Elegant Floor Monogram

Create a simple, but elegant monogram for a concrete flooring from Designer Wedding for Less.

Before: Plain Basketball Court

Simple, Elegant Monogram

Materials:
slate concrete stain (Mason's Select)
quartz white concrete stain (Mason's Select)
dish soap
black tempera paint (Rich Art Liquid)
paint sprayer
poster board
Tools:
pencil
scissors or razor blade
painter's tape
paint rollers
chalk line
corn broom
Important Project Note: Concrete should be sealed with stain, making it less porous, before attempting to apply tempera paint. A test patch of tempera paint must be applied in an area not readily visible and left overnight to make certain the paint will not leave a permanent mark once removed. If tempera paint does not disperse readily, your surface is too porous to attempt the following project.

Figure A

1. Prepare concrete surface as directed by stain manufacturer, and roll the slate stain (figure A) over entire concrete surface to create a solid basecoat.

Figure B

2. Using a paint sprayer, dapple white stain randomly over the slate tone for a mottled effect (figure B).
3. Lightly sweep the white stain with a corn broom for a marbled or veined finish.
4. Create a custom monogram design. (We used a computer to create our look.)
5. Enlarge the design on a commercial copy machine.
6. Transfer the design using tracing paper onto poster board and cut to create a template.

Figure C

7. Once the concrete is dry, use the template to trace monogram directly onto it (figure C).
8. Measure the concrete surface and mark-off diagonal squares to cover the area.

Figure D

9. Use a chalk line to snap off the lines, and tape off chalk lines with painter's tape (figure D).
10. Make the temporary paint by mixing one-part dish soap to five-parts tempera paint.

Figure E

11. Roll temporary paint between tapelines and fill in monogram using a fine brush (figure E). Once paint is dry, remove all tape.
12. Create a square template, roughly 6x6, and trace the pattern onto the concrete where diagonal lines meet.

Figure F

13. Use temporary paint to fill in the squares (figure F).