What could be done to make an awesome visual impact and change the kitchen without the mess and expense of a complete kitchen makeover? Using a little paint, a stencil, and some time, this eye catching island is sure to draw in the compliments.
Psst! Tinged Blue’s kitchen island idea was featured by Heirloom Traditions Paint in March 2020! With over 450+ likes on their Facebook page!
Supplies
- Stencil(s) Palladium 8″ tile stencil
- Paint for base coat ( left over blue paint from my dinning room table)
- Paint for stencil ( left over white paint from my kitchen table)
- Stencil Brush
- Tape Measure
- Â Masking tape/painter’s tape
- 2 1/2 inch, or your preference, paint brush
- Tarp or drop cloth/old towel
- Paper Towels
- Straight Edge
- Level
- Chalk
- Permanent Marker
- Scissors
- Stir Stick to mix paint
- Artist’s brush for possible touch ups
Instructions
Step 1:
Dust off baseboard and wipe down the wall to remove any dust, splatters or spills. Use painter’s tape to tape off baseboard, molding, or cabinets that edge the dry walled part of the kitchen island.
Step 2:
Paint the entire section of the island with the base coat of paint after stirring the paint really well for about two minutes. Be sure to scrape from the bottom of the jar or can and pull up as you stir. It is important to incorporate all of the pigment in evenly with the rest of the paint.
Let dry between coats. I had to do four coats of paint and it still wasn’t completely solid in color. That was fine since I wanted a mottled undercoat to make the tile look more believable. The stencil design would cover any imperfection in the paint coverage. Don’t get me wrong, I still wanted full coverage of the base coat. It just didn’t need to be uniformly dark.
**Of course Percy, aka the King of Inconvenience had to make his presence known when I was attempting to photograph this step. Silly pup!***
TIP: With so many coats of paint over the masking tape, when removing, it wanted to lift up the dried paint along the edges. Prevent this by lightly running a utility knife, or the likes, along the edge of the tape and the paint to cut the bind that was created.
Step 3:
Once the base coat is dry, find the center of the island wall and mark it both horizontally and vertically with the chalk.
TIP:Â Using chalk helps to mark important things while still being easy to remove when needed. Just wipe off with a damp cloth to remove it.
TIP: Typically I would line the center of the stencil up with the center of the wall, but in this case I decided that the top of the island wall wasn’t going to be highly visible and therefore it would be easier to line the stencil up along the baseboard. This way the only “cut” stenciled tiles would be along the top and side edges instead of all along the perimeter, it would save some labor.
Step 4:
Find the center of the stencil and draw the vertical and horizontal center lines with the permanent marker and straight edge on the stencil so that they form a cross in the middle. This helps to line things up for the first stencil placement and makes things easier down the road.
The original stencil that I purchased had a manufacturer’s defect. It looked like the laser that cut out the stencil accidentally cut out part of the design that should not have been cut. The Royal Design Studio Stencils were absolutely fabulous with their customer service and expressed me another Palladium Tile 8″ stencil free of charge. I didn’t want to waste the original stencil, so I used it on the edges. The imperfect stencil was cut so that I still had one damage free stencil to use on a future project.
TIP: Purchasing two stencils makes things much easier on corners or edges where a full sized stencil will not lay flat. Use the additional stencil by cutting away the edges that are not needed. Be careful to think your cuts through and start with the cuts that have the least impact on your stencil first!
Step 5:
Line the stencil up with the center of the island. I lined mine up with the center horizontally, but cut off the bottom solid border of the stencil so the pattern would be flush with the baseboard. Use the level to be sure the stencil is straight.
Tape stencil in place with the painter’s tape.
TIP:Â Tape at least two to three sides of the stencil to keep it from shifting as you add paint by pouncing with the paint brush.
Step 6:
Apply a small amount of paint to the stencil brush. Dab the brush onto a paper towel until most of the paint is removed. You want to do what is called a “dry brush” technique. The brush has most of the paint removed and will leave a light coat of paint behind. **See the link to Stencil Tips and Tricks at the bottom of this post.
This seems counter intuitive, right? If you want to have a solid coat of paint, use more paint. WRONG! If there is too much paint on the brush it will bleed under the edges of the stencil pattern and look sloppy. I’ll admit that when I wrote this I totally had Dwight Schrute voice pop into my head. Ha ha!
Use a pouncing motion, like a tap, tap, tap all over the stencil. You will probably have to apply paint multiple times to fully cover the stencil. The bonus is that the paint coat is so light that it dries really quickly. Apply the second coat right after you finish the first coat and before you move the stencil.
TIP:Â Use painter’s tape along the baseboard, molding, and cabinetry edges to prevent the stencil paint from transferring. I didn’t worry about it too much against the white trim, but I did tape off the dark cabinet.
Step 7:
Repeat this process. I strayed from the normal pattern as listed in the stenciling guide link below. Being rebellious, I ping ponged along the bottom edge and then built my way up. See photos.
At any rate, repeat this process, breaking it up as necessary for your arm, neck, and back. Be sure to fully wash out your brush when you take a prolonged break. I did all of the full squares in one day and left the corners and partial edges for the second day.
Step 8:
Rounded corners are a little tricky. Wrap the stencil as carefully and as flatly as you can around the corner. Start with the side that lines up with the pattern, tape that edge down and then wrap it flush around the corner and tape the remaining part of the stencil down. Starting with the bottom edge will make lining up the pattern slightly easier. There will most likely be some fuzzy stencil parts where it was difficult to hold down all the parts of the stencil while pouncing. That is just fine, it can be touched up with an artist’s brush later.
Step 9:
Once the corners are complete, use the cut stencil to do the remaining top portion along the edge. I lined up the stencil and marked where the edge hit and then drew a straight line on the stencil with the permanent marker. Cut away the unnecessary portion with the scissors. Use the stencil as before to finish the pattern.
Step 10:
Use the artist’s brush to do any touch ups where necessary. Remove the tape and then stand back and admire your handy work.
FAQ’s
How do I know which colors will work together?
That is mostly a personal preference, but if you want to make a bold statement go with a high value contrast. For my island the dark value was the blue and the light value was the white. It can also look amazing to have a lower contrast, more subtle pattern. For example a light gray and white.
How do I choose a color(s)?
Look around your home and see what colors you tend to look for or use often. I use blue a lot. In the dining room that same blue from the island is on the base of the dining table. Blue has also made an appearance on the archways from the entry to the front room and dining room and on the throw pillows. In the kitchen, there is a pop of that same blue on some of my hand painted Italian pottery collection and on my everyday dishes. So, what color do you like and use often around your home?
Still not sure which color to use?
If you are looking to really change things up, look in your closet at home and go with a color that you love to wear and feel good in. That will probably be a color that you enjoy seeing and would like in your home.
Which stencil pattern should I choose?
There are a lot of patterns to choose from. What look are you going for? I wanted a tile look so I chose a tile patterned stencil. Again, I looked around at items that were already in my home and found a similar pattern or shape in them. Look at the picture above. That same type of basic pattern is on my cereal bowls, in the shape of a mirror and on the throw pillows. That is how I chose my stencil pattern. I liked a lot of the other tile stencils, but the designs didn’t quite echo the feel of my home as well.
What size stencil should I get?
Measure the island or wall width and then chose based on the over all measurements. Which size does enough repeat of the pattern to seem right? Which size would repeat enough to notice the pattern, but not so much that it looked dizzy? The 12×12″ size would have only been repeated a little over twice for the height on my island (10 times overall). The 8×8″ size repeated three and a half times on my island height (28 times overall). The 6×6″ size would have repeated about five times for the height of my island (50 times overall). Just like Goldilocks, you have to find the one that suits you best. The large size seemed like it didn’t repeat enough and the small size seemed like it repeated too often, so I went with the medium size and it felt just right. (I am the mama bear, after all. 🙂 )
Does it matter which type of paint I use to stencil?
In short, no. They make stenciling creams, which are nice and thick but often don’t come in the exact desired shade . I have used craft paint, house paint, furniture paint and chalk paint to do stencils. Each type of paint I have used has worked just fine. It is all in how you load the brush. When it comes to loading the paint on the brush: Less is More!
Thank you so much for reading my post. Enjoy personalizing your kitchen island and be sure to share the pictures of your kitchen island ideas on the Facebook group page: Tinged Blue or tag me on Instagram at mytingedblue
You know I love some good DIY and what I love even more is helping you to make a house a home!💙
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Gorgeous! I love the updated look.. I have been seeing islands with patterns on them quite a bit lately.
Just finished the backsplash yesterday to help set a backdrop for the island, so look for that post in the next few weeks. 🙂