You can Paint Tile! How to paint and stencil tile…

Hi friends,  I’m coming to you today with a fun DIY project done with none other than paint! I will show you How to paint and stencil tile.

My powder room was not something I loved. (and that’s an understatement!) The tile was put in by the previous owners and they didn’t do a very good job at it. It was ugly (as you can see on the before) and had some uneven cuts on the tile. I wanted to update the space and have already painted my fireplace tile so after seeing others succeed in this area I was ready to give it a try. I am always telling my clients that the powder room is the place to WOW or add something bold as it is small and well, people are usually just in and out or, you know sitting and doing their thang!   

So – after painting my cabinets with Fusion Mineral paint, I was ready to tackle the floor. (You can see some videos of me painting my cabinets on my Facebook page.)

Really – if you are looking to change paint and stencil tile, you can paint it. I talked and talked about painted our fireplace and my husband finally broke down and painted it!  Check out the photo below for a before and after. I loved the results, not sure why we didn’t do it sooner, the pink in the before the tile was making me crazy. So knowing how much I loved the fireplace being painted, and seeing so many great makeovers with stencils, I decided to paint and stencil the floors in my powder room after making over the counters and painting the cabinets.

Painted Tile around Fireplace

If you are looking to paint your own tile or paint and stencil your tile in your home, here is a breakdown of how I did this project along with the material I used. I hope it helps! You can even download a how-to printable guide HERE.

1. Order the stencil – I didn’t want to spend a fortune on this project so opted for an affordable (and cute) stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils. For under $10 I found a stencil I loved in the Augusta pattern. The only issue was, my tile is 11. 5 and the stencil is for 12 “. I spoke with the friendly customer service help from CES and they assured me it wouldn’t be an issue. (but yes it did make it a little more difficult).
2. Prepping the surface – since this is tile we are painting, it needs to be prepped. Light sanding – use a rotary sander or sandpaper with a grit of 220.
   1. Washing with TSP – this is a heavy duty cleaner that helps remove all the stuck on yuck and help the paint to adhere much better. (This is a bit potent so make sure you use gloves and a mask).
   2. Primer – B-I-N primer is a primer, sealer, stain and odor blocker and is a must when painting on tile and I recommend it on wood as well. (Used the same process to paint the cabinets you see here in this powder room). BEWARE this stuff STINKS and you really need to wear a mask when using this product.
      

      Prime the tile with Zinsser

3. Painting the base coat– Thankfully I had all these materials left over from painting the powder room cabinets. The light color is Raw Silk from Fusion Mineral Paint.I decided to use a process of paint and roll to apply the paint. This helps to reduce any brush marks and really helps to get paint into the corners.
   1. Using an angled brush – paint around the tile corners, then down the center of the tile, making sure to stay in the same direction. Roll over the tile when you have a full paint coverage to hide any brush marks.
   2. Think about which tiles to paint first so you don’t step on any wet tiles.

Brush and Roll paint after priming

4. Stenciling – I used the color Ash from Fusion Mineral Paint. Using this stencil brush – I got to work on the tile. I used a traditional stencil pounce and circular painting over each one. I did run into a couple of issues with the stencil being ½ in larger but managed. I also did try to use another paint and stencil tile and the bristles kept falling out into the paint. (so frustrating) so make sure you use a quality stencil brush and pull out any awry bristles before painting.
   1. Tape down the stencil
   2. Using a stencil brush, LIGHTLY add paint then offload most of it onto a paper towel.
   3. Pounce or add paint over the stencil in a circular motion as seen in the video.
   4. Repeat this in a checkerboard pattern so as not to overlap the stencil.
   5. Make sure paint is dry before moving on.
   6. There WILL be mistakes, plan on touching those up after the paint dries but clean up any glops from too much paint leaking through the stencil.

Stagger stencils when first painting

5. This dried pretty quick but I waited between each stencil to be sure. Here are a few more tips to help if you plan on doing this project
   1. Around toilet – bend the stencil and plan on the touch-up – Better yet – buy one extra to cut out around the toilet. (much easier and worth an extra $10)
   2. Save any ½ cut tiles (remember my bathroom had a very bad tile job! ) Cut stencil to use around the wall – the tiles were not even in my space to this wasn’t easy!
   3. Touch up –there will be mistakes – touch them up after they dry with a small painters brush

Stenciling on the tile

6. Seal – with Varathane Waterbased Clear Coat-  Most importantly for a floor is to seal the paint. I used on top – 5 coats waiting 2 hours between each one.
   1. Roll the Varathane sealer– make sure you don’t have any overlap. I noticed after it dried that a part that I painted wasn’t smooth and I wish I had double or triple checked to avoid this. Lastly, Water-based sealer is very important as oil based will work well but will yellow over time.
      

      After of updated Powder room bathroom

Shop these Accessories – (I am an affiliate for Target and will receive a small commission if you purchase from this link – at no extra cost to you)

Soap Dispenser- Mallorca Ceramic Soap Dispenser from Opalhouse

Trash Can –Light Weave Wastebasket from Threshold

Hand towel – Black and White Towel from Opalhouse

Plant – Faux Succulents in Cement Pot from World Market

I love how this space turned out. This is the last phase in this powder room makeover – Before the counters were tile and wood and now the after the counters are quartz and the cabinets painted white!

The floors really pop and that is great for a small powder room. You could also do this in a laundry room too!

Painted and Stenciled Tile – AFTER!

See even more by viewing the video of this DIY here!

Do you have any tile in your house that is in need of some love? Let me know!

You can learn more by reading more!