My downstairs loo is something I have never shared on Instagram. I have never shared it because it was ugly. Magnolia, magnolia and more magnolia… oh and a flesh coloured vinyl floor. 🤢
I probably don’t have to remind you that we rent our house, but in case you’re a new reader to my blog then I thought I’d drop that in. Anyway, we are more or less allowed to do what we want in our house other than structural changes, having said that in the back of my mind I know we won’t be here forever so investing in this house too much would be silly.
Let me show you what it used to look like…
I would have loved some fancy tiles in the downstairs loo but for obvious reasons it wasn’t going to happen.
I started to think of alternative methods to be rid of the hideous vinyl flooring.
Then I remembered something…
When I went to a workshop at Annie Sloan HQ last year, Annie talked about using her Chalk Paint to paint floors. Yes!! I can paint it! So I got in touch with Annie Sloan and told her about my idea. She then kindly offered to provide me with the Chalk Paint I needed, along with her Lacquer to seal the floor and some of her Wall Paint too. Lucky me I know!
I chose old white wall paint for the Walls and old white and Graphite Chalk Paint for the floor.
I also bought a stencil from eBay to create a tile effect.
So here is how I did it…
After throughly cleaning the floor I painted it with a water based primer. Now you don’t actually need primer with Annie Sloan‘s paint but because I was painting vinyl I wanted to really make sure the paint adhered to it.
Then I rolled on two coats of Old White Chalk Paint…
After the floor was dry I began painting the walls in Annie Sloan Old White wall paint.
Now I could not believe my eyes when I started rolling it on, it covers amazingly well! All it took to hide the ghastly magnolia was ONE COAT… YES ONE COAT!! Which was ideal for me because I hate painting walls!
Honestly I cannot stress how good it is. If you have decorating to do, please order some of Annie’s wall paint and you will see what I mean.
Right once the floor and my one coat of wall paint was dry I got to move on to the fun bit!
The stencilling… 😆
I was a bit nervous about this bit as it could have gone so wrong.
As I worked my way along the floor I found a flow and technique which I wish I had discovered from the get go, so the floor isn’t perfect but I actually quite like that, it gives it character and authenticity.
I used an Annie Sloan brush to gently dab the Graphite Chalk Paint on to the stencil which seemed to work well.
After I’d finished stencilling I applied two coats of Annie Sloan Lacquer, two hours apart and left overnight to dry to seal the floor.
After I’d finished the floor and walls I then painted the unit that we use to store shoes in Old White too.
To finish the room off I added a few plants and essentials that we use everyday.
I’m so pleased with the result…
I hope you have enjoyed seeing my latest project.
Until next time
Hayley x
*The paint used in this post was gifted to me by Annie Sloan, but all views and opinions are my own.
Love it Hayley, clever you
Author
Thank you xx
i can’t believe how easy it seems to have been, it looks great, well done
Do you think this would work on ceramic kitchen tiles. It looks so good and I hate our kitchen floor tiles.
Author
I’ve had this question quite a lot tonight, I’m not actually sure. I’ll ask Annie tomorrow and get back to you x
Thank you that would be amazing if u could ask her x
It’s lovely. May give it a go. Where did you get the stencil? x
Author
Just from eBay, there are loads zz
Where did you buy the stencil please
Author
I got it from eBay xx
THis is amazing!!! Blown away!!! 😍
Looks amazing
This is AMAZING!!
Genuinely didn’t even realise you had painted the floor until you actually stated you had in the post. I would love to give this a go – I will just have to work hard on persuading the boyfriend to let me…
Here’s some of the posts I have written about up cycling if you fancy a browse.
http://www.numbertwentysix.co.uk/search?q=upcycling#.WpW26MZ0dsN
Kirsty xo.
This looks amazing. I wish we could decorate our rented home. So much better. You have definitely added value for your landlord xx
Author
Thank you. If you have a look through some of my other posts I’ve written about reversible ways to update your home that might be worth reading x
You’re so damn clever! I saw your home in an interiors magazine earlier this year, and found your house and your attitude so impressive and inspiring.
Author
Thank you so much, this is a lovely comment to read.