We always find winter to be an ideal time for interior home upgrades and updates — it’s too cold outside here in Nashville to mess with gardening or landscaping, or to do a lot of non-home-related stuff, so might as well get productive inside where it’s warm.
It feels good, too, to invite holiday guests over after you’ve made some fresh changes that you’re excited about.
We’ve been talking about some home projects for this year, some big, some small, and one that a few of us keep going back to: the idea of refreshing tired flooring with paint and stencils.
Fully retiling floors can be an expensive (and invasive) process, and if you’re not quite ready or able to go all the way, paint can offer a good aesthetic update. The general gist, from most DIY how-tos, involves chalk paint, stencils and a polycrylic protective finish (all easy to find at home stores or online).
It’s obviously not going to be as durable, long-term, as new tiles would be. But if you absolutely can’t stand to look at your old builder-grade tiles or linoleum anymore, and retiling isn’t feasible just yet, this DIY project is definitely something to consider.
If you haven’t seen a completed floor-stencil DIY, here are a few of our favorites — a little inspiration as you’re thinking about your own winter home projects.
Linoleum refresh from Plum Pretty Decor & Design Co.
Kayla Sheree Miller of Plum Pretty Decor & Design Co. shares a step-by-step through her totally remarkably linoleum bathroom floor refresh — one day and about $80 later, and her space looked about a thousand times better. Take a look at the DIY at plumprettydecoranddesign.com.
Epoxy paint experiment with Remington Avenue
Another option for added strength: Mysha at the Remington Avenue blog has done the stencil-paint thing a few times, and for a bathroom floor, she gave epoxy paint — usually used on garage floors — a try. She got beautiful results, and recommends the approach for durability. Check out Remington Avenue’s DIY here.
Detailed Renaissance Tile Stencils
Royal Design Studio is a good place to look if you’re shopping for stencils, and they also have a bunch of ideas/how-to rundowns to look at, including this super-detailed, super-pretty one. If you’re down to really get into it — multiple intricate stencil patterns, multiple colors — this could be a cool one to take on. Check out the full Royal Design Studio Stencils DIY here.
Bathroom floor ‘Concrete Quilt Tile Stencil’
Another one from Royal Design Studio, this stencil brings results that look a lot like a Cement Tile Shop pattern we really love, called Tulum. It’ll take you a few days to complete, but the look is pretty spot-on, and it could be a great option for a lesser-used guest bath, until you can swing proper tile replacement. Check out the full Concrete Quilt Tile Stencil DIY here.
Fireplace refresh from The Design Twins
If you don’t feel confident taking on a floor, a fireplace surround could be a perfect way to dip your toes into this trend. And The Design Twins have a DIY that shows just how great stencil-painting around a fireplace can look. The old fireplace they were working with was beyond blah, and the finished design is, clear in the above photo, a serious selling point. Check out the full fireplace DIY from The Design Twins here.
What do you think — do you like the idea of stenciling old, tired tile, or would you prefer to just wait until you have the budget for a full retiling job? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
If you’re more in the mode of moving than updating your old home, we’d love to help there, too. Reach ACRE here, and if you’d like to check out what’s on the market, take a look at some homes for sale in Nashville here.