Painted Patio Tile DIY

It’s always bittersweet to move from one house to another. With our new house in Nashville we moved to last year, there are definitely a few things I like a lot better about the new place (more space, better bathroom layouts, more natural light) and a few things I wasn’t as thrilled about (smaller closets and no kitchen counter space to name a few).

One of the things I really missed from our last house was the backyard setup that we had with a wooden deck area and a pergola covered patio area as well. Our new house only has a small cement patio off the back porch and not much else to speak of. So I really wanted to give the area a bit of help to make it feel like a cozy space.

One of my favorite things I did at our last house was paint a rather elaborate painted rug on our patio, and since I was so happy with that result, I thought another painted floor might be just the solution at this house as well.

Rather than a rug, I wanted to try a black and white tile pattern instead, and after a few hours of inspiration scouring, I decided that a slightly  amended version of this beautiful tiled patio would be just right for the space. Once I had the pattern picked out, it was time to roll up my sleeves and get to work!

Before painting the concrete area, I cleaned the concrete with a degreaser/etcher (I used this one) and a long-handled stiff broom. The cleaner helps remove grease and makes the concrete more porous for paint adhesion.

Once the cement was dry, I painted 2 coats of a porch and floor paint over the surface (I left the white untinted).

Once the paint was dry (I gave it a day to set), I used painter’s tape and a tape measure to mark off 8 even segments all the way around the concrete so it would be 64 segments total.

Since my concrete wasn’t a perfect square, my tiles are rectangles and not squares, but I didn’t want to have any “half tiles” somewhere. So I adjusted them to fit the space, and it still keeps the same overall vibe.

With the sections marked off around the edge, I was able to tape off whole rows at a time by connecting the marks to the corresponding ones on the other side of the concrete. Once I had a row, I could tape off the smaller sections within the row as well.

Since the “tiles” are supposed to be touching, I worked on painting every other row and every other square (with Sherwin-Williams Tricorn Black) until the whole area was filled in. So, as in the photo above, I worked on rows 2, 4, 6, and 8 and taped off and painted every other tile in those rows.

Once those triangles were dry (2 coats of paint), I removed the vertical and angled smaller lines of tape but left the long horizontal lines of tape marking off the whole row. Once I added new vertical and diagonal lines, I could fill in those triangles as well until the whole row was complete.

Now that half the rows are done, the pattern is starting to take shape and I removed all the tape so far.

Since half my lines are filled in, I basically taped off every other square in the blank rows by simply connecting the existing triangles in the other rows. Once I painted those in, removed the tape and repeated with the other sections, my floor was almost complete!

Since the concrete is rougher and smoother in different parts, I had a few rough spots where the paint bled under the painter’s tape. So I used a wide craft brush to simply touch up the line with some of the white paint.

Once I did my touchups, my floor was complete!

AGGGHH! I love it!! The space is feeling SO much better with the faux tile, and I love how the pops of green plants stand out against the pattern. Projects like this can be a lot of work, but the saved money vs. tiling and the happiness payoff are pretty big deals.

I also decided to rig up a patio lighting system that didn’t require a pergola. I’ll show you how I did that soon, but I can’t wait to spend a few end-of-summer evenings outside on this baby! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman