DIY stenciled floors tips and tricks

Stencilled floors have been a thing for quite a while, but there are a variety of reasons that people won’t venture into this realm of diy. It can be intimidating, as it can seem so permanent and just a plain big old job! I’m here to tell you: “Do it!” It‘s only paint and it’s worth the time; however, there are a few things I have learned along the way, which is why I am giving my kitchen tiles a second go with stenciling.

First, I want to clarify that I wouldn‘t paint over brand new wood or tile floors. I see painting/stencilling as a way to breathe new life into old and dated floors. When I stencilled my kitchen tiles the first time, I used white and gray chalk paint and added a coat of clear polyurethane to seal it. It has been about three years and what I’m mainly noticing is that dirt really shows and sticks to the light color (obviously) and the paint wore off in high-traffic areas, such as around the island where a lot of food gets dropped by the kids and sticks to the floor. The stools move around a lot as well, so the paint just wasn‘t tough enough for this.

Any sane person would say: “Why not just replace the tiles?!” I agree but I am opting to go the more budget-friendly/more labor-intensive route by repainting the floors. I am keeping the same light colors, which might be crazy bu this time, I will be using a tile-specific paint and switching things up so that there is gray in the grout lines rather than white, as well as beefing up the protective seal.

Here are the steps I followed to repaint my kitchen tiles:

1. Lightly sand tiles with electric palm sander. I wanted to get the polyurethane coat off so the new paint could get a good grip.

2. Wash tiles with TSP to remove any grease or dirt and help the paint stick.

3. Rinse with warm water

4. Sweep one last time before painting to remove any lingering dust or dirt

5. Using a small foam roller, paint a thin coat of base color. Use a small brush to get to hard to reach places. Once the first coat has dried for time indicated on paint can, add a second coat. This should be enough, but add a third coat if needed.

6. Time to stencil! I used this one from Royal Design Studio Stencils. Using a small foam roller, paint a thin coat over your chosen stencil. No need to paint a second coat here.

7. Once the paint is dry, give it another sweep/rinse, let dry and seal with one coat of clear polyurethane using a large paint brush.

Voilà! I hope you find these suggestions helpful. Let me know if you give it a try!