How to Paint Tile Floors With a Stencil

First, I sanded the original tile with an orbital sander to make it rough so it would accept paint better. Then, I cleaned it thoroughly with a de-greaser.

Next, I taped off the trim and baseboards around my tile area with painter’s tape.

Then, I put some  Chalked Paint in Charcoal in a paint tray and used a small paint brush to paint over the grout lines and into the edges of my tiled area. I decided to use chalk style paint because I like how it sticks well to surfaces, but if you use a regular latex paint you should prime your tiles with an oil based primer before painting.

Next, I took a high density foam roller and painted all of the tiles with the Charcoal Chalked paint. I ended up painting them with two coats of paint.

Now comes the fun (but time consuming) part! Cutting Edge Stencils sent me this beautiful  Santa Ana Tile Stencil to try for free, and I thought it would be the perfect pattern for this area. Once my base coat was really dry (I waited a day), I taped the stencil down onto the tile with painter’s tape. Using a foam roller with a very small amount of Linen White Chalked paint on it, I painted carefully over the stencil.

I started in the corner of my tiled area, and stenciled every other tile, let those dry, and then completed the rest of the tiles.

Some of the tiles were really hard to stencil – like the corner tiles and the ones around the feet of the wood stove – so I took a small craft paint brush and touched up any areas that needed it with some more white paint.

Once the tiles had dried thoroughly, I sealed everything with Varathane polyurethane in a satin finish. I’d recommend doing at least two coats, maybe three, of sealant to protect your beautiful paint job.