DIY: Painting Vinyl Tile

 According to The Stones, we can't always get what we want, but if we try sometimes, we get what we need. Well, in this case, what I wanted was a cheerful vintage reproduction vinyl tile for the master closet in the Project House. Specifically I wanted this one from Floorpops called Sevilla. Unfortunately it was out of stock everywhere that was a legitimate source. I could still have gotten it if I wanted to pay twice the price for half the tiles on Amazon. I did not.

I would have settled for this one called Remy, but it was also unavailable. It did remind me of a stencil that I had considered at one point and then rejected due to the price. Thus was born a bright idea. I would paint my own vintage looking tiles.

Step 1: Decide on the design. I decided to go with the Remy design, but simplified it even more to suit my minimalist taste. However I stuck with the colors from the Sevilla tile since that is what I really loved about it. If you are going to hand paint tiles, you might as well personalize them and get EXACTLY what you want right?

Step 2: Buy inexpensive tiles. Obviously I was looking for something that I could create a vintage design on, but if I had just wanted a beach/coastal vibe, I could have bought anything stamped with a wood design and rolled on a coat of white or any other light color. The same could be done with gray paint on a wood stamped tile for a rustic look. I got these at my local lumber yard for $22 for 45 of them. I need at least 30 and would have been looking at around $100 to get the ones I wanted. I liked the diamond in the middle and decided to keep it as part of my design.

Step 3: Chalk paint--because it sticks to anything. $15 for the little pot of Amy Howard, and I think it will do all of the tiles. Again, another opportunity to personalize your tile. You can do a rustic chalky coat with a sponge brush like I did or roll on a couple of coats with a sponge roller for a smoother more polished look. My neighbor saw these and thought I should stop at this step. I have to admit that when I had 20 of them laying out together it did look good and would have been very pretty, but I had a goal in mind!

Step 4: Make a stencil. I printed out half the design in order to get it close to 12 by 12 size. I cut out the parts I wanted and then traced them onto a plastic place mat from the Family Dollar using a Sharpie. It was easy to trace half and then flip it to create the full center design and I only needed one for the corners. I then cut out a pattern that I traced on to the tiles. It's sort of a reverse stencil.  You could easily use a utility knife to create a regular stencil.

Step 5: Trace the design onto the tile with a pen or pencil and then paint it. I used left over interior and exterior latex paint from other projects to create the design. I plan to seal the tiles with Varathane once they are all in place. It probably isn't necessary since it's a closet and won't get much traffic and that will mostly be bare feet, but it will give it a nice shine.

As a side note, it would save both time and money to simply paint and stencil the floor if it is in good enough condition to do so. 

When it comes to home improvement, you really can't always get what you want, but if you try, you just might find, you save some money and wind up with a personalized end result you like even better!