Unlike most of my decorative finishes, this diamond-stained floor in Wellesley, MA involved a lot of math!
It was a pleasure working with our client Annie, her designer and my colleague Joan Kingsbury to create this dramatic foyer floor. Annie and the designer knew they wanted a diamond-inside-a-diamond pattern in multiple stain colors to complement the other design elements in the space. It was then up to Joan and I to help figure out how to make this happen.
The first step was to meet at the house and start measuring. The designer wanted the diamonds to be centered with the front door, so we started working from there. Our goal was to create a shape/size that could fit full diamond shapes between the door and the stairs (without being cut off), while still fitting nicely side to side. This is where the math started – and we used our figures to tape out shape sizes there on the spot so we could collaborate on the approach. We also used this meeting to look at different stain colors and to sketch out the look of the pattern…. It was a very productive meeting!!
With these elements decided, our next step was to have stencils made to insure a clean, consistent pattern for the final product.
With our stencils and satins in hand, we were then on to creating the floor finish! We started by creating a border that would work with our diamond layout (more math!):
With this complete, we were on to laying out the stencils:
And then on to the stain! First we stained the darker “lattice” pattern and then the lighter, inside diamonds:
The end result is striking, and exactly what Annie was looking for!:
Enjoy!
Jason
View from the front door
Stain pattern continued through floor vents