Stenciling a floor is a fantastic design option when looking to transform a space with color and pattern. But what about when you need something to treat a floor quickly and temporarily? A long-time customer of Royal Design Studio stencils, Dee Cunningham of Deelite Design, found herself with just this design dilemma. She didn't want to paint the design directly onto the floor itself because it was in really rough shape and wouldn't be durable without a good amount of prepwork. She also liked the option of taking the project with her if she moved -- she didn't want to leave all her hard work behind! And finally, she knew her new studio space had been known to flood. She found herself with a fantastic solution that was transportable AND durable: a Stenciled Floorcloth!
Stenciled floorcloths (sometimes referred to as oil cloths or floor canvases) have quite a bit of history to them and many artists use various methods to achieve their desired results. Dee was looking for something that was easy to create. She was excited when fellow artist Lynne Rutter advised that she had a linoleum rug in her basement that had made it through a flood and when she chanced upon a stenciled vinyl floorcloth tutorial by Melanie Royals, she decided to go for it!
At a home center, she had them cut a 9' x 12' piece out of thick vinyl material. She primed and painted the back side with XIM and then Off-White SetCoat. The whole room was going to be dictated by the stenciled floorcloth and so she turned to a favorite store, Anthropologie, for inspiration on rug and color composition. All the stencils she used were from Royal Design Studio and included the Uzbek Suzani Stencil for the center, the Nova Trellis Stencil for the wider side panels, the Scallops Allover Stencil for the shorter wide panels and the Star Diamonds Moroccan Furniture Stencil for the top & bottom end pieces.
She drew out composition sketches with the patterns and kept in mind that "it's only paint". She explains, "I was more interested in the color interactions within each area and let the stencils dictate how I worked them out. I re-did the end sections at least three times and the center once before I was happy with it. I used leftover paints from other projects to mix my own colors, referencing images I had saved where the color palette spoke to me." Once she was happy with the patterns and color scheme, she let the floorcloth dry thoroughly and applied two coats of her preferred topcoat, Varathane polyurethane.
Doesn't she look happy with her results? We love them, too! Many thanks to Dee for sharing her floorcloth stencil project and process with us -- be sure to check out her fab blog for more Dee-lightful painting projects! Don't forget to also click into Melanie's How to Stencil a Floorcloth tutorial as she gives step-by-step instructions and visuals for creating your own. Of course, feel free to pin these pics and follow Royal Design Studio on Facebook and Twitter for more stencil love!
MORE stencil inspiration coming your way -- we love sharing ideas!
- Janet Metzger from The Empty Nest shows how to create a stenciled floorcloth with the Indian Floral Wall Stencil!
- Using Chalk Paint® decorative paint to create a gorgeous and classic stenciled floorcloth!
- What about a blah rug? Stellar Junk shows you her Stenciled Rug Redo and Vintage Revivals shows off her Stenciled Rug Makeover!
- Check out our Four on the Floor post for stenciling ideas for various floor surfaces!
- You can never go wrong with peeking into both the Stenciled & Painted Floors and Stenciled Concrete boards on Pinterest!
Have an inspired day filled with Stencil-bilities!
