If you’ve ever seen spatter paint floor murals, they can be very attractive when done right.
Introduction
Spatter painting is a super way to give a very scuffed wood, or even a vinyl floor a charming new look that is durable, for a relatively low cost. It is a bit messy to accomplish but the look is reminiscent of an older style farmhouse flooring and is well worth your time to do. Spatter painting is a free-form painting technique where one or more than one color paint are showered from a brush to make spots that will stand out against an undercoating, such as the old style roasting pans appearance.
Depending on the colors that you will use, and your style in spattering it, the result will be either bright or muted and old fashioned looking.
What You’ll Need for Your Spatter Paint Floor Mural
For a floor that measures 350 square feet, one gallon each of
- Mineral spirits
- primer
- polyurethane for top coat
- One or two gallons of base paint flat alkyd
- one or two colors of spatter paint latex type
- 3 inch stiff bristled paintbrushes
- masking tape and plastic sheeting
- straight edge or yard stick
- Drawing paper or newsprint
Directions:
Keep your work area very well ventilated.
NEVER use this technique without some open windows or ventilation.
Prime the floor according to the manufactures directions for the primer.
Apply one or two coats of your base coat.
Before you begin to spatter, practice the technique using different types of spattering on the news print, until you achieve the type and size of spatter paint floor that you want.
(dip brush into paint until the bristles are loaded, but not dripping with the paint. Hold a piece of wood about a foot from the surface you are spattering and tap the metal part of the brush handle with the wood until the paint flies. to get larger spatters, hold the wood closer to the surface and tap in the same fashion.
Since paint will spatter over a larger area, you will want to protect your baseboards and walls with plastic sheeting and masking tape.
If you want to use more than one color then spatter the dominant color first and then move on to the second color after the first color dries. you should expect that there will be a variation in the size of the spots and drips. It is not necessary to limit yourself to just one or two colors but you may do as many as you like, however do let them dry between colors.
Spatter the entire floor, in areas of about 5 x 5 feet, before moving to another area. Keep your spot sizes relatively the same when you spatter the floor, and try to maintain about the same level of tapping strength in each area.
Once your paint has dried, you will want to coat the top with a protective coat of polyurethane thinned with mineral spirits .
Apply two to three coats of the polyurethane, in just about equal parts, permitting the polyurethane to dry between coats.
Let your floor cure about two days prior to mopping it. Mop it with a mild cleaner, and do not use a gritty type cleanser to clean the floor.
Conclusion
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning how to do spatter paint on a floor ! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and we’ll reply as soon as we get a chance.