Hey y’all! I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!! I decided to take a little break from blogging and social media over the last 2 weeks. It wasn’t something that I had originally planned, but I just felt like it was something that I needed to do. Do you ever start feeling burned out with social media? That’s where I was heading. And when that happens, I know it’s time for a refresh. The break did me good and now I’m ready to jump back in and share more fun projects with you all. The first being my DIY stencil painted tile floors in my laundry room.
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You may remember me mentioning the laundry room makeover we were working on a few months ago. We had white ceramic tiles in the space and I knew they would be perfect for painting. I’ve seen my Instagram friend Ana at Fiddle Leaf Interiors give this a try and I absolutely loved the look and knew I wanted to try it. When Cutting Edge Stencils reached out to me and asked if I’d like to work with them, I didn’t even have to think about it. The painted tile floors were already on my list of upcoming DIYs.
DIY Stencil Painted Tile Floors
Supplies Needed:
Floor cleaner
Primer
Basecoat Paint
Stencil Paint
Stencil (I used 3)
Dense Foam Roller
Paint tray
Paper towels
Polyurethane
Painter’s tape
Steps for Stencil Painted Tile Floors:
Prep
The first thing you will need to do is move everything out of the space and give your floors a good cleaning. I vacuumed mine first then mopped them with TSP a few times. After the TSP, I mopped them with plain water.
Next, you will want to tape off any areas that you do not want to get paint on. I was able to skip this step because we pulled our baseboard up for the renovation and there was nothing else the paint could get on.
Prime
Using the dense foam roller, I primed the tile with 2 coats of Kilz primer. I wanted to make sure I had a good base layer before applying the paint. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for drying times and make sure your paint is completely dry before applying the next coat. I used a fan to speed up the drying times.
Base
Once the primer was dry, I used the dense foam roller to apply 2 coats of Rustoleum Chalk Paint in Charcoal as my basecoat. Again, make sure your paint is completely dry between each coat.
You could also use a lighter color as you base and a darker color for your stencil. This is completely up to personal preference.
Stencil
I selected the Augusta stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils and used Rustoleum Chalk Paint in Linen White for my stencil color.
You will want to start on a full tile. Lay your stencil down on the tile and apply a few pieces of tape so it doesn’t move. Roll your paint brush in your tray then roll it on a paper towel to get most of the paint off. Your paint brush should be just about dry when you roll the paint onto the stencil. If you’d like to see a video of how I did this, you can watch my Laundry Room Reno highlight on IG (the painted floors are toward the end of the story).
I used 3 stencils to help the project go a little faster. If you start to get paint build up on the stencil, you can wipe it off with a wet rag.
Once you have painted all of the full size tiles, you will need to fold or cut your stencil to get the rest of the areas. I chose to fold mine incase I decide to use the stencil again. These areas won’t look as neat and crisp and may require a little touch up with a small paint brush. Honestly, I didn’t do any touch ups. I wanted a vintage look and didn’t mind if it wasn’t perfect.
Sealer
After the stenciling is completely dry, you can apply your sealer. We applied 4 coats of a water-based polyurethane. We already had a floor finish applicator so we used this to apply the sealer. You can also use the foam roller to apply the sealer.
I must be honest and say that I was dreading this project before I began. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and it sounded very labor intensive. But honestly, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I was thinking. It’s definitely a slow because of the paint drying times, but it’s not a difficult project.
However, if you are a perfectionist, this is probably not the best DIY project for you. No matter how much time and effort you put in, the painted tile floors will not come out perfect.
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have about this DIY. There is also lots of great info on Cutting Edge Stencils website. Their stencils can be used for a whole lot more than just floors and they have lots of inspiration on their website.
My family is still in awe that I painted this. Even my bro-in-law commented that this is one of my best DIYs yet. If you are looking for a show stopping DIY, this is definitely it!
I’ll be back with another DIY we did in our laundry room soon, and I’ll also be sharing the full laundry room reveal.
Be blessed, friends! xoxo
I love your new floors! I’ve been wanting to tackle ours for a while. I need to find a 18″ stencil. Thanks or the tutorial. Seems easy enough. Pinned!
Thank you, Cindy! I’m pretty sure Cutting Edge has some 18″ stencils.
Curious why, if the tile was white to start with, you couldn’t have just done the dark paint over the existing white tile? I absolutely adore this look but scared to tackle it!
Hi Sherry. I used the primer first because the tile was slick so the paint wouldn’t have adhered well to it. The primer gives a good base coat to help you paint adhere well and be more durable. I was intimated by this project at first, but it wasn’t near as bad as I anticipated. 😉
I love your new floors! I’ve been wanting to tackle ours for a while. I need to find a 18″ stencil. Thanks or the tutorial. Seems easy enough. Pinned!
OMG! Your floor is beautiful! I can see myself lagging in the middle of the project, but this is one of those times where the more you do, the more incredible it became. Stupendous!
Thank you so very much, Shelly! I was so intimidated to start this project, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I anticipated. It’s a bit time consuming, but not difficult. 😉
What a beautiful floor! I’ve been wanting to attempt something like this in my daughter’s bedroom. Problem is she has linoleum tile old stick-ons I think. Would the process be different or can it even be done?
Hi Vanessa! I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you!! I took a little break from blogging due to some life circumstances. This should work just fine over linoleum. I would follow the same process. The most important step is prepping before the painting. I would make sure the floors and cleaned really good and put at least 2 coats of primer. Good luck! 🙂