Welcome to my little corner of the antique shop.

Just kidding, this is what it looked like the day before I moved in. The cranberry lattice wasn’t doing the space any favors, but I took the presence of beadboard as a sign that this was meant to be my space.

It was a major pain to get the lattice down, but once it was off it was like a breath of fresh air! I spent several hours filling holes and sanding down rough spots. I decided to use some of the paint Dutch Boy sent me (more on that later this week), which is “Sweet Sage.” Ripping the lattice down involved removing the chair rail, so I reinstalled it, and an inside corner piece to help close the gap between walls.

Most of the other booth owners had painted the concrete floors, but I got out my trusty brown paper. Now I can finally testify on the concrete sub-floor issue. I was tempted to experiment with a 1:1: Elmers glue and water ratio, then stain and poly, but ultimately I really wanted the space to be done quickly to minimize downtime. I also didn’t want to gas everyone out with the stain.

So, I went with the reader approved poly only method:

1. Brush the floor with poly.

2. Brush the back of the paper with poly.

3. Lay the paper down and smooth out wrinkles.

4. Brush poly on top.

When it was wet, it was SUPER wrinkly! Even after I had smoothed it down, it would wrinkle up. I had never experienced this with the glue, but I have read other accounts of the wrinkles disappearing after drying completely. I decided not to freak out and just see how it looked in the morning.

I was very relieved to see that for the most part, the wrinkles were gone the next day.


I’m still touching up paint, decorating the space, and adding lighting (oh, and stocking it with goodies), but here are some shots I took today.


The booth is in a great location, right at the end of a row so it’s on the perimeter. I love that it has the half wall, and that you can walk through it (versus the 3 sided box that most of the booths are). And, the beadboard. Oh yes, it’s magical. It’s been a rough 5 days of work so far, but I’m enjoying it! Stay tuned for more updates and projects!

25 Responses

    • rachaelevans

      The owners are super nice! I was worried about taking it too far, but all of the owners have come over with positive comments about the flooring :)

      Reply
  4. Renee Cook

    Rachel, it looks amazing !! Congrats on your own store. I have done 3 rooms thus far on concrete (in Florida) and I have used your 3:1 Glue ratio and it works fine. I am a avid folllower of yours and look forward to seeing more pictures.

    Reply
    • Vivian Edisis

      Renee,
      I am getting ready to do my son’s room and it’s a concrete floor. You did not have a problem using the glue? I am not sure if to go the glue route or the poly? Can you shed some light on this for me?
      Vivian

      Reply
  5. Did You Get Your Crap Together?

    [...] I started by cleaning everything off the desk and assembling 2 more storage cubes (I had one in a box, and purchased another one). My goal was to use materials I had on hand and not spend a lot of money on this project. With that in mind, I painted the desk Dutch Boy’s Sweet Sage (also seen in Ryan’s room and my antique booth). [...]

    Reply
  6. Agelessnvegas

    Perfect timing for me to read this. I’m doing my concrete floor, but I want to stain it… at what point do you think I can do that with using the poly ?

    Reply
    • rachaelevans

      You can try a poly+stain product, like minwax Polyshades or have one mixed (they have other colors available that are not premixed). I would try it out on a small area to make sure you like how it’s turning out before continuing though- since I have never used this product or done stain on concrete. Good luck!

      Reply
  7. Brittney

    We are thinking about doing this in our basement and I have read that it takes the dunginess out of any basement room. Our floors are concrete and I have been reading about your concrete method. There are a few things that I was unsure about and needed some clarification. I see you have never used the glue mixture on concrete, just the poly only method, but is there someone else who could comment on how the glue mixture worked out for them? Also, would you recommend the stain? Also, do you still crinkle the paper before laying on the poly? I was reading about your concern with the paper still being wrinkled after you first laid it so wasn’t sure what the process was.

    Reply
    • rachaelevans

      Brittney- Some people have reported that glue/water will work on concrete, but I haven’t tried it. I did use the poly only method, which does complicate staining. You can buy stain+poly products, but I can’t comment on how they react to the paper or anything since I haven’t used them. I’ve also heard of some people adding pigment to clear poly before starting (like maybe a craft paint or latex paint (depending on the type of poly you’re using, some things don’t mix together well) All in all, I can only say for sure what I have done and what worked, which is using poly only on concrete and not attempting to stain it. But, I do prefer the look of the stain so if I had concrete in my house to do, I’d probably play around with a few ideas to see if I could get something to work. That is to say, if you are really attached to the stain I encourage you to test some of the methods listed in the comments for staining on concrete. If you do find something that does, report back if you don’t mind with pictures! :) Regarding the wrinkling, I found that the drying process on concrete was slightly more scary than on wood. I crinkled the paper, laid it with the poly, and as it dried it wrinkled and then relaxed. To me it’s a similar process as when I use Mod Podge haha. In any case, good luck with your project!

      Reply
    • Rachael Evans

      Just one, but that’s because it was a rented booth…I would do at least 12 in your home.

      Reply
      • Crystal

        OK. WOW… That’s A Lot but I can see why. Considering I did the floors in my bathrooms the more poly the better.

  10. Rachel Smith

    Hi! I’m about to try this in my basement hallway (concrete floor) and there are some dents and divots in the flooring… did you do any prep work on the concrete floor to make it smooth? Have you seen the paper come up in any areas where floor joints or dents were? Thanks a bunch!!!

    Reply
    • Rachael Evans

      I didn’t do any prep since this was a rented space, but if it was in my house, I would definitely invest some time/money in concrete patch/filler for any dents/cracks/joints!

      Reply
  11. Alicia Carrillo

    I love, love, love the look of the floor. I’m going to be trying this in my bathroom. But I was wondering if anyone has tried using this method outside in a patio???

    Reply
  12. Rachelle

    I am in the process of doing this floor in our basement on concrete. I am our two oldest daughter’s rooms. I first tried the closet just to see. The floor was pretty rough as when we moved in, we just ripped up what was there and put down other carpet over top… after some cleaning and patching. Anyhow… I did just the poly. I put down a layer of poly, then the paper and a layer of poly again. There were lots of wrinkles and although some went away after drying, not all of them. After one more coat of poly and letting it completely dry, I painted it with latex paint. I let that dry then lots more layers of poly, probably about 10. We all love the look. The only thing I wish was not any wrinkles. I’m not sure there is anything I can do about that. If anyone has ideas… please let me know. I have just covered the rest of the floor with the first layer of poly and paper. I will give it another coat of poly in a few hours, then paint late tonight. Tomorrow will start the process of all the layers.

    Reply
  13. Christy

    Wow this is great. I have concrete floors and am going to try the glue method with stain on paper to avoid the wrinkle issue I’ve heard about. I am thinking of doing it in the closet first to get the hang of it before moving on to the bedrooms. I am beginning tearing up the carpet in those rooms next week and then will have to clean, patch and sand the concrete as it is in very rough shape due to lots of old glue left on it from old floors before the previous owners through cheap carpet over the top of that.

    Reply
  14. jessica

    HI,
    I am interested in doing this to one of our concrete floors in our basement. I read everything and everyones comments. I was just wondering…. (because i would like to stain ours) if you could poly the floor several times and then put the paper down and then stain? or does the glue ultimately work better if your going to stain and will is it as durable if you use the glue? Just not sure. Thanks in Advance if anyone ever checks this :)

    Reply
  15. Leslee

    I’m wanting to treat my back patio and maybe my garage. (Both concrete of course.) My family and I just bought a house and the back patio has been painted and had a few cracks in it so I’m wanting to treat over the ugly paint color and try to camouflage to cracks if possible. Would this work for a back patio or do you just suggest staining? It’s not covered. I’ve never tried this technique or staining but I love both and am fairly handy. I don’t care to try something for sure. Thanks!

    Reply
  16. Ashley

    So since this is a rented space do you know what it will take to remove the paper flooring? Right now I want to cover a small spot of concrete in an unfinished basement but ultimately, if I finish the basement I would like this spot to match the rest of the flooring, I just wonder what it will take to remove the paper flooring in the future with all thoes layers of poly

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.