The How-to Stencil Series: Part 1 DIY Painting and Stenciling Floors

I've always been mad for stencils.
(This will become even more evident as the online stencil collection grows here at For The Love!)

Some of you may already be familiar with the floors of my studio workspace.
Because they were boring cement with random marks and stains expected in a former garage,
I  needed a design that was busy but still visually interesting and ultimately...inspiring!

The thing with larger projects like this one, with a busy pattern, is you can't really go 
wrong because the eye never knows quite where to settle. 
And, because it is my workspace and would get painted on, furniture 
dragged across it, covered with projects etc...
we decided to not take the whole thing too seriously.
By "we" I mean my niece Jill & I...
and not taking things too seriously may be what we do best!

It's a 6x6meter square space with no turns or corners to consider, pretty straight-forward.
I had swept and hosed out the space the day before.
We started at about 10am with great music & coffee.

To begin, we decided two things:
1. Keep a full pattern at the point most obvious from the entrance which was this corner.
2. We roughly laid out the stencil in both directions to see how far to space between the rows so we wouldn't be left with a half or quarter pattern (which can greatly slow down progress).

After making this plan, we custom mixed this paint colour using Chalk Paint.

First one down....hundreds to go!

Jill had the  fun job...crawling on the cement and taping down the stencil.
(notice her safety shoes...ha ha)
I followed behind using a paint pole and short-napped roller.

Using Chalk Paint with the stencil

That's all the tools you really need:
Short-nap Roller
Extendable Paint Pole 
(I prefer a long, sturdy timber pole, I had too much "bounce" from the extending one).
Painter's Tape or Masking Tape
Damp Rag
Dry Rag

Position the stencil, roll,  lift the stencil, wipe down if needed, reposition and repeat! 
That's it!

Nearly a quarter of the way finished, time for a texting break!

Looking from the entrance back to the corner where we started

My official inspector, Josie. She approves! I think...

All done!
And then, two coats of a quality water-based sealer.
 I recommend a satin finish, gloss will show  mistakes as well as imperfections in the floor. 
Waited a day and then moved  back in.

Finished and ready for work again

A few things to keep in mind...
 I only swept and hosed out the studio, it's recommended to scrub with cleaner and degrease.
I skipped this step knowing how I'd be using the space.
However, if you're doing floors indoors, use your best judgement. 

Most stencils have registration marks on them, so you can line them up to continue the pattern. 
We skipped this step and estimated it...which means we also went a bit crooked.
Honestly,  you can't even tell.
But again, if this was in my house, I would've been more careful.

Also, because the stencils are flexible, we were able to bend it around the "unmovable" 
pieces like the stone sink and the impossible-to-move solid steel workbench.
This helps to know with corners, odd angles and edges.
Most quality stencils come with additional pieces for just this purpose.
If there's ONE TIP you take from this post, it's layout the project first, before painting!
The perfection is genuinely in the planning.

Lastly, I believe Chalk Paint is the perfect product for this project.
It adheres to most surfaces including painted & varnished surfaces, 
timber, laminate, metal, ceramic, etc... try somewhere inconspicuous first to test adhesion.
Also, wet areas can be challenging, so do some research or again...test first!

This is Part 1 of a 3-part Stencil Series. 
Sign up to be notified when the next in our Stencil Series is posted!
Also, additional stencilling project posts coming soon...

Now...to share some stencilled floor inspiration. 
You can find more on our Pinterest board at www.pinterest.com/FTLCreations

As always, your comments and questions are appreciated and looked forward to!

It's all here...for the love...
Sada