Paint and Stencil Tile Tutorial

Raise your hand if you love boring brown tile!  OK I will admit that I raised my hand several years ago and chose to install the brown tile in our new home.  What was a thinking?  I will tell you exactly what I was thinking… “It seems safe.” “Brown neutral tile never goes out of style…right?” “Everyone else is doing it!”   Well now I am ready to stand on my own two feet and be BOLD.  Are you?

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HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• Cutting Edge Nola tile stencil
• Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond Primer
• Sherwin Williams A-100 Exterior Acrylic Latex Satin- Tinted Iron Ore
• Sherwin Williams A-100 Exterior Acrylic Latex Satin – Tinted Pure White
• Polycrylic Protective Finish – Satin
• If Glazing… Minwax Dark Walnut Stain
• High quality paint rollers
• Package of Foam Brushes
• Sander/Sandpaper 120 grit
• Painters Tape – Frog tape is the best!
• SOS Steal Wool Soap Pads

Step 1: Prep Tile

Prepping anything always seems to be the most boring part of any project, but it is SOOOOO important. When done properly it will ensure the paint will adhere properly and you won’t have problems with it peeling down the road .

First, sand all of the tile using 120 grit sandpaper and a palm sander. This will rough up the surface of the tile and give the primer something to stick to.

Then thoroughly clean the tile. SOS steel wool soap pads worked great for cleaning the dirt out of all the crevices in my tile. Scrub in a circular motion.

Finally, tape off everything you don’t want painted. Then roll on the Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond Primer. I used foam brushes to get the primer in the grout lines.

STEP 2: BASE Coat

After the primer is dry, I rolled on 2 coats of the base paint…Sherwin Williams A-100 Exterior Acrylic- Iron Ore. I used an exterior paint versus interior to give it an extra layer of durability. Tip: Using a roller is tons faster than a brush. I took me less than 30 minutes for each coat. Plus, it doesn’t look streaky.

step 3: Stenciling

1.Make sure the base coat is completely dry because you are going to spend a lot of time crawling all over it:)

2. Tape down the stencil using painters tape. Roll on the stencil coat using Sherwin Williams A-100 Exterior Acrylic- Pure White. Tip: The trick to getting clean stencil lines is to have very little paint on the roller. A lot less than you think you will need. Trust me…I learned this lesson through trial and error. Thankfully, you can always go back and do touch ups:)

3. I also wiped the back of the stencil using a rag before placing it on the next tile. Just in case there was any paint left over from the previous application.

4. The stenciling process is definitely the most time consuming part of the project. It took me several hours to complete. Tip: If you can buy two stencils instead of one…it will make your life a lot easier. Since, I only had one stencil, I had to cut the stencil down to get it to work along the edges where the tile met the wall. It would have been faster to have two stencils.

Step 4: Glazing(Optional)

One of the things I love about actual cement tile is the aged look…like it has been sitting around in some ancient Roman Cathedral for decades. Well I wanted to try to “age” my tile by adding a glazed over the top. This is an optional step, but I LOVE the way it turned out.

I used Minwax Dark Walnut Stain for the glaze. It is best to glaze one tile at a time, so the stain doesn’t sit too long.

Using a foam brush, apply a light layer of stain to the entire tile. Immediately wipe off using an old rag. It may seem like a long process, but it actually goes on really quick.

step 5: Finish

Once again, wait for the glaze to dry before applying the finish. I used Polycrylic Protective Finish for the final coats because it has low fumes and a fast dry time. I rolled on the Polycrylic in sections then quickly used a foam brush to smooth out any bubbles. I did three coats of finish allowing each coat to dry before applying the next.

The floor is done! Overall this wasn’t a hard project and I would definitely do it again. If you dare to take the plunge I would love to see the end results. Now I need to get going…I still have a bunch of other projects to complete before the One Room Challenge comes to an end.