Spring Porch Makeover with Painted Checkerboard Floors and Tiled Steps

Hello friends! We are in the midst of the final week of school and boy am I ready for summer. I am ready to not be rushing around every day of my life and on such a regimented schedule. If trends stay the same, by July I’ll be ready for a schedule, lol, but for now I am ready for summer living! In random news, this morning I cut my bangs. Mistake? I’m not quite sure. But we are going to give them a go again. One things for sure-my painted checkerboard floored porch was definitely NOT a mistake! I also tiled the fronts of our porch steps and surprisingly, it was a very easy DIY project!

porch before

The porch desperately needed a makeover. Desperately. Over winter, the wet snow that sits on the steps and porch always cause a lot of peeling.

For many years, every spring, I typically re-paint the porch or at least touch it up in places. I have never really minded, actually enjoyed it to be honest. With that being said, I think I’m reaching the point where I want something that is a little more permanent. For that reason, I tried a new brand of paint; time will tell if it holds up better or not. If not, I will have to brainstorm what to do to this space.

painted porch supplies

After scraping all of the old paint off, I gave the porch floor a coat of white paint. Then I used a piece of cardboard to create a square template for the porch floor. After tracing the pattern onto the cement with a pencil, I painted every other square the grey color. The paint I used was more thin then what I’ve used in the past, so it took a couple of coats to cover.

I followed the directions on the mortar mix and went for the consistency of creamy peanut butter. Work in small batches- the mortar is fast setting. I used a trowel to apply the mortar onto the back of the tiles and then applied them to the front of the steps. Literally SO easy. The next day I caulked along the top of the tiles so that it looked seamless and will keep water out in the future.

front porch after

A little better, right?!?! The tiles are PERFECTION for the look I was going for!! I wanted something a little classic, colorful but not too crazy, and something I’d be happy with for a long time. Check. Check. And check.

I’m not a fan of tape when painting, I just like to use my paintbrush to cut in around the edges. (You MUST use the paintbrush I linked above-the ONLY one I’ll use to do this.) Because of that fact, you will see that my lines are not perfectly sharp for the squares. Does not bother me at all! This is probably my favorite painted porch look yet!