Studio Secrets

 A current topic on one of my many chat groups is what to use on the floor of a textile studio. There have been many good suggestions....interlocking rubber tiles, low loop carpet, bare concrete with throw rugs. Here is what I did in my so-called studio. (The color is closer to correct in the second photo.)

We moved into this house when it was new, and the basement was unfinished. I was surprised to see how much dirt was on that raw concrete basement floor. Every time anyone  walked up the stairs and across the floor, they left dirt footprints. I mopped the basement many times, and then once I felt I had the dirt under control I bought two cans of latex floor paint. One can in gray, one in white. (They didn't offer very many colors in this stuff.) The instructions said to clean the floor with acid...muriatic acid, I think. I didn't have any of this on hand, and did not much want to buy it or to use it. So, I did one more mop job using vinegar, and then a final mopping with plain water. I got a paint roller with a long handle and painted the whole floor with gray paint that had been lightened up with some of the while paint. And then I lost my mind and decided to stencil a tile pattern on the floor using the white paint....one tile at a time, on my hands and knees. My then very small daughter saved the day and helped me finish the project. She was much closer to the floor than I was! We just "eye balled" the alignment. I didn't wear transitional lens glasses back then, so I could see straighter lines. It has held up pretty well considering the fact that I did not follow the directions on the paint can. That same daughter practiced her tap dancing in one area, and that spot shows some wear, understandably. My other studio secrets are Crocs that help with the hardness of a concrete floor, and a work table that is a ping pong table that sits on cement blocks. I think if you look just to the right of the Crocs in the picture, you can see how the paint is wearing off a bit in the spot where I nearly always stand. Maybe the Crocs are slowly erasing the paint....I know those rubber shoes are ugly, but they sure feel good.

Comments

[tess1960]

I really like the effect the pinted tiles made. You sure took on a task when you did that. I painted my basement concrete laundry room floor a dark gray after a drain back-up that ruined the carpeting. I figured why chance it again. I should try those crocs sometime.