Patio Makeover: A Talavera Tile Story
MakeoveR
needed
Ever lived with an outdoor space that was just, well…sad? Well the front porch of our MCM ranch style home was worse than that. Multiple patches of different concretes & exterior paint stains created a muddled appearance, and multiple cracks caught grime & dirt. This old girl DEFINITELY needed a facelift.
Well, this patio flooring got her facelift! I had seen pictures of beautiful DIY painted floors before, but had always been skeptical of their durability. That was before I researched the types of paint available - but more on that later!
DESIGN choice
I decided to go with a Mission Revival Style look cohesive with the rest of the house. Typically, you will see this kind of flooring done with actual stone or tiling in a traditional Spanish Mission Style building. However, with this concrete renovation, I decided to just paint it. The Spanish Mission style tile pattern most commonly seen is called “talavera”. Talavera pottery originates from Talavera de la Reina, Spain, where the motifs blended medieval European designs with motifs brought by the Moors during the 8th century occupation of southern Spain. During the expansion of the Spanish colonial empire, this pottery tradition spread to Mexico and the rest of the New World.
how i did it
materials
When researching materials, I was extremely pleased to discover BEHR Advanced DeckOver paint. This paint actually resurfaces due to being a resin based paint. This means it fills in cracks, smoothing out the surface, and weatherproofs against damage. It is also extremely durable! If you aren’t familiar with resin, it is regularly used to fill in cracks in wood, resulting in an almost stone-like substance.
Outside of the paint, all I used was a paint roller (with a poll), and a stencil set for the tile design.
process
Since this was a full makeover, I started with a base color/coat across the entire patio. I chose the color Rose Beige for the base color, because the rosy tone complimented the brown brick of the house in a warm, yet neutral way. Then for the tile detail I had room to get creative, and used a strong accent color. I really deliberated this one!! I nearly went olive green, but ended up using the color Atlantic blue as the accent color. I have to admit tradition dictated this mostly, talavera tile motifs are usually done in some tone of blue. However, blue is also my favorite color, and so it is lovely to see the blue design in the midst of our otherwise very rosy-brown house.
I happened to work on this renovation during a record heatwave, so I can’t attest to how difficult a project like this should be, but I can say it is straight forward. Paint base coat day 1, paint stencil design on day 2, full cure for 48hrs before putting furniture back etc. The results are so so so rewarding! I am extremely please with how it turned out - it completely lifted how the front of our house looks. Hope this project inspired you, and please feel free to pin & save for any future projects.
