How to Use Multiple Stencils on Furniture
Stenciling furniture lets you make over an older wooden chair or coordinate mismatched pieces of wooden furniture. A stencil is a flexible piece of plastic with a design cut out of it. You'll find stencils at any craft, fabric or discount department stores. Tape the stencil to a flat portion of wooden furniture, such as the seat or back of a chair, and fill in the design with paint. Layer more than one stencil to create a dimensional design for your furniture.
Things You'll Need
- Rag
- Oil-based paint
- Paintbrush
- Stencils
- Tape
- Acrylic paints
- Paper plates
- Spray-on clearcoat
Instructions
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Clean your furniture with a damp rag or give the piece of furniture a fresh base coat of an oil-based paint. Allow this to dry for 24 hours before attempting to stencil or the acrylic paint of the stencils will not adhere.
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Pick a flat portion of the furniture to add your stencil design. Imagine what you want the finished project to look like. Think in layers. Choose the stencil you imagine would be the bottom layer, such as leaves underneath flowers, an ocean scene with a coral reef and fish or a woodland scene with trees, grass and animals. The stencil you want in the foreground is the last one you'll use. The number of layers you'll use depends on your design. Limit your layers to three to four.
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Take the stencil for the background layer, such as ocean plants, forest trees or leaves and tape it to your furniture. Use whatever tape you have on hand. Using painter's tape on a freshly painted surface provides more protection.
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Add the first color of paint to a paper plate. Dab your paintbrush into the paint. Brush the paint through the stencil's openings onto the work surface. Remove the stencil carefully. Allow the paint to dry for four to six hours.
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Inspect your first layer, making sure it looks good (no significant drips or smudges) and all the stenciled shapes are correct. Place the next stencil over the first layer of paint. Pay attention to placement--place the flower directly in the center of the leaves, a fish off to the side of the plants or a bunny underneath a tree. Tape in place and paint. Remove the stencil carefully. Allow the paint to dry for another four to six hours.
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Use the remaining stencils to complete all of the layers of your painting. Finish with your foreground layer, which often provides the scene's details. Think grass in the woods, bubbles in the ocean or the decorative middle of the flower. After carefully removing each stencil, let each layer of paint dry for four to six hours.
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7
Spray a clearcoat finish over your stenciled design to protect it from scratches.
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Tips & Warnings
Using different brush strokes adds definition to stencil layers. Use a regular flat brush and strokes for the bottom layer, but use a scruffy brush and a pouncing technique (dab your paintbrush down onto the stenciling area) to create a look that is not flat.
Don't worry if a little bit of paint from one layer looks messy at first. Put the stencil for the next layer over it and see if that will cover the messy spot. This keeps from having to do a lot of touch-ups.
