I’ve slowly been in the process of renovating my entire laundry room. I had a goal to really touch every square inch of that space to make it my own.
I think it’s really important to love the spaces you’re in. Especially the ones that give back to you (like the ones you can wash your clothes in).
So I made a plan and got to work. We started by painting the entire room, then we refaced the cabinets, created concrete countertops, built shelving, added a tile feature wall, and started decorating!
But the last thing on the list was the floors. They were a basic ceramic tile that didn’t add much to the space. Don’t get me wrong, they were fine! But style-wise they left something to be desiered.
I wasn’t about to rip up the tile and install new myself, so I grabbed a stencil, some paint, and got to work instead!
HOW I STENCILED MY LAUNDRY ROOM FLOORS (AND HOW YOU CAN TOO)
I knew what I wanted to do. This wasn’t my first stenciling rodeo!
But this time, I wanted to do things a little differently.
I had previously used this beautiful herringbone brick allover stencil pattern from Cutting Edge Stencils on the master bathroom floors in my last home, and I knew that with our long and narrow laundry room, this pattern would be beautiful!
But wait.
How would this look over tile? Would you be able to see all the grout lines and squares? That’s less than ideal, right?
EVENING OUT THE GROUT
Last time I did this, I started with a different step. I grabbed some Adhesive + Grout mix at Home Depot and started by filling in the grout lines as best as I could, leaving some texture as I went to allude to that faux brick look I was going for.
I let this dry for about 12-18 hours before I went over it with this tile grout sealer.
I did NOT do this step in my laundry room because my grout lines were much thinner than in our last home. I felt it would make less of a difference.
When it was all said and done, I don’t mind the lines in the laundry room, but this can definitely be a step you choose to do or skip depending on what your desired outcome is!
CLEAN YOUR TILE & TAPE
I began by cleaning the floors well and taping up. I like to vacuum well then mop and let the floors dry completely.
Then I grab some painters tape and tape all along the baseboards, leaving a tiny space free before you hit the floors. That way, when you peel your tape it, it won’t take any of the paint with it.
Then I apply the first coat of my white chalk paint base.
BASE PAINT
This is my favorite white chalk paint to use on my floors!
I start by taking a paintbrush and going around all the edges. Then, I use a roller and simply pour paint on the floors as I go to cover the floor with a nice thick coat.
Start from the back of the room, and work your way towards the door so you don’t paint yourself in.
I let each coat dry about 12-24 hours, then I repeated for my second and third coats. Did I mention this process is a lot of watching paint dry? Well, it is!
I do 3 total coats for my base layer, but do what works best for you! You just want a nice solid floor!
STENCILING
I wanted to stick with our gray/beige color theme in our home, but I also wanted some dimension.
Last time I did this, I got inspired by Ashley @arrowsandbow to layer in some colors to create that brick look I wanted.
I used my Loft Space gray paint by Behr, then I mixed together my Loft Space gray with my Accessible Beige by Sherwin Williams (about a 1:1 ratio) to create a greige that looked like a nice, aged gray. Perfection.
I used this to distress each brick by adding my gray/beige paint around the edges of the bricks where they would be more likely to get worn down in real life, if you will. Then I used a little white to lighten it up in areas.
I got my stenciling brushes and got to work (after taping up the room of course)!
Use barely any paint on your stencil brushes and go straight up and down to ensure no bleeding under your stencil.
To check out exactly how I stencil my floors and all the products I like to use, check out this blog post all about stenciling!
SEAL, SEAL, & SEAL AGAIN
Once you’re done stenciling, allow the paint to dry for 12-24 hours, then begin sealing your floors with a poly coat! I used this sealant for my laundry room floor. It’s the only one I really trust!
Depending on how much water you think will come into contact with your floor, you’ll want to apply quite a few coats of poly. I ended up coating my floor with 3-4 thick coats of poly to be safe.
After all, you don’t want your floors to chip or wear right away after all that work!
Allow each coat of poly to dry 12-24 hours before applying the next. I simply painted it on with a soft paintbrush to get a thick layer. Easy breezy!
Each coat only took me about 20 minutes!
Allow your floor to cure for 48 hours after you apply your final coat of poly before setting any heavy furniture on it!
TO WRAP IT UP
The floors made a huge difference! Then it just came down to the details which will be ever-evolving. But if you’re searching for the perfect project to update your floors without spending an arm and a leg on new tile – I encourage you to start by stenciling!
It’ll get your creative juices flowing, and you’ll be amazing at the transformation you can make!
Let me know what you think in the comments!
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