I am missing my stenciled floor from our previous home. So in honor of them I am going to share how I did this project, and provide you with a full tutorial so you can stencil your floors. I have also provided affiliate links to products I used.
Before I show you guys how I painted the floors I want to say thank you guys so much for all of the encouraging messages and responses to my Instagram stories on this flooring. You all are amazing and the sweetest friends!
In the photo above you can see the different colored tiles. Yeah, those weren’t workin’ for me and something had to be done.
Step By Step Stenciled Floor Tutorial
Clean The Floor
I started off by cleaning the floors really well. This will help make sure the primer sticks really well and no stains come through the paint.
Priming The Floor
Once everything was clean it was go time! I grabbed my roller and handle. I highly recommend getting a large roller, and a handle that you can twist onto the roller. This saved my your back.
I did one coat of primer on the whole floor. A pretty thick coat. I used the 123 Zinsser Bulls eye Primer. This was my first time using this primer, but I am really happy with how well it works.
For the edges of the floor I used a 2 inch paint brush here I’ve linked one of my favorites. I painted the edges first with the brush, and then painted the floors with the roller. In my opinion the first coat of primer even looked better than the vinyl squares.
Base Layer Of Paint
Once the primer dried, about an hour and a half later it was time to start the first coat of black chalk paint, the base coat. Almost everybody that I have seen paint their floors has used the Rustoleum chalk paint in charcoal. However, I am painting a huge surface and I would have had to pay a pretty penny for how much paint I would have needed. So I ventured out of and I decided to make my own chalk paint.
Here’s the recipe I used for the chalk paint:
– 1/3 Cup Plaster of Paris
– 1/3 Cup of water
– 1 cups of the latex paint
Mix the Plaster of Paris and water until the Plaster of Paris has dissolved, then add the latex paint and stir.
I don’t know why I haven’t made my own chalk paint before, it is ridiculously easy.
For the black paint I doubled the above recipe, twice to cover the whole floor. I just edged the floors with a brush, and then rolled the paint on the floor. After the chalk paint dried to the touch about an hour later I did a second coat.
You can tell that some of the paint is still drying in the above picture, but I want to show you what it looked like after the second coat.
Stenciling The Floor
After the black chalk paint completely dried it was time for the stenciling. This was by far the hardest part. Play music or listen to a pod cast or something during this part to distract yourself.
I was thankful that the stencil I used from Michael’s was 50% off because I bought it during their Labor Day sale. Score! So originally it was around $16, and I got it for $9. They have several different options to choose from.
Start your stenciling where most people will see the floor first. For me that was the area where you would walk into our dining room.
I didn’t measure anything, I completely eyeballed everything. Basically, I just went for it! I knew that I wanted a worn look for the white stenciles so I started rolling the paint on in the middle of the stencil and gradually worked my way out pressing lighter so that I just got a distressed look. I love that every tile is different. If you look at real tile you will notice that every tile has a different look.
The stencil I used was not the size of the vinyl tiles on our floor so when I came across one of the tile lines I made sure to paint it solid white to sort of hide it.
I just worked my way down the line back and forth. I found that it was a lot easier and faster to just bend over and pick up the stencil and place it back down than it was to sit down and scoot along the floor.
Stenciling The Border Of The Floor
Once I had every full stencil squares done I let everything dry. Once the stenciled squares were dry I went back around the edges and folded the stencil over. For every stencil I used a little roller.
Putting Polycrylic On The Floors
Once everything had dried it was time for the Polycrylic. I used Minwax water based Polycrylic in clear satin. I did two coats of this using this whole can. To spread out the Polycrylic on the floor I got a foam square attachment that I was able to attach my handle too. I started by pouring a line down the floor so I can start to sort of squeegee it onto the floor.
The Polycrylic really brought the floor to life! I let the floor dry for 24 hours before I brought the furniture back into the room.
I was so happy to be finished with this project, and to see it come to life! This new floor has brightened and updated my kitchen and dining room. Finally getting to move the furniture back into the room was so rewarding.
I hope this tutorial helps! If you have created a stenciled floor I would love to see it, please tag me @homechronicles on your photo and use the hashtag #myhomechronicles so that I can see it!
Thank you for stopping by,
Adele
