This affordable front porch makeover doesn’t take any experience and can be done in a weekend! I love how you can customize this easy DIY as much as you want to suit the style of your home!

Slowly, over the years, we have made improvements to the exterior of our home. We had the doors replaced along with the garage door. The siding was replaced a few years ago. And we have changed every little part of the landscaping. One area we haven’t really touched is the front porch, mainly because I haven’t had a clear vision for what I’d like it to look like!

Recently, one of my Instagram friends posted stunning pictures of her stenciled porch and I immediately knew that was something I wanted to take on! Stenciling is a low-cost option for updating your concrete porch or patio, and it’s not a difficult project either. Depending on the size of your porch, it will definitely take some time, but I think it’s so worth it!

I’m going to take you through the process step by step so you know exactly what to do if you feel as inspired as I was!

How to stencil a concrete porch or patio

What I used

• stencil
• stencil paint brushes – it’s good to have multiple brushes because the paint will build up
• primer
• base color
• top color
• roller covers
• paint brush for cutting in
• painters tape
• paint tray and liner
• socks – don’t wear shoes during this project to avoid tracking dirt on your fresh new porch!

How I did it

1. Find a stencil you love

I found my stencil at Cutting Edge Stencils. I fell in love with the Quilted Star Tile Stencil! It is a nod to my Pennsylvania Dutch Heritage and Tim’s mom, who is an avid quilter. I ordered the extra large size so that my pattern was big and bold.

2. Clean your surface

The next thing that needs to be done is cleaning the concrete. We used our pressure sprayer for this, which made the job really easy.

3. Prime

Once your concrete is completely dry, you can roll on a primer. The paint associate at Home Depot recommended the Behr Concrete and Masonry Bonding Primer. It is a really thin material, so be careful not to splash it everywhere when you pour it into your paint tray. I used a 1/2 inch nap roller to apply one heavy coat of the primer and let it dry 4 hours, according to the directions on the can.

4. Paint your Base Coat

I primed the front porch in the morning, so by mid afternoon I was able to start painting my base coat! Deciding on the color combination for my stencil was probably the most challenging part of this project! Originally I thought I would paint the porch white and use black or the color of our siding as the stencil. But leave it to my Instagram friends to inspire me again! I saw this porch online and was blown away by how beautiful the subtle pattern looked! I felt this would better fit my home and style.

I chose the color Rain Drop by PPG for the base color. It coordinates with the siding color perfectly. I’ll tell you later why this was so important! Home Depot tinted Behr Porch and Patio Floor Paint in my desired color and I rolled it on, just like I did with the primer. Note: I used a paint brush to cut in before rolling to make sure I didn’t get paint on the brick. I painted 2 coats of this color, waiting 4 hours between coats.

So in one day, I was able to tackle the primer and painting the entire front porch! I COULD have started stenciling another 4 hours later, but it would have been 10pm and I chose to wait until the next morning, lol.

5. Stencil

I knew I would only need a little bit of the second paint color for my stencil, but my Home Depot only carries gallons of the porch floor paint. The associate recommended I use Behr Urethane Alkyd Satin Enamel Interior/Exterior Paint. It comes in a quart and would hold up just as well as the floor paint. I wanted my second color to be white, so this paint did not need to be tinted.

I centered my stencil on my front door for the first star. I taped it into place using painters tape. After lightly dipping my stencil brush in the paint, I tapped it several times on a clean paint tray liner. You want only a small amount of paint on your brush to avoid the paint bleeding under your stencil.

I used 2 techniques with painting. The first was a quick stamping motion to cover the exposed portion of concrete. This presses the stencil against the concrete so you only apply paint to the exposed shape. The second technique was to put my paint brush on the stencil and drag inward onto the exposed concrete. I used this dragging method on the large stars rather than stamping them to save time. I made a tutorial video that you can find in the highlights on my Instagram profile. This stencil company makes it so easy to match up the design so I didn’t worry about anything looking crooked. It took me about 2 hours to stencil the entire porch, but the time flew by. And the time was completely worth it because look how gorgeous this is!!!

6. Let the paint cure

I blocked off the porch and we let the paint cure for a few days before putting anything on it. If it was a heavily used area, I would have let it cure for a week as recommended on the paint can.

The subtle pattern looks so great with the style of our home! As soon as the paint had cured, I couldn’t wait to start decorating for fall!

learn how to make this gorgeous floral wreath here!

There are still a few changes we’d like to make to the front porch area. Eventually we will replace or rebuild the column and – surprise – the whole house is getting an exterior makeover next year!!! Remember I said the base color for the porch coordinated with the siding color? That’s because the brick is going to be painted the same color as the siding and I wanted to make sure my newly painted porch complimented the new color!

Get The Look

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I hope you find some inspiration here! Stenciling can seem intimidating, but there’s nothing that paint can’t fix. I definitely had a few touch up spots, but all in all, the process was a breeze! Don’t forget to subscribe for email updates at the bottom of the page so you never miss an opportunity to be inspired! And make sure to follow along on Instagram and Facebook for more easy DIY’s, styling, and a peek inside our every day life!

xoxo, L