An ugly concrete slab is especially uninviting. After living in this house for a year, I can safely say we NEVER used this space. Inspired by stenciling and the look of faux tile, we completely transformed this place into a tuscan dream spot, all for about $1500!

**CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:** Behr Concrete and Garage Epoxy in “Barrier Reef,” Stencil brush, Amazon three tier hanging succulent pots, rollers for rough surfaces, Rust-oleum Concrete and Garage clear finish topcoat, Royal Design Studios Stencil in “Supernova,” Macy’s Marley Indoor/Outdoor 3 piece Bistro set, deck boards for the HVAC unit cover (Lowe’s/Home Depot), Style Well 80 Qt. White Cooler with Light Brown Woodgrain.

Sadly, I didn’t take a lot of “during” photos.

But - for stenciling:

Level out your concrete if you need to, repair cracks as best you can (we luckily didn’t need to do this.”
Pressure wash/scrub concrete with outdoor concrete or deck cleaner. Let dry.
Leaf blow/sweep to be sure the area is free of debris. Use a rough nap roller to paint first coat. Let cure the amount of time suggested.
Leaf blow/sweep again. Do a second base coat. Fill in any areas that the concrete is showing through with a thick amount of paint to be sure it’s getting into the crevices. Let dry.
Stencil time! Start from a corner. Don’t use a lot of paint on the stencil brush - I like to dab through a few of them with a dot of paint and then go back through to spread it out. If you have too much paint, it will bleed under and your design will not look sharp! But if there are mistakes - don’t fret. You can always touch-up or re-do them.
I try and start the stencil in the direction I’m moving - ie, if I’m moving left, that’s the direction I’ll start because you want it to dry first. Overlap the design - I learned that the more I overlapped, the better the design looked but the longer it took! So you have to figure out what works for you. :) Let it dry.
Be sure to sweep/leaf blow a final time. Then use a rough roller to do a final clear topcoat.
Enjoy!!!

HVAC unit cover was built using deck boards.

For the HVAC unit cover, my dad ended up building this. He was a Carpenter for years, and I showed him a Pinterest photo and he made it come to life. He used deck boards and screws to make this - weather treated wood was obviously important since this unit is outside.

Do be cautious about covering the HVAC unit - it does need as much air as possible. We have about 10 inches in between the unit and the cover and there are also spaces between the slats. It simply sits on top of the concrete and slides out if we need to access it.

I bought plant hangers and terracotta plastic pots from Amazon to complete the look!