How to Update a Cabinet Door with Multilayer Stenciling
Give a plain brown cabinet door old-world style with multiple layers of stenciling. We show you how.
What You Need
- Screwdriver
- Sandpaper
- Tack cloth
- Latex primer
- Painter's tape
- Brushes: Paintbrush, stencil brush, foam brush, spatter brush
- Wiping cloth
- Stencils: rope motif, tile motif
- Stencil adhesive
- Cream-color flat-finish latex paint
- Flat-finish acrylic paints: Burnt Umber, Titanium White, Pure Black, White
- Glazing medium
- Polyurethane
How to Make It
- Remove cabinet doors and drawers, and then remove hardware. Lightly sand all cabinet surfaces to be painted. Wipe away sanding dust with a tack cloth. Lay the doors flat and apply primer on sanded surfaces; let dry. Apply two coats of cream latex paint, allowing the paint to dry after each coat.
Note: The tile motif consists of a base stencil and three overlays. The rope motif consists of a base stencil and two overlays. To get these results, paint the tile and rope motifs using a monochromatic color scheme, adding shadows and highlights later. - Lightly spray the back of the tile stencil with adhesive. Center it on a cabinet door. Working from the outside in, paint using Burnt Umber and a stencil brush; let dry. Add a little Titanium White to Burnt Umber, then stencil the first overlay and let dry. Add more Titanium White to Burnt Umber for a lighter shade; stencil the second overlay and let dry. Repeat for the final overlay.
- Shade the tile-motif edges with medium Burnt Umber; highlight the center with Titanium White; let dry. Shade with Pure Black, and highlight with white; let dry.
- Use Burnt Umber to stencil the rope motifs; let dry. Use two of the tile-motif paint mixtures to stencil the two rope overlays.
- For the drawers use the center portion of the tile stencil, taping off the other areas; apply the same colors as on the doors; let dry.
- Thin Burnt Umber with water. Use a toothbrush or spatter brush to spatter the mixture on the cabinets; let dry.
- Create a 2:2:1:10 mixture of Burnt Umber, Pure Black, Titanium White, and glazing medium. Apply mixture to cabinets with a foam brush, and then wipe glaze mixture off with a cloth, leaving extra in the crevices.
- Let the glaze mixture dry for two days.
- Apply two coats of polyurethane, letting each coat dry thoroughly.
Sources for Stencils
Dressler Stencil Co., www.dresslerstencils.com; L.A. Stencilworks, www.lastencil.com; Design Studios, www.royaldesignstudio.com; Trimbelle River Studio & Design, www.trimbelleriver.com