How To Stencil Furniture With Inlay Stencils

Welcome! Cutting Edge Stencils has designed the perfect inlay furniture stencil kit that can transform any piece of furniture! While cleaning out my basement, nostalgia came rushing back when I spotted my old toy trunk from the early 90’s with a stenciled train design in the front. As I got a closer look, I couldn’t help but notice it’s high quality wood and craftsmanship. I couldn’t just give it away! I realized it was time to ditch the childish train stencil pattern and stencil a sexier, more sophisticated look with the Asha Inlay Furniture Stencil Kit (size large).

Prepping Your Furniture Before Stenciling Inlay Pattern

Remove any hardware from the furniture that will prevent the inlay furniture stencils from being easily placed on the piece.

Before stenciling furniture, it’s important to sand off any existing top coat! We used 120 grit sandpaper to remove the top coat and 220 girt sandpaper afterwards to make sure the surface was extra smooth before stenciling the inlay pattern!

For the base coat color of the trunk, we used Benjamin Moore’s Brown Horse interior paint in a flat sheen. We applied 2 coats of Brown Horse the with a 4″ dense foam roller for stenciling. Paint in a flat sheen with not only dry faster, but will also help reduce your chances of stencil seepage!

How To Use Inlay Furniture Stencils

Have you ever wondered why there are so many border stencils in the Cutting Edge Stencil’s inlay furniture stencil kits? What makes inlay furniture so unique is the different borders make up the overall design! For this inlaid trunk, we focused on layering as many borders has we could from the center and working our way out.

When it comes to stenciling, one of the best tips you can get is to add repositionable spray adhesive to the back of your inlay furniture stencils. This will help the inlay stencils stick to your furniture and reduce your chances of paint seepage.For the inlay furniture stencil pattern color we are going to use Benjamin Moore’s Flax in a flat sheen. Take a 1/2″ professional brush for stenciling and dip the tip into the paint. Pallet the brush onto the plate, really working it into the bristles. We want very little paint on the brush so if there is excess paint, offload it onto a paper towel.

To cover the most area with one stencil, we chose the larger floral stencil pattern. Pounce the brush for stenciling lightly over the inlay stencil. If some areas are more opaque than others, that’s okay! That will give your a more authentic bone inlay furniture look!

That first inlay stencil peel is so satisfying!

Onto our first border stencil! We chose the thin line inlay border stencil first because it’s a clean way to break up the floral inlay stencil patterns. However, any other border stencil you choose will look great!

Thinking Outside The Border Stencils

Real bone inlay furniture costs thousands of dollars! You can easily replicate the look of bone inlay furniture for $35 with our bone inlay furniture stencils! The best parts about stenciling furniture is the satisfaction you get from completing a stunning DIY project and reviving to an old piece from your past!

Stencil placement doesn’t have to be so outlined! When using the vine inlay stencils, place them organically to get a natural floral look!

STENCIL HACK: Use blue painters tape or pieces of paper to cover parts of the stencil pattern you don’t want to use. This is referred to as a “shied.” This will prevent unwanted paint from touching your previously stenciled inlay patterns.

Normally authentic bone inlay furniture has a busy look, but just adding just one inlay stencil design to a section of the furniture can give it a touch of simplistic beauty.

Protecting Your Stenciled Furniture

Seal your furniture with two coats water-based polyurethane. We highly recommend water-based polyurethane because the dry time is faster and it wont yellow over time! Evenly apply the top coat with a nylon/polyester brush.

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Thanks for reading and happy stenciling!