Hi everyone! It’s Denise from Salvaged Inspirations! Today I’m sharing an easy step by step on How To Stencil On Furniture. When I first started painting furniture, it took me a few years to work up the courage to use stencils because I was afraid I was going to ruin my freshly painted pieces. But I’m SO glad I started using them in my makeovers. Stenciling is super easy and creates SUCH GORGEOUS designs! 

So, here’s the original curb-shopped before…

Here’s what it looks like now! I’m loving this custom color and beautiful design from Dixie Belle’s brand new stencils!

Materials List:

Steps For How To Stencil Furniture:

Step 1: Lay out your design pattern

Before I do anything, I plan my design. Planning a design includes where you’d like your stencil design to appear on your furniture and what colors you will be using for your base and your stenciled design.

Step 2: Paint your basecoat

Once you have a plan for the placement and color scheme you can start painting your basecoat.

For this washstand, my basecoat was 80% The Gulf and 20% Peacock . Mixing these two colors gave me a color similar to a Tiffany Blue!

Tip~ When mixing a custom color, always make sure to mix enough so you don’t run out halfway through. It’s always better to have a little more than not enough.

Step 3: Secure position and your stencil

Once I painted two coats of my custom blue and it dried 100%, I was ready to stencil. For a clean design, it’s best to secure the stencil with a temporary spray adhesive or some painter’s tape.

Step 4: Lightly paint the stencil

To paint the stencil design, I like to use a stiff round stencil or wax brush and/or a foam roller for larger designs. Be sure not to let the stencil move or you will get messy lines where the paint seeps under the stencil.

Tips and the keys to painting a clean, crisp stencil design~

  • Load your brush or roller with paint, and then OFFLOAD the excess paint. Seriously – it should be almost DRY.
  • Dab your brush in an up and down motion, not side to side. Side to side pushes the paint “under” the stencil. You want to paint perpedicular to your stencil surface.
  • Press the stencil firmly against your furniture while the other hand dabs the paint.
  • Two light coats are way better than one heavy coat.
  • Reposition your stencil perfectly when extending the design.

To read the rest of this helpful tutorial, head on over to Salvaged Inspirations here!

About the Author

Salvaged Inspirations

Denise is a blogger, self-taught furniture artist, writer, photographer and the owner/creator of Salvaged Inspirations. She is a lover of all things vintage, repurposed and restyled. A thrift enthusiast, she’s always in pursuit of the next creative upcycle.

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