My Faux Stone Patio

How is your week going?  I can't believe how quickly this summer is flying by! Next week will be August!  I really do love summer, I just wish that the days would go a bit slower!

You may have seen my faux stone patio in past posts.  You can read my original post, and how I turned an ugly concrete slab into a pretty painted patio here.

I first transformed it several years ago, and thanks to the elements, it was fading and needed to be redone.

So this spring when we were busy sprucing up our home and yard in order to get it ready to put on the market, I thought it would be the perfect time for a touch up.

This part of our yard is my very favorite.  We had the retaining wall and put in several years ago.

Oh, we also repainted the wood arbor this spring too.  Now that was a tedious job!

I originally was planning on just touching up my patio here and there, but once I got started, there just was no stopping me!  So, over the course of two days, I ended up repainted pretty much the entire thing.  Back breaking, yes.  But I was just having too much fun!

The best part?  I had all of the paint and the concrete sealer on hand, so it didn't cost my anything but time!!

Gotta love that!

 I must say that I am really pleased how it turned out!

My hostas are in their glory, and are so pretty.  Well, except for the ones that the deer decided to munch on!

 The back and sides of our yard are surrounded by woods.  I love all of the privacy, and watching the wildlife and birds we get as visitors.

 Here is a close up of my "stones".

 It was a really fun project!

 In a few days, I'll be sharing photos of what's blooming in other parts of the yard.

Thanks for visiting!

How to Turn an Ugly Concrete Slab into a Faux Stone Patio

Turning and ugly concrete slab into a faux stone patio

From Drab to Fab
How I turned an ugly concrete slab into a faux stone patio

Hi everyone, today I am reposting one of my very first blog posts from 4 years ago. (Wow, where did the time go?!)

I've had a major case of bloggers block this past week, and since I couldn't come up with any ideas for new things to write about, I thought I'd share with you one of my most visited entries, since most of you probably have not seen it.

Still waiting on spring here, but it does help to look back at photos of our yard and my gardens!

So, here is my faux stone patio, hope you enjoy!!

Today I thought I would share with you how I transformed an ugly, cracked concrete slab into a pretty, faux cobblestone patio.  My hubby & I take great pride in our yard and flower gardens, but there was this one problem.  A very ugly problem!  On the side of our house was a really nasty, cracked and uneven concrete slab that was a real eye sore, not to mention an embarrassment.  One day last summer I had a brainstorm.  Why not paint it to look like cobblestones?  Now, I had never done any faux painting before, but I figured anything would be an improvement over its' sad, sorry state!

First off, hubby gave it a good power washing, then leveled it up & repaired the crack.  I am so thankful that I married a handyman!!  I went to Lowe's, and the man in the paint department recommended a concrete stain.  I picked up two different colors.  I would have chosen more, but they only came by the gallon, and that would have broken my budget!  I also picked up the concrete sealer that he suggested.  The concrete stain directions said to damped the concrete before using.  I should have followed my gut instinct and applied it dry, but I thought I better follow the directions.  Well, when I put the base coat down, the wet concrete just absorbed all of the stain!  You could hardly see it!  Frustrating!  Keep in mind that I did all of this on my hands & knees!  Anyway, after a day of so of letting it thoroughly dry out, I reapplied the base stain.  Then I outlined my "stones" with chalk, working in one small area at a time.  Since I wanted more than two colors of "cobblestones", I took several colors of exterior latex paint that we already had and mixed them with the concrete stain, so I had an entire palette of colors.  Then the fun started!  Over the course of a few days, I painted all of the stones, followed by two coats of concrete sealer.  I was so happy with the result!  It turned out alot better than I thought it would.

I wish that I had a before picture of the bench.  It was unpainted, weathered and very tired looking!  I mixed up a few colors of paint we had on hand til I came up with a shade that I liked.  Isn't it amazing what paint can do!  I then "accessorized" with a few plants and garage sale finds.  I can hardly believe that this is the same piece of concrete!  Now I can't wait to faux finish something else!