Creating a Temporary Floor

I have been refurbishing furniture for seventeen years now.  However, If I didn't hear it once I heard it a million times that my photos did not do my work justice.  I still struggled with this issue for many years.  I purchased a really good camera and even tried hiring someone to take professional photos for me.  But my problems was the need to do it myself so I could produce "How To's" at a faster pace. 

So this past year I joined a group on Facebook called Flipping Furniture for Profit.  Rebecca Hansen Groskreutz teaches members how to stage furniture for photos and how to price their pieces to "Make a Profit".  It has been a phenomenal group for me.  I feel I have learned so much in a short period of time.  Still learning but my photos have definitely gone up a few notches. 

Rebecca also offers a more intense program called Flipping Furniture University.   It has "How To Videos"  and lots and lots of great information for painting and selling furniture for profit.  Worth every penny. 

However, I found my space for taking photos was pretty lame. The only place I have with the guidelines Rebecca sets forth is at my  Wood Icing® Co retail store.   

So, my first thought was to buy a section of hardwood flooring and set up a staging area at the store But my husband said.  Why don't you just paint a fake floor on a thin sheet of pressed board? That way you can move it around and set it up yourself whenever you need it. And I can create more than one color and style.  Duh,  why didn't I think of that?  This is how I did it in one very short afternoon.

Start with painting a 4"X 8" sheet of pressed board 

with a warm or very light woody yellow paint color.

I brush on Wood Icing® Furniture Glazing Color

"DiJon" for the  first layer of wood grain 

 After I brush on the DiJon glazing color, I wipe back 

the access with a soft paper towel or rag. 

 

I allow this layer to dry, which will only take 

about 10 to 20 minutes

For the next layer I used our Wood Icing® Furniture 

Glazing Color,  "Tree Bark" and a wood grain tool

 There is two ways to apply this technique.  For a subtle 

application of color you can dip the grain tool into the

glazing color, then lightly drag a dry brush over the 

top of that layer to spread and blend the color or...

You can lay the glazing color down with a wide brush

Then drag the grain tool through the glaze, which will

remove some of the glaze to leave the wood grain.

For a variation of color and depth, apply the Wood Icing®,

Tree Bark color in random areas then let that layer dry.

Once I had the "DiJon" and "Tree Bark" glazing colors 

applied and I had allowed them to dry.  I went over the 

entire board with our Wood Icing® Glazing Color 

"Really White"and wood grain tool.  Apply the glaze 

with a wide brush then run the grain tool over the top. 

To mark my boards I used a cut board as a template 

for 4 inch wood planks at random lengths.  Of course, 

my usual mode is "just get it done", so I used a Sharpie 

to mark random lengths of boards. You may want to make

 your lines more authentic looking by using acrylic paints. 

I applied Wood Icing® Poly-Acylic "Dull" for protection

Here you see the board finished and in front of my white wall.