Cut-and-Paste Floor - Découpage Bathroom

I recently had major foundation work done on my decrepit old house. After it was done, I had to put some of the walls and floors—and my whole bathroom!—back together again. For the bathroom floor, I'd thought about putting in some of those self-stick linoleum squares. But they were kind of boring-looking and surprisingly expensive and, so, the idea didn't exactly excite me.

The prospect of creating a custom bathroom floor, however—complete with illustrations of intestines, kidneys, lovely ladies selling soap, the occasional frog, and maybe a merman or two? Now, that I could get behind!

This isn't the first time I've made a cut-and-paste floor. Also known as découpage, the cut-and-paste technique came in handy earlier when I had an 8-by-10-foot area in a living room to cover. I also did a découpage floor in the 133-square-foot Airstream trailer that I lived in for a couple of years. (See photos in Step 6.)

Those past projects taught me a lot about what not to do, and I made sure to include some of those lessons here, so that you'll have a good result with your own cut-and-paste flooring, if you give it a try.

But, even if you decide not to give this project a try, there are still some other useful bits you might like in this Instructable.

OTHER THINGS YOU MIGHT GET FROM THIS INSTRUCTABLE:

1. Online sources of really old and unusual public domain images. (See video in Step 1.)
2. A few quick pointers for making images "pop." (See video in Step 1.)
3. Free, downloadable PDF including all of the artwork I chose for the bathroom floor project.
4. The "Bristol Stool Scale" is something to see and consider—especially if you're having (ahem) digestive issues.
5. How to cut a really straight line by hand using scissors.

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies and Choose Your Artwork.

Obviously, you will need artwork for your floor. But how do you know how much to find? Start by measuring your room's length and width. Multiply these to get the size of the area to be covered.

In my case, my teensy bathroom is approximately 19 square feet. Because I printed my artwork on 11-by-17-inch sheets of paper, I knew I would need at least 15 sheets to cover the entire floor.

My math worked out like this:

11 inches = .917 feet

17 inches = 1.417 feet

.917 x 1.417 = 1.3 square feet

19 square feet ÷ 1.3 = 14.6 sheets of paper

Unless you want to repeat certain elements frequently, you may discover that you need quite a lot of artwork. That's OK! I think uncovering interesting graphic elements is part of the fun of this project. (But, if you like, you are welcome to download and print the artwork I used.)

The video I included with this step shows you a couple of my favorite sources for finding old and unusual artwork that is in the public domain. (They are wellcomecollection.org and publicdomainreview.org, in case you don't want to mess with the video.) I also show you how to tweak just a few things like the contrast and temperature of older images, so that they will really stand out.

Because this was for the bathroom, I decided to use old soap and toothpaste ads; weird anatomy illustrations of intestines, kidneys, etc.; some aquatic-themed elements like frogs, fish, whales, and mermaids; posters about hair tonics, bearded ladies, assorted sideshows; and so on.

(There is one item that wasn't necessarily in the public domain. I took a screenshot of the Bristol Stool Scale and tucked it discretely near the water shut-off behind the toilet. If you've never seen this diagnostic chart, take a look and see how you're doing. OK. Moving on!)

Finally, for best results, your images should be fairly large—for instance, four to seven inches long at 300 dots per inch. To make things visually interesting, you can mix different graphic sizes and shapes and use a range of color and black-and-white images.

OTHER STUFF YOU'll NEED (besides enough artwork to cover the floor)

• Brief access to an Internet-connected computer and high-quality color copy machine/printer
• Scissors
• Paper cutter (optional)
• Wood putty and applicator
• Clean, dry rags
• Broom/dust pan
• Primer/white paint
• Large paintbrush or paint roller (for application of primer)
• Glue (cheap-o "school glue," Mod Podge, misc. craft glues all work just fine)
• Small paintbrush (for gluing artwork to the floor)
• Flashlight (optional)
• Two-part, mix-and-pour resin kit
• Old clothes/apron
• Latex gloves
• Two clean buckets
• Plastic squeegee/trowel
• Paint-stirring sticks
• Sandpaper or machine sander
• Protective plastic tarp
• Heat gun or hair dryer

Step 2: Prepare the Floor.

The success of this project depends in large part on how well-prepared your floor is. Yours should be as clean, smooth, and level as possible. So, no matter how eager you may be to get to the other steps, take your time with this one. It will have been worth your trouble.

PREPARING THE FLOOR

1. Identify all of the cracks, nail or screw heads, holes, and other imperfections in the floor/subfloor.
2. Fill each of these trouble spots with wood putty and allow the putty to dry and cure completely.
3. Using sandpaper or a machine sander, smooth the floor. (That means sanding off any excess wood putty and generally making sure that the floor looks and feels relatively smooth when you run your hand along the floor's surface.)
4. Once you've finished sanding, use a broom to sweep the worst of the dust off of the floor. Use a clean, dry rag to wipe away any remaining dust. Paint the surface of the floor with a coat of primer. Allow to dry. Paint again with one more coat of primer or white paint.

Incidentally, between the first and second coats of paint, you may notice some flaws in your floor that you didn't see the first time around. (I did!) This is your last chance to re-putty and re-sand as needed. Then you can add that second coat of paint.

Note: The video at the beginning of this Instructable includes the process described in this step.

Step 3: Cut Out and Sort Artwork.

ARRANGING, CUTTING, AND SORTING THE ART

1. Choose your artwork. Download and edit as needed. (See video from Step 1 for details.)
2. Print high-quality color copies. (In the interest of stretching my printing budget, I used Canva to fit as many individual pieces of artwork on my 11-by-17-inch sheets as I could. See my last Instructable for details about Canva.com!)
3. Carefully cut out each piece of art. (PRO TIP: To cut a really straight line with scissors by hand, keep your eyes focused on the very ends of the blades of your scissors while you cut. As long as the ends are snipping along a straight line, the remainder of the length of the blade will follow suit—provided your scissors are straight and in good working order, that is.)
4. Sort artwork by size, shape, color, theme—or some mixture of those elements, depending on your floor design. Doing so will make finding just the right item easier when it comes time to place each piece.

Note: The video at the beginning of this Instructable includes the process described in this step.

Step 4: Place and Glue Artwork on Floor.

You don't have to be great at solving jigsaw puzzles for this part, but it certainly helps. Once your painted floor is completely dry, you can begin playing around with what-goes-where. I had some specific favorite images that I knew I wanted to place prominently. I started with those and then worked my way out from there.

I made sure to mix up the orientation of the images. (In other words, they all point in different directions.) I also mixed up color, shape, and size for the sake of variety. You may find yourself trying out lots of combinations before you ever start gluing. That's actually a good idea until you begin to get the hang of it.

In my case, I did also have some thematic combinations to consider. For instance, I put the snake oil-type ads for tinctures claiming to cure everything from the vapors to constipation near the anatomical illustrations of intestines. Headache cures went next to the skulls. Toothpaste ads went near the creepy teeth pictures. And so on. . .

PLACING AND GLUING YOUR IMAGES

1. Once you've decided where an image will go, use the paint brush to spread a generous amount of glue on the floor.
2. Carefully place the image. (After the image makes contact with the glue, you won't have many chances to reposition it. With that in mind, try to get it right the first time!)
3. Pay special attention to the corners and edges. Add glue here as needed.
4. Starting at the center of the image and working your way out, smooth the paper down until it has made good contact with the floor.

While it is wet, the glued art will look very wrinkly. Don't despair. Gently smooth out the worst of the wrinkles as best as you can. Once dry, the artwork should become smooth again all by itself. It is like magic!

Also, if you paste down an image and don't like how it looks, resist the temptation to simply paste something different over the top. Once you have applied the resin, you will be able to see both of these images at once! So, completely remove any mistakes and paste something completely new in their place. That said, though, overlapping some images on purpose can result in some interesting effects.

And, if you aren't able to do all of the gluing in one session, place a large, plastic tarp over the floor to protect your work in the interim.

Note: The video at the beginning of this Instructable includes the process described in this step.

Step 5: Perform Final Checks and Touch-Ups.

You're almost there! Once you've finished gluing your art and the glue has dried, you can prepare the surface for the resin.

PERFORMING FINAL CHECKS

1. Use a clean, dry rag to remove any little hairs, crumbs, or other weird bits of debris that may have found their way onto the floor. (Using a flashlight really helps to reveal this stuff.)
2. As you gently wipe away any debris with the rag, you may notice that it "catches" on some of the corners of the artwork. This usually happens only if the art isn't adequately glued down. Take your paintbrush and glue and secure any corners or edges that have managed to peel up.

Note: The video at the top of this Instructable includes the process described in this step.

Step 6: Mix and Apply Resin.

Once any last glue touch-ups have dried, it's time to check the floor one last time for hairs, crumbs, etc. Use a clean cloth to gently sweep any of these off of your floor.

Before mixing my resin, I tied back my long hair and put it beneath a bandana. (There's not much worse than losing a few stray hairs while you're mid-pour!) I also changed into old clothes and an apron in case I accidentally got any resin on myself.

I've always been a bit of rule-bender, and it's worth noting that the two-part epoxy resin kit I used expressly states that it is not to be used on floors! I can see why the manufacturer would make that statement. After all, how well the material holds up as a floor over the long-term depends on many variables. How carefully was the floor originally prepared? Is it level? Will it be exposed to direct sunlight? How thick is the resin coat itself? How much traffic will it see? Are we talking elephants inexplicably teetering on high heels or just a couple of humans in socks?. . .

What I can say for sure is that my past floor projects have held up remarkably well. (See photos of those included with this step.) I created my first cut-and-paste floor about 18 years ago. While it didn't retain the crystal clear look of freshly poured resin, it hasn't cracked or failed structurally. It got scuffed up from many pairs of shoes walking on it and it also yellowed a bit in spots from direct sunlight, but, otherwise, it still turns heads.)

The second floor I created—the one in the Airstream trailer—has held up even better. I am confident that this third one will be the best one yet. I used the full contents of the kit—one gallon of resin over 19 square feet. I had a tiny bit leftover, but I used most of it on the floor. As a result, I ended up with a resin coat that's about an eighth of an inch thick. I also carefully prepared my floor in advance and, thanks to all that foundation work, the floor was also nice and level to begin with.

So, with all that said, here are your next steps. . .

MIX AND APPLY RESIN

1. Mix two-part epoxy according to manufacturer's instructions. (Resin working times vary, but I had 10 to 15 minutes in all.)
2. Pour a small amount of resin onto the floor. Start in the corner farthest from the door and work your way backwards toward the doorway. (Essentially, take care not to inadvertently "paint yourself into a corner.")
3. Spread the small amount of poured resin with plastic squeegee or trowel. Repeat this process as you move backward.
4. Use a heat gun or hair dryer to remove small bubbles on the surface of the wet resin. Avoid stepping in or otherwise touching the freshly poured resin. (If need be, you can also have a friend hold the heat gun cord out of the way so that it doesn't make contact with the resin.)

Note: The video at the top of this Instructable includes the process described in this step.

Step 7: Allow Plenty of Time to Cure.

How long your floor will take to cure depends on several variables, including the thickness of the resin, the size of the floor itself, and the warmth of the room. As a general rule, it's a good idea to give it at least two to three days. Then, you can examine the surface and test an out-of-the-way spot for durability.

When testing my new floor, I tried to make an indentation in the surface with my fingernail. After the second day, I was able to make a small mark, so it clearly needed more time. By day three, though, I couldn't make a dent in the surface. I then gingerly explored further with my hands. I wasn't able to leave any wet fingerprints, and, soon after, I was able to walk all over it with no trouble.

So, it's official. I now have walls, a working bathroom, and a pretty neat floor, too!

:-)