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Patio power

For more pics of Emily’s garden project (and just gorgeous interiors in general), check out her Instagram page @emilysmith30

BE FO RE

Here at Real Homes, we love a paint makeover. So when our art editor, Emily Smith, transformed her patio into a colourful terrazzo-style delight, we simply had to share it.

She’s turned her bland grey slabs into a playful pastel feast for the eyes, and we couldn’t wait to find out exactly how she did it...

JUST

£10

You’ll need: n n n n

White masonry paint Masonry paints in different colours – you could use tester pots Paintbrushes in a few different sizes Protective Water Seal

HTIMS YLIME SHPARGOTOHP HTIMS AILEMA SDROW

What Emily did:

1. ‘I got the husband to do the prep

work, jet washing the patio and giving it three coats of masonry paint. We used B&Q’s GoodHome self-cleaning in pure brilliant white.

2. ‘I used Valspar tester pots mixed in with their masonry paint. I chose British Shorthair, Silver Bonnet, Bonjour and Eraser Pink. The light grey I mixed up from leover paint.

3. ‘To create the terrazzo paern, I bought a pack of four paint brushes with different sized heads.

I added splodges of paint while changing the brush size up all the time to keep the shapes different.

Rolling the brush head on the floor gave a great effect, but I would recommend kneeling on a pillow!

4. ‘Once it all dried, I sealed the patio with Everbuild Water Seal.

5. ‘When I finished, I used leover paint to give the garden furniture and plant pots a bright new look with just a few coats.’

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