Though I love many of the original features of our 1920s Craftsman home, the fireplace tile wasn’t one of them. It’s a boring square brick tile that the previous owners painted over with grey paint. Nothing special. One of my first projects the first year we were in our home was painting the fireplace floor something more fun. I used some grey, black and white latex paint to make a gingham design. It was really fun and playful, and we enjoyed it for a few years. However, our living room style evolved to a more bohemian look, so it didn’t really go anymore.
One of the motifs in our home is a geometric star pattern. Our two bathrooms have star tile, several light fixtures and home decor items are star patterned, and our upcoming kitchen tile redo will be star tile as well. It seemed like a no brainer to make the fireplace tile stars too!
I found this Spanish Star Floor Tile Stencil on Etsy for $10 with shipping. I already had leftover white, black and grey paint from the past fireplace painting project, so I went with those colors. I contemplated something more colorful, but I already have so much color going on in the living room. I figured it should be more neutral, while still being interesting.
Armed with a stencil, paint, and a cheap stencil stippling brush, I was ready to go!
I’ll admit, I forgot to take many pictures while I was doing this project. However, I found a link for a great break down on doing fireplace tile with a stencil. Their version is for a working fireplace, so it requires a certain type of paint. My fireplace doesn’t function so I didn’t have to worry about that. They also used a roller brush, while I used a stippling brush. Whichever way you apply your paint though, just make sure its not bogged down with too much paint! Less is better, you want a really light coat so it doesn’t bleed beyond the stencil. However, if it does bleed, just use a tiny paintbrush to touch up.
After I did each tile with the stencil, and let them dry, I used gray paint to paint the grout line. I wanted them to look like real tile. However, my friend who borrowed the tile stencil did not do a grout line and it looked equally as great!
If you want any easy, cheap makeover, this is the project! These stencils also can be used on flooring, but you have to do alot of prep work to prevent scratching. This project was less tedious because the fireplace floor gets virtually no foot traffic.
I hope you enjoyed this mini transformation!
traverseinstyle.com 