How to Stencil & Seal Bathroom Tile

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This is where I left off last week, we had primed and painted the tile in this tutorial. If you like the look of solid tile, you could seal it up and stop here but I had a different vision in mind. Just like my painted floor downstairs, I wanted to use a stencil to make it look like cement tiles that are so popular these days. So this post is all about stenciling bathroom tile – this takes your painted tile up a notch!

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How to Stencil Bathroom Tile to Look Like Patterned Cement Tile

I’m using the same pattern I used on my floor, but I had this stencil custom made a bit smaller. I wanted my pattern to take up 4 tiles so it wouldn’t be too busy visually. I measured the width of 2 tiles and had my stencil made to this size. This is the Etsy shop where the stencil came from, you just select the size you need!

The easy part about stenciling bathroom tile (or any tile for that matter) is that you use the grout lines to keep the stencil straight, lining it up exactly in the center. Works perfectly! I used a bit of painters tape on each side to keep the stencil in place while I painted.

Using a foam roller and paint – I chose to use Drop Cloth as my stencil color because it just about perfectly matches the off white tub – paint that stencil! I just pour a little paint on a paper plate and use that to roll in, don’t get too much paint! In fact you can roll excess paint off on a paper towel if you need to. Then roll over your stencil.

I think this “cement tile” look I’m going for lends itself to a bit of distressing, so I wasn’t too particular about getting a solid painted pattern, a bit of the faded look you sometimes get with the roller was okay with me.

Alternate sections so you allow one section to dry, skipping around as you go so the tape doesn’t mess up the wet paint. This was a little tedious and time consuming, so by the time I made it around the first time, the initial stencil was dry and I could just start the pattern again.

I washed the stencil in warm water every few uses, no big deal to just rinse it off in the sink.

Once the pattern was completely dry, it was time to seal the stenciled bathroom tile to protect it against water. I used Gator Hide to seal it, it’s water resistant, and the toughest water based topcoat around. It’s a bit thick, so I added a little bit of water to it to thin it out just a bit. I applied it with a Dixie Belle Mini brush, just working it into all the grout lines.

There were a few places where the tiles met the tub that were really hard to get to with the roller. I used a small paint brush to touch up the pattern and get it as clean a design as possible. It’s not perfect by any means, but unless you really look for it, you don’t see the little mistakes here and there.

I did end up applying two coats of Gator Hide just to be sure it was good and sealed. We’ve used the bath tub since and I splashed water on it on purpose – it just beads up and wipes right off.

So, what do you think?! I LOVE it! It’s not perfect by any means, but what a difference from the creamy striped metallic tile I was starting with. This tub makes a statement!

Blue, black and white for the win in this bathroom! I added a barn wood shelf above the tub perfect to hold a candle, extra wash cloths, etc. It’s the perfect spot to decorate with a bit of character.

You can see the tub is right next to the bathroom cabinets I painted, it all coordinates just perfectly.

Well, is stenciled bathroom tile for you?? Even though I did this in our bathroom, I think the exact same method could be used for kitchen back splash tile, floor tile (perhaps with another coat of sealer) or any other tile you just want to change the look of!