Old is “In”

I remember the days when my goal was to have everything in my home look shiny and new. My floors, cabinetry and light fixtures all modern and polished looking.  Those days have quickly faded as I have fallen in love with the look of old world charm and French Country Style. Don’t get me wrong, I still love shiny things and modern design… heck I love all design…. who are we kidding! But there is a special place in my heart for anything old and rustic looking, and no, I am not referring to my husband (wink wink) for those of you wondering, although he does have a special place in my heart.

My husband Steve and I decided to add interest to the back yard with some new plantings, a pond with a statuary fountain feature. I knew I wanted it to match the style and design of our house which is French Country. I started the process on-line as I do with most projects to research antique fountain statuary for sale. This turned out to be a difficult find. We could ship an antique marble fountain over from Italy, but there was no guaranty of it’s safe arrival and it would take at least three months or more to get here. So it was time to take matters into my own hands and create the appearance of an antique fountain here at home.

Items Needed:

• ·         Fine mist Spray bottle- filled with water
• ·         Chip brush & old rag
• ·         Concrete item for staining
• ·         Concrete stain- Valspar Exterior Semi-transparent concrete stain in Willow & Vaquero Brown

First, mix up a batch of stain by diluting the stain with a 1:1 ratio of water. Next spray the concrete liberally with your water bottle so it is dripping wet. Apply the mixed Willow stain and water solution with your chip brush only to the wet concrete areas. After each paint stroke of stain on your concrete item, spray it with the water bottle allowing the stain to run and look mottled. Continue spraying water and dabbing stain on your item until it is completely covered. Due to the diluted nature of the stain this may take a couple of coats to get the desired result. After you have achieved the aged look you were going for, duplicate the same process with the Vaquero colored stain. Spraying and dabbing with your brown stain color paying closer attention to cracks and creases in your statue. You want to darken any area that would naturally become weathered and stain over time. This also helps give the concrete more dimension and visual interest. If you feel the stain is too dark in spots on the concrete just spray more water in that area and that will lighten it, if your stain is too light add another layer of stain to the concrete piece. Stand back and admire your concrete staining abilities! Now that you have this under your belt… nothings stopping you, basement floors, fountains, patios the sky is the limit…. Well and maybe the Home Owner’s Association covenants J

Take care and happy crafting!

Paula Schnoor-Comes