nature, no two stones are alike.
When I was finished it looked like this…
I waited around 12 hours and then painted over it with a clear drying concrete sealer.
Cost of spray paint- under $40
Cost of concrete mold at yard sale-$20
Cost of concrete sealer-$0 (already had it)
Seeing your neighbor from across the streets jaw hit the floor when he comes over to see what you’ve been doing the past couple of days- Priceless
It never stops amazing me what a little paint can do for a space.
Thanks for stopping by!
PSSST- Don’t forget to enter my GIVEAWAY while you’re here!
What a fantastic front door makeover project! Those ‘stones’ are amazing. I know your neighbors are jealous now. lol
This is most excellent. Pinning this, seriously it looks great.
~Bliss~
Thank you so much! xoxo
Oh My! It looks fabulous! I might just have to try that out!
Wow, so daring, love that you took the chance! And it paid off, well done!
soooo pretty!!!!
I wanna do this….
I gotta hit the garage sales for one of those molds…..
WOW….
My jaw is hitting the floor too….
I actually saw them a few months ao on HSN.com…go take a look! Worth the investment for sure! Xo
AMAZING!!! we have a concrete front porch…as soon as the temps go below 100…I might give this a try!!
Definitely go for it! It made such a difference! I’m still a bit in shock when I step outside 😉 thanks for visiting! Xo
I love that porch!! That is such a cute idea!! -Jessica
What a cool idea!
This looks great! I love the personal touch that you put on your home. Thank you for sharing with us on Saturday Show and Tell. I hope you’ll join us again this week!
-Mackenzie
http://www.cheeriosandlattes.com
Thank you 🙂 so glad you stopped by! Xo
WOWWWW! Gorgeous transformation! Brilliant idea! LOVE it!
Coming from you…that is a HUGE compliment! Thanks for stopping by!! Xo
Unreal idea. I love it. Glad to find your blog too. Hugs, Marty
Thanks so much for visiting Marty! Xo
I just had to follow anyone that clever! I have a porch floor I need to refinish and this idea is being pinned. Thanks! ~ Maureen
Aww you made my night Maureen! Thanks so much xo
WOW! I loved your door getting painted black but the cement makeover is AMAZING! I must do it! We have icky cement steps and you made it look so easy! I’ll be bugging you for help!:) Thanks so much for sharing this!
Go for it! It’s just paint, and can always be painted over! Thanks for visiting!! Xo
Are you kidding me? That looks AMAZING! I love this idea, what a great transformation!
Thank you!
Thank you!
Ok, that is so very clever with the floor! I have that exact same mold, we tried poring concrete with it but that didn’t work… now spraypainting with it is something I could do – thanks!!!
I’m sitting here going “no. way.” That is incredible!!!!! Thanks SO much for commenting on my painted rug, so I could ask about yours, so you could send me the link, so I could see this marvelousness annnnnnd I’ll shut up now! Have you ever stopped by for my Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday? Cuz I’d sure love it if you did. This is amazing. Now I’m off to see your other painted cement project…… 🙂
How does it look as of today!? I’d love to see how it has held up.
Just found you blog. I just love the stenciled walkway. It’s been a year since your post, so how is it holding up?
I get emailed about that quite often and am proud to report it’s still holding up great Jeanette! Thanks so much for finding me, I hope you’ll stop by again and again 🙂
Just bought the stencil at Lowes for 12.00 Now if i could just make up my mind on colors…and if it would STOP raining~!!
Wow! Great deal! I would definitely go with complimentary colors that suit your house. You want it to look like natural stone 🙂 Good luck!
What state do you live in? I live in Michigan and we get snow and ice.
No ice and snow here but we do get a lot of rain in FL.
You inspired me to do my porch too! I love it and am trying to decide which concrete sealer to use. Thought about using one that was shiny but am afraid it will be slick. What kind did you use? Thank you 🙂
Saw you on Pinterest. We’ll be painting our new concrete patio. I love your idea. Also the front door: going from white to black is genius. It looks fabulous.
Just found this on Pinterest and I’m loving it! Great idea!
Thanks Beth! Glad you found me 🙂
Wow…thank heavens for Pinterest or I’d have missed this great idea! Looks like I have next summer’s big project lined up now. For anybody concerned about the way spray paint ages on concrete in a cold climate…not to worry! We’ve lived in our home 12 years and still have the spray-over messes from the previous owner’s crafty attemps. My parents have a concrete driveway that was professionally stained and sealed and looks like it needs to be completely redone and it is maybe 6 or 7 years old. If only they’d used Krylon or Rustoleum. 🙂
Great information Molly! Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
Wow!! I have somewhat long covered entry – this would be fantastic to give it some pizzzaz 😀 Love it, thank you so much for sharing this! <3
Amazing transformation!
Thank you Melissa!
Did my back porch.Loved it.So easy! Front porch is next
How did you keep the spraypaint in one ‘stone’ at a time? At first glance,I thought you would have had to paint with a brush to keep the paint from spreading more than you wanted it to.
Didyou have to do anything to keep the spraypaint in one part of the stencil at a time, So you could paint one ‘stone’ at a time?The finished product looks wonderful!I’m going to look for the stencil today! thanks!
I just held the spray paint a little closer to make sure each color would stay in the individual stone sections.
This is an awesome idea…I so want to do this…
This is sooo cool and you made it look pretty simple.
do you know if the paint will last after a few winter???
Its hard to say. We don’t get snow here but we do get rain and lots of it. But it still looks good with very minimal touching up over the years