Stenciled Painted Floor Tile

*This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of DWIL; however, they were highly vetted and tested among other brands before I chose to collaborate. All opinions shared are that of my own and this review and tutorial is based on everything I learned through the brand comparisons, DIY process, and quality assurance I personally completed.*

I had a bathroom floor that was less than ideal. Old finish, dingy tiles…you know the look. I am in no position to demo an entire bathroom right now with the holidays around the corner (nor do I really want to), so I went with a budget-friendly, SIMPLE solution that has completely blown me away. I painted my floor tiles and grout with DWIL’s floor coating kit and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the quality of the product. My floors are durable, scratch-resistant, slip-resistant, and I can honestly say that I can feel the difference between this paint and ANY one you’d pick up at your local hardware store.

I’m going to share the steps I took to achieve the look on the floor and everything I used below, but you can watch it on my Instagram Reel to see the whole process in 50 seconds.

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A post shared by Rachel Kemper | Attainable DIYer (@growingupkemper)

Materials Used

DWIL Floor Coating Kit in white and dark grey **Use code RACHEL30 for 30% off your order on DWIL!

Orbital sander with 150 grit sandpaper

Mat board for a stencil

Painters tape

Process

The materials are short because DWIL takes care of almost everything for you! Each floor coating kit includes painters tape and plastic wrap, cleaning solution and sponge, paint brush, roller and roller handle, gloves, paint, and durable top coat. This cuts the added expenses MAJORLY and saves you time in gathering all the necessary supplies.

I started off by sanding my existing tiles with my orbital sander and 150 grit sandpaper (my favorites linked above). This roughens the surface to allow the paint to adhere properly. You don’t need to spend much time sanding. Just enough to roughen the tiles up slightly. Vacuum dust and debris off your tiles.

Next, using the included cleanser, I thoroughly cleaned the tiles with the sponge according to the package directions. Don’t skip this step! Any remaining residue will shine through when you’re painting the floor.

I vacuumed the floor two more times after this step to ensure EVERYTHING was off the tiles. I also now closed off the door so no one could come in and out during the remainder of the time. I did have some dog hairs still float in and I just used my finger to pick those up as I was working.

Prepwork: check! Now it’s time to paint!

DWIL makes it so simple to work through this process by labeling EVERYTHING. To start, you being with mixing 1A and 1B. Simple, right? 1B happens to be a hardener that creates a magical top coat on the paint to make it so strong and scratch-resistant!

Working in 3′ x 3′ sections, I painted the grout lines first with the included paint brush and then used the paint roller to roll over the top of the tiles and grout lines. This helped smooth out any strokes from the paint brush. Continue through your room until the first coat is completed.

Allow to dry for approximately 2 hours; although it did dry much faster. You just don’t want to step too early and get toe prints in your work!

Follow the same process for the 2nd coat, working all around your room. You may need a 3rd coat if your base tiles are darker and paint is a lighter color.

I allowed my final coat to dry for 24 hours before working on my stencil. In my world, better safe than sorry!

To create my stencil, I measured my tiles and sketched it on a mat board first and then began experimenting with the design I would like to achieve. When I was happy with my stencil, I cut out and began tracing the stencil on each tile. For my specific stencil, I drew on one tile and then flipped the stencil over to do the tile beside. I continued working through the entire room until every tile was drawn. For edge pieces, I did end up creating a few extra stencils and cutting them to appropriately fit each edge.

For the first coat of the stencil, I roughly painted the inside of each stenciled space grey with the paint brush. I did this for the first and second coat of the dark grey.

Next, I went along with painters tape and made crisp, straight lines on the floor. I used a small artist brush to then go through and paint the straight edges for two coats. I wasn’t able to do all of them at the same time as some of the tape would overlap, so I did do one set of straight lines first, removed the tape, and then placed down the remaining painters tape on the lines that I had missed the first time.

When doing the arc, I just went for it. I had it sketched in pencil so I had a guide to follow but I just used a steady hand and a small artist brush and created the arcs.

I allowed the floor tiles to sit for a full 48 hours before applying the included top coat. The process is much the same as painting where I mixed together 2A and 2B, worked in sections roughly 3′ x 3′, painted the grout lines with a paint brush, and then finished with a paint roller.

Per instructions, allow the top coat a full 48 hours to cure before using your space.

After one full week of use, I can tell what a massive difference this specific paint is compared to anything you can buy at your local home improvement store. It’s a thick coating with a subtle shine, scratch-resistant, slip-resistant, and adheres so strongly to the tile below. I’ve painted tile before, but this…THIS…is a strong paint.

If you are a person that doesn’t like the look of your current tile, but doesn’t have the finances nor the desire to demo an entire room and retile, this is an amazing solution to solve your problem! And DWIL has blown me away with how well their product achieved exactly what they needed to achieve. Now I have a dream bathroom for my kids that I accomplished in just one week time!

Follow along here at growingupkemper.com, on Instagram @growingupkemper, Pinterest @growingupkemper, and on LTK for all the attainable DIY, tips, tricks, and inspiration!

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