Art Nouveaux Stencil Floor – A How-To

In this surprisingly spacious NYC apartment, located in Soho, the client wanted a stained stencil pattern on the floor. After looking through many designs, we agreed on an Art Nouveaux stencil pattern that showed a lot of class and character. Pierre Finkelstein of Grand Illusion Decorative Painting shows you how he created this finish.

HOW TO CREATE THIS FINISH

Use our step-by-step instruction below

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Here is a list of the tools & supplies you will need to achieve this technique. Supplies available at fauxbrushes.com are linked below and listed at the bottom of the page.

Stencil
Snap Line
Chalk Pencil
Blue Tape
Denatured Alcohol
Wallpaper Plastic Blade
Matte Medium
Rondin Brush
Dura Seal
Softener brush

DESIGN

STEP 1 – DESIGN: The floor was designed on a computer for client review. The approved design was sent to the laser stencil company to cut.

MAKE STENCIL

STEP 2 – MAKE STENCIL: The approved design was printed larger and shipped back for testing.

MAKE SAMPLE

STEP 3 – MAKE A SAMPLE: After discussions about tones of stains, this is the approved sample.

PROPER PREPARATION

STEP 4 – PROPER PREPARATION: The painting contractor stained and sealed the floor with varnish. The area was cleansed thoroughly, as any dust could cause great problems with the stencil adhesion.

DEFINE STENCIL AREA

STEP 5 – DEFINE STENCIL AREA: After the floor varnish is cured, measurements are made with a snap line and chalk pencil. The sticker stencil from the laser company is laid out to let it relax flat.

TRANSFER THE STENCIL

STEP 6 – TRANSFER THE STENCIL: The section was lined up, the protective backing removed and then carefully flipped over in order to stick it in place. You have one shot to make it right. Be sure the stencil is in the correct position. If it doesn’t go on smoothly, you can get bubbles in the stencil which causes a problem later on.

Most of the outer border sections came out pretty well. Some sections had some bubbles. A wallpaper plastic blade was used to burnish the stencil before removing the protective backing. The blue part is the stencil.

After the border, the main pattern sections were loosely placed. GIDP had to do some fudging to get the lines to match up — there’s always an expected degree of error with these projects.

The main pattern was laid. Big pieces went down easier than the skinny border with less bubbling

FINAL STENCIL TOUCH UPS

STEP 7 – FINAL STENCIL TOUCH UPS: Blue tape are band-aids for ripped or messed up sections. It’s important to burnish these areas very well.

SEAL THE EDGES

STEP 8 – SEAL THE EDGES: Before the staining began, Acrylic Medium was used to seal every single edge of the stencil pattern. This tape sealing trick works incredibly well to prevent bleeding. With a thin medium-like wood stain, it could easily slip under the tape.

APPLY THE STAIN

STEP 9 – APPLY THE STAIN: Using a custom mixture of a tinted oil stain. The mixture was mostly applied with the Rondin Brush and then softened with a Softener.

REMOVE THE STENCIL

STEP 10 – REMOVE THE STENCIL: When the stain is dry, the tedious process of removing the sticker stencil began. A variety of sharp tools were used to peel off the tape and sticker.