Painted Kitchen Floor

Michael Holigan: A couple of my friends just moved into this great Spanish cottage. And although it's 75 years old, it's still their new house. They've been busy adding personal touches to reflect their sense of style. Hello Nancy.

Nancy Halloway: Hi Michael. Did you come over to see our brand new floor we had painted?

MH: I sure did and these colors look great!

NH: My husband saw this design painted on the floor of a New York restaurant and we decided to have Jer Giles paint one for us.

MH: All of these beautiful layers of glaze make the floor look like it's been here for generations, and handcraftsmanship really gives the room a lot of character. And the good new is we're going to show you how you can do this to your own floor.

Jer Giles: We're trying to paint a modern antique that has those well-worn edges of time on it. I think you achieve that with the layers of color.

MH: This modern antique is crafted with many layers of richly colored glaze. But before a brushstroke of paint is applied, Jer outlines the area with a low tack tape that will pull up easily when the job's finished. Then, using a yardstick and charcoal, he begins sketching the design. The charcoal stick makes it easy to erase any mistakes and to clean away the outline once we finish painting an area. First, Jer draws the outer border of alternating diamonds.

JG: This box will have two diamonds in it, so I'll sketch those in. Then this box is the same. It will have two diamonds in it, so I'll sketch those in. Then I'll have a full cartoon to go by. And then we'll make...this will be red and this will end up being a yellow color.

MH: Yellow will serve as the base coat for the entire background.

JG: In these cups I have clear latex urethane that's designed for floors. I've added some white tint to give me a little bit of opaque color, then I've added some...this is raw sienna, it's kind of a yellow ochre looking color, mustard looking color.

MH: The white tint Jer adds to the clear urethane is actually white latex. The raw sienna, as well as all the colors Jer will mix with this white latex, are highly concentrated colorants called universal tints. You can find universal tints at most professional paint stores.

JG: And, as you can see, I've got three different yellows to choose from because I want a variation of color and that'll be my base coat.

MH: Notice the way Jer avoids painting in just one direction. Instead, he mixes up his brush strokes and alternates between the three shades of yellow. These variations are vital to the handcrafted character that make the finished painting so beautiful.

JG: Okay, I've got some of the yellow out. Now, I'm going to lay some of the red in and again, this is just a base coat for the red glaze that'll go on after this dries. You'll notice I'm letting a little bit of the original wood show through, too.

MH: Jer makes his way around the border brushing the red glaze into the diamonds.

JG: I've done the yellow and the red on the outer border and now I'm going to lay the yellow into the inner part of our stenciled piece.

MH: After the yellow has dried, it's time to draw rows of small diamonds in the center of the painting.

JG: And now we'll find the center here by connecting these points.

MH: The center diamond provides a reference point that helps position the rest of the diamonds. And here's a great tip - Jer uses paper cutouts to easily position the other diamonds

JG: And I'm just going to visually space them. That looks about right to me.

MH: Once the paper diamonds are set, Jer traces them with charcoal. After he has finished the center row, Jer repeats the process until all of the diamonds have been drawn. Now it's time to paint the diamonds. First, Jer adds blue coloring to clear urethane for the four diamonds that will be painted blue.

JG: I think it's important that we not have a truly geometrical shape. That's why we didn't put down masking tape or draw very refined lines. I think it's important that it has a hand done look.

MH: Next, Jer gives six diamonds a coat of red glaze. Five of the diamonds are left yellow. Jer creates a green glaze by adding green and then brown color into the clear urethane. This green glaze is brushed over the yellow base coat, carefully avoiding the diamonds. It's important not to oversaturate the clear urethane with too much colorant, because that can weaken the bond to the floor. If you want to intensify your colors, it's best to do so with more layers of glaze

JG: Okay, let's put some blue out for the border. The blue is gonna end up being the strongest color in the piece.

MH: Now that the blue is down, a second layer of red glaze will give us just the right balance between colors.

JG: One layer on top of another just adds a little more sophistication, a little more natural look.

MH: We've given this finished piece a final coat of clear floor urethane to protect it from life's little accidents. An occasional damp mopping will keep this work of art bright and beautiful for many years to come.

Contacts:
Jer Giles Artwork: 214-824-1477

Episode 53 1997 - 98 Season

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