This is phase 1 in a two-part before + after series I’ve been working on all summer long! We have this adorable little side-yard, that sat empty all winter long, and I knew I wanted to paint the cement and make it a little oasis where we could grill, play outside, and spend time together as a family. The first phase was to paint the cement, and the second phase was to source furniture and redesign and reimagine the space, so stay tuned for phase 2 coming soon! I got the idea to paint the floors from A Beautiful Mess’ DIY tile painting tutorial. I love how Laura’s tile came out, and I also love that it wasn’t a super new project, so I was able to get an idea of how it holds up through time, and her patio still looks super fresh! I knew right off the bat that I didn’t want my tiles to be rectangular like hers, and that square was more the look I was going for, even if it meant that some tiles would be half. This is definitely the first big decision you have to make in this project! I’ll break down my process …