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How To Create A Driftwood Floor

This post is sponsored by Benjamin MooreAll thoughts, opinions, (and my love for Benjamin Moore) are my own. 

How_to_create_a_driftwood_floor_title

Finally… Finally you get to see  teeny tiny bit of the sunroom!

You guys have all been so patient waiting.

Grab your tea, or coffee or diet soda because today I’m going to share

How to Create a Driftwood Floor.

It is easier than you think.  You don’t even have to go to the beach and look for driftwood for this one...

Okay, you may remember back in March that our lovely Poppy was sprayed by a skunk….

Due to this horrible and smelly incident we had to rip up the rug and we decided to sand the floors.  I told you all about that here.

Sanding_Floors_collage

There was a few layers of paint and water marks all over the fir floors.  The color was kind of an army green which looked very dirty.  My first instincts were to paint the floors solid white, BUT I didn’t do this for a few reasons.

The first reason, I didn’t paint the floor was because this isn’t a heated room.  Our sunroom is unheated and isn’t insulated underneath at all – basically a screened in porch with windows.  I LOVE how white painted floors look but this wasn’t going to be right for this room.

The second reason, we didn’t paint them white is the wood was in such great shape and I wanted to enhance the wood.  I wanted to draw attention to the lovely wood grain.  I wanted to create Driftwood Floors.

I talked to my friends at Benjamin Moore and they recommended this product for the job:

Benjamin_Moore_Floor_Stain

Benjamin Moore Exterior Finish in Silver Gray with a translucent finish.  The translucent finish will allow the wood grain to shine through but will cover the yellow wood with a soft gray / silver finish.

Soooo, before we started we made sure all of the current finish was off the floor.  We had sanded it a few weeks before but had to go back over some water marks and along the edge that the orbital sander didn’t reach.  We used our palm sander for this.

sanding_floors

We vacuumed all the sanding dust up before we started.

How To Create Driftwood Floors

  1. Thorougly stir your stain.  This translucent stain was very lumpy at the bottom so we had to make sure it was thoroughly mixed before starting.Benjamin_moore_Floor_Stain_open
  2. With a floor staining brush which we bought at our local Benjamin Moore retailer – Hingham Lumber, brush the stain along the edge and the tip of the first three boards.painting_stain
  3. Then take a roller, don’t load it too much and roll the stain along the whole length of the three boards.  Only do three boards at a time so the stain remains wet. You don’t want it drying too quickly.rolling_stain
  4. After you roll the stain, you want to back brush being careful to fill the stain in.

back_brushing

 

Here’s how the floor stain looks when applied (it is wet in this photo):

stain

This might sound obvious but make sure you don’t stain yourself into a corner and make sure to go with the grain of the wood.

Almost done!

floor_almost_finished

 

We alternated back and forth, Luke would do the edge, I’d roll and then he’d back brush.  He brushed the last few boards because the roller wouldn’t fit.

As you can see, Poppy is once again giving us strange looks wondering what we’re up to this time!

finishing_floor

The floor dried within a few hours and was good to walk on and move furniture in after 24 hours.

I was actually really worried about staining the floor since it is something we hadn’t done before, but the product was so amazing to use.  It was easy to apply and clean up.

Staining the floor only took about 45 minutes and we only had to apply one coat and nothing on top.  It is oil based so will work well for our unheated room and if there are any scratches or marks due to the dog or kids we can lightly sand an area and touch it up.

If you’d like to see a video tutorial, Benjamin Moore has one here.

We watched this several times before attempting our own.

Here’s a peek at how our floor looks:

driftwood_floor_ikea_rope_rug

So that is how you create driftwood floors!

If you missed my room inspiration post you can see it here!

sunroom inspiration collageI’ll be back on Monday to share the full room reveal! I can’t wait for you to see the room I’m in LOVE with!

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cassie
9 years ago

they look gorgeous!!!! great idea!

Mary @ Orphans With Makeup

Love it!

Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co.
Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co.
9 years ago

Oh, how perfect for your sunroom – love the driftwood look!

Victoria
9 years ago

I am totally in love with it!!! I have a sun room that is unheated and it is always too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter. It has brick floor and right now I keep all the things I don’t want to see in it. You may have inspired me to clean it up and make it pretty again. I can’t wait to see how your sun room looks when it is all done.

kelly arent (copper roof interiors)

Oh my goodness…..I love the look of it. And it sounds like it was a pretty easy process! Great job! Glad Poppy is stink free!!

Darrielle Tennenbaum
9 years ago

Wow–love the floors and how they look-great job! Good to know about this product!

Gigi Harlan
9 years ago

WOW! I love your floor! I have been wanting to turn the hardwood floors in my house grey to look like driftwood for some time now but it’s a huge job. Your post has given me some hope that one day my husband and I might tackle it. I am going to be dreaming in driftwood grey tonight!

Gigi @ Old World Patina

Sarah
9 years ago

Awesome, Danielle!!! They are beautiful, such a pretty color!! Never would have guessed this is where you were heading but it makes so much sense and looks amazing! Definitely gotta love Benjamin Moore…the guys that work at ours are super helpful too. Can’t wait to see more…its going to look so good with all the stuff in your design board!

Nancy
9 years ago

Looks great! Can’t wait to see the rest of the reveal.

Beverly Bielewicz
9 years ago

Wow ~ looks fantastic. Perfect for your seaside home!
For the locals reading your blog, can’t say anything other than that the staff at Hingham Lumber are very knowledgeable.
Looking forward to seeing the next peek.

Jennifer Longenecker
9 years ago

It looks so great! I can’t wait to see the finished room.

Robin
9 years ago

The floors look great! Hope you don’t mind, but this is a “Pinworthy” post! 🙂

Maureen
9 years ago

I’m a big BM fan and that stain looks fabulous on your porch floor!

Megan @ Our Pinteresting Family

It turned out gorgeous!

Jackie
9 years ago

I love this! Great post Danielle! I don’t have a floor to paint…I’m thinking of using the technique on a piece of furniture! 🙂

Your porch looks amazing! Jackie

Cynthia
Cynthia
9 years ago

I agree with Jackie…how amazing would that look on a table or sideboard?…plus, if you wouldn’t need to topcoat, step possibly saved?! Perfect floors for your house by the beach. Enjoy!

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~
9 years ago

Thanks for sharing I love your “new” floor. A floor this color is on my wish list. Maybe a house with these floors all over.

Debbie
Debbie
9 years ago

I just love how the floors look and the color is great. Do you think I would be able to use this on a coffee table? I have a wood slat coffee table that is light in color and I want to give it the barns weathered look. Do you have any suggestions?
Debbie

Jackie
9 years ago

Hi Danielle! I did check out the product and, in fact, the label looks much different…I think it is what is labeled Transluscent Arborcoat… There are two products available – one is labeled Deck & Siding Classic Oil Finish – I am assuming that would be comparable to the product you featured? If you could please confirm for me and anyone else that may be checking it out! Thanks!
Jackie

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jessie daniels
1 year ago

I love driftwood, turning my frontrunner into beach theme…and want to make my hardwood floors look draftwood