I had great intentions of writing a blog post about my DIY stenciled laundry room floors immediately after completing the project. But… ya know… life just kept happening. I worked on this project in between taking care of a newborn and three other kids during summer break, so it took a little longer than expected. I can honestly say, these floors are one of my favorite projects thus far! And now that we’ve lived with them for four months, I can honestly tell you’ve they’ve held up really well!
I’m going to break this down and keep it really simple. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I was inspired by others on Instagram and was able to take their projects and spin it to make my own. Hopefully, this post will help you do the same. The products I used were either recommended by other DIYers and or products I’ve used successfully in the past. Happy Stenciling!
Step 1: Clean the tiles and remove all lint and dirt. I just used Clorox wipes and scrubbed with my hands. Just make sure you get them as clean as possible so you don’t get debris stuck in your paint.
Step 2: Tape off any areas you don’t want to get painted by the roller. I’m super lazy with this, but I recommend taking the extra time to do this well.
Step 3: Prime the floors with the primer of your choice. I thought I bought white primer which is what I was planning on using, but once I opened the can, I realized it was gray. I went with it, and it was fine because I was going to use charcoal gray as my base. If you are planning on using white as your base, make sure to get white primer. I used a roller for this step and a brush around the edges. I only had to use one coat because my primer was dark, but depending on the color of your floor, you might have to do two. I could have gone with the quart instead of the gallon size, but now I have some for the next project.
Step 4: Paint the floors with your base color. I used one coat of Rust-oleum Charcoal Chalkpaint. Let it dry really well before beginning the stencil process.
Step 5: Stencil with your stencil of choice. I used the 12 x 12 Augusta stencil from Cutting Edge Stencil. I also ordered their roller for the stencil part. The stencil comes with great directions for how to use it best, so I recommend following those for this project. I did not use any other stenciling brushes and or tools because I wanted it to have some distressed look to it. I just used rolled the best I could and didn’t worry too much about the bleeds or imperfections. If you want a cleaner look, you will probably need to go back and touch up some areas with actual stencil brushes. I started in the middle of the room and stenciled every other tile so that I could access each one without stepping on the drying paint.
Step 6: Seal the Floors. I used Minwax Polycrylic protective finish with three coats. I just used a regular roller and brush to cover them. After each coat, I waited a day, and then after the third and final coat, I waited 72 hours before putting any real traffic on the floors. I think this was key to allowing the floors time to set. I also chose the Matte finish because I didn’t want a shiny look.
Products I used:
**Four months later and these floors have held up so much better than I’d anticipated! This room gets so much traffic every day because it’s where the kids cubbies with shoes and bags are located. It’s also our laundry room, so with 6 people, it is always being used! Because the tile is so pretty, it motivates me to keep the laundry off the floor.**
Baby photo shoot! This is also the space we bring her as she’s learning to roll and crawl, because it’s soft and safe.
A lifestyle look. I will seriously just stand in this room and rub my feet into this rug because it’s so soft.