While you stare down at your floor or lament your wall tile, you could be picking out your new stencil design to spruce it up. Instead of replacing all that tile, you can add a design to it. Stenciling tile with a design gives it an entirely new look for little to no cost. You can find tiles in common sizes like: 6″x6″ designs, 8″x8″ designs, 12″x12″ designs, and 16″x16″ designs. You can also find grout line stencils.
What You’ll Need
The other essentials include primer, paint, brushes and a roller. You may need a spray adhesive to cover the paint once it dries. The total outlay for a whole room project costs less than $200. That makes it far less expensive than installing new tile.
Which Areas to Stencil?
Backsplashes and wall accents prove a popular way to apply a stencil makeover. Stenciled staircases and tabletops have also made a big hit. Floors have become all the rage though. Projects abound that include the grout lines, those that paint over them and those that paint onto them. You could do a project that only stenciled into the grout lines. This leaves a lot of white space and can make the room seem airier.
Stencil Design Options
While plenty of stencil designs exist, a few for floors have started a trend. The Felicity Tile Stencil, a classic French tile design, has devotees across the Web. Aztec style stencils also have inspired many floor projects. This example shows how to turn your marbled tile into an Art Deco masterpiece. Depending on how you apply the stencil, you can create a custom application. This circle motif on large, white ceramic tile applies the stenciled design to the center of each tile and over its edge on all four corners.
Regardless of the stencil you choose, how you use it changes the look you achieve. It’s a common practice to purchase two stencils. This lets you cut one while leaving the other complete. That helps you get into the corners and crevices. It also lets you further customize the stencil application.
You Have Your Stencil, Now What?
Learning to stencil really takes little time. A large project like a floor takes a lot of time though. The learning process is simple. The application of it takes time. You can use registration marks to line up your tile stencil repeats on a wall or use the grout lines on the floor.
Set aside a couple of days to prep and stencil a room, whether doing the floor or a wall motif. If you choose to do the floors, your first step is to wash and dry the floor. Next, coat it with an adhesive primer like Stix. Apply a base coat color. Once it dries, stencil the pattern you want in acrylic or latex paint. Seal it with two coats of water-based polyurethane.
It’s a big job to stencil a floor or a whole wall. If you want help, contact The Grout Experts !
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