How to Use a Stencil on Painted Furniture

If you’ve never done any stencilling before, it can be quite intimidating, but it really is quite easy, so we'll show you the basics to help you get started.

For this demo we’ll use a cute bicycle stencil from StencilGirl. They have many great designs to choose from, so definitely go and check them out! In this tutorial we’ve painted this 5x7 board in Vanilla Frosting and are going to use the color Harmony for the stencilling.

If you'd rather watch a video, we also have a video tutorial available in the last step!

All of the paint and brushes used in this tutorial are available on our website at www.countrychicpaint.com.

With a small stencil like this, you can just hold it down with your hand. However, for larger projects, we suggest using either some painters tape or stencil adhesive.

We recommend using one of our wax brushes for stencilling, as they make great stencil brushes, but you can also use a foam stencil brush or a dense foam roller (for larger projects, such as walls). Load a little bit of paint on the tip of your brush and then dab it dry on a piece of paper towel. One of the most important things to keep in mind with stencilling is that you want to use a brush that is almost dry.

Now you are going to apply the paint to your stencil. You can either pounce the brush lightly, or use a light swirl, a technique we thinks works best with a brush. Make sure you don't apply too much pressure. It’s better to slowly build up your paint coat and take your time. This helps to avoid bleeding underneath the stencil.

Immediately after applying paint, carefully remove the stencil and there you go: all done!

If there is a bit of bleed through that you don't like, you can take a small artist brush to touch it up a bit.

Watch this video to see company co-founder, Rosanne using the stencilling technique first hand!