We always replace things around our homes, like throw pillows, paint, rugs and d?cor items, because we often get bored with things and want to change it up a little. Other things stay the same for years, like the furnishings. Some things are much easier to redo or change whereas other things are more costly. One thing most people rarely give a make-over is a concrete or cement patio. It stays the same for as long as you own your home. Some people, however, do like to paint the patio, from time to time, just to give it a fresher look. Paint is the best make-over you can give to a patio but you can always take painting to a new level. Use a simple and fun painting technique to give that ordinary patio the look of bricks.
A slab of cement can have a completely different appearance just by painting it. Select a color of patio paint thats very neutral, like light gray, off-white or even a light tan. This will give your new brick patio its background. Follow the instructions on the can as for drying time, outside temperatures, etc.
When the patio paint has dried you can move on to the next step. Mix a few drops of raw umber acrylic paint into the patio paint then take a natural sea sponge and apply the paint to the cement. Lightly sponge on the new color, all over the first color, and allow to dry. Make brick stamps by using household sponges. Cut a sponge to be seven and a half inches by two and a quarter inches. A serrated knife makes it easy to cut the sponge into the brick shapes. Glue the sponge to a piece of wood to finish the stamp. Choose the brick color that you want to use, paint it onto the brick stamp with a roller, and youre ready to stamp. The roller helps you dispense the paint easily without over saturating the sponge. Mark out a grid on the cement with a chalk line tool. The contraption is just a box with colored chalk inside and a piece of string. When you hold the string taut, then pull it up and release it, a colored line is snapped onto the surface to use as a guide. Stamp the brick shapes inside the grid pattern on the cement. Each time you stamp a brick, align the sponge, then press down on it with the wood. Youll get a perfect brick shape and look every time. The finished brick-stamp patio is convincing until a person actually walks on it. Its fun, though, to create the fake brick look which changes the appearance of the patio as well as its surroundings. See fake, painted-on brick here.
