How to Guide for Creating a Stenciled Wood Floor

If you have a wood floor and are looking for a great way to personalize and add character to it, then consider floor stenciling as the way to go. It takes a bit of time to complete, in fact it can be painstakingly slow, but the end result is well worth the effort if you are looking for stylish and unique.

First gather your supplies. You will need the following:

Stencils (store bought or hand drawn)

Tape measure

Pencil

Sanding block and sandpaper

Soft cloth

Masking tape

Painters tape

Stencil paint brush

Paint palette

Stencil Paint

Razor blade or paint scraper

Polyurethane Clear Coat Finish with the same sheen as your flooring

Applicator for Clear Coat Finish

It is recommended that you create a test stencil and paint it on a spare piece of wood that matches your floor to ensure the overall look is what you are looking for, prior to making the real stenciling on the floor.

Start with a clean and dry floor.

Make sure you have enough stencils to do the job you are looking for. If you do not have enough, simply make photocopies on transparency film. If you do not have a copier with the ability to do this you can have it done rather inexpensively at a local office store.

Measure with a tape measure the distance away from the wall that you want your stenciling to be. Create a mark with your masking tape so that you do not mar the wood with pencil.

Place your stencils down in a dry run to make sure you are going to have them laid out properly. Pay special attention to corners. In fact, you may want to start in corners and fill in as needed, spacing appropriately so that your corners are more uniform.

Use sandpaper on a sanding block to slightly rough up the surface where you will be working. Use a soft cloth to rid the area of sandpaper debris.

Now put your stencils back into place over the roughed up (and wiped down) areas and tape it so it will not shift during painting. Tape it as securely as possible because you do not want paint bleeding under it during the paint application. Use your painters tape to block off areas close to the stencil that you do not wish to get paint on.

If you have a multi-colored stencil, decide which color you are going to apply first and where it will go. Cover all other areas of the stencil with tape to protect it from the color you are going to use. Paint the open areas of the stencil with the color, dabbing it onto your stencil paint brush from a paint palette. Use the approach that looks best for your particular floor type. You can try the stippling approach, stroking the brush, swirling it, or whatever approach you decide works the most effectively. Be careful to choose an approach that does not allow paint to seep underneath the stencil. Allow area to dry thoroughly and then cover with painters tape. Unmask the areas where you are applying the second color of stencil paint. Repeat this process until you have used all of the colors desired and completed the stencils. You can paint one complete stencil at a time, or go around the room entirely using one color at a time, which ever you prefer. I recommend doing one stencil at a time so you can remove the tape once complete and see how it turns out before proceeding. This way if you have paint that has bled through or marred, you can see it and fix it accordingly before proceeding. It is easier to clean a small area than it is to do a very large one. Allow paint to dry and scrape away unwanted areas with your razor blade or a paint scraper. If you try to clean it when it is wet it will simply create a bigger mess. You have to take great care in the painting process not to rush. It takes quite a bit of time and a steady hand but the end result will be stunning if you exert caution and care.

Allow your paint to dry for seventy-two hours or three full days. Then you want to sand it very lightly and wipe it clear of debris so you can apply the clear finish coat to protect it. Allow the polyurethane clear coat to dry and you have now completed your stenciled floor.