DIY Stenciled Concrete Patio - Weekend Yard Work Series

18 September
I've got an exciting makeover to share with you today! Remember my Patio Makeover Inspiration post? Well, I've started my makeover and today I'm sharing my new stenciled concrete patio!

How to stencil a concrete patio

This is the first step to create my dreamy, boho patio and I'm so happy with how it turned out!
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission which helps keep my blog up and running but it won't cost you a penny more)! Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

The stencil I used is from a shop that is no longer in business it seems. I used a large Ikat pattern, I think they have a great boho vibe to them. You can find similar Ikat stencils HERE.


The stencil I used was HUGE and I would recommend that you get the largest one you can find/afford because they make quick work of a large area like a patio! This one is about 20" x 41"! That's one massive stencil! It came rolled so I just laid it out on my dining table and it flattened right out.


Here are the rest of my supplies... Oh... and you'll also need something soft to kneel on (or knee pads)! I used a folded up towel and my knees are still sore!


I used Valspar Latex Porch & Floor Paint. I picked mine up at Lowe's and you can have it tinted to the color you choose.


I wanted mine to be a very light grey so I chose Comet Dust. I thought it would be a little better than bright white on a concrete patio. Next time I would go a little darker because it looks white still!


I also used a 4-Inch Roller Painting Kit. It was suggested that I also use spray adhesive, I tried Aleene's Repositionable Tacky Spray Adhesive. It did not work very well on concrete but I would definitely use it if you are stenciling a wall.


The first thing I did was clean the patio the day before and let it dry overnight.

I used TSP 90 Heavy Duty Cleaner. You just add a couple of tablespoons per gallon of warm water and mix it up.


I used a large push broom to scrub the patio and a small scrub brush for stubborn areas. You can really see the dirty areas in this picture when it was wet... it even looks like there were some areas of rust!


It's very hard to tell as you are scrubbing that anything is happening and TSP doesn't suds up like regular soap but it does work! It's very hard to show in pictures but once it dried I can definitely tell the difference between the part of the patio that I cleaned and the other that didn't get cleaned!

Here is a before and after.


Next, I blocked off the patio as I was working to prevent little paw prints through the wet paint!


Don't you just love my barricades!?


Then I got started! I started in the middle of the patio (next to the barricade you see above).


You don't want the foam roller to goopy with paint, I rolled mine on paper towels when I felt like I had too much. This will help prevent paint from bleeding under the stencil.



It went pretty quickly. It took me about 4 hours total to do my patio.


The stencils from Olive Leaf are SO nice! They are very sturdy, yet they bend pretty easily for areas like around steps and other obstacles.


After about an hour the stencil started to get too loaded with paint and this started to happen.


So I decided this meant break time! I hosed the stencil off in the yard and laid it out in the sunshine to dry and got a snack while I was waiting!

Then back to work!

You can see the stenciling stops right on the other side of the step over there. I only stenciled the area that is covered by my patio roof.


I love how it turned out!


I thought about filling the cracks in my patio but in the end I decided against it mostly because I thought it would draw more attention to them and I don't mind the cracks. Some people have painted the entire patio floor with a solid color before stenciling so the crack filler would serve a better purpose in that sort of application.



I think Roxanne approves! :o)


The next day I taped off the patio steps..


And painted just the fronts of them with a shade darker than the stencil paint.


Now here are a few before shots!

I sold the table and chair set on Craigslist. They really took up too much space and I've had them for over a year and they only got used ONCE! (I purchased them on Craigslist for only $15 so I wasn't out anything since I sold them for $20!!)


After the table and chairs are gone...


And after being cleaned and stenciled!


Here is a sneak peek at what I'm working on now for the next step in my boho patio makeover!




Posted by: at 18 September Tag:

Comments by Facebook