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Home Decor Stencil Tutorial: DIY Designer Rug!

written by janna August 17, 2012

DIY Stencils for Designer Home Decor

Stencils offer endless possibilities when it comes to DIY home decor projects. We recently purchased a drab sisal rug that needed some major attention, and decided on the Shipibo Allover stencil to give our rug a serious DIY makeover. If you are wanting to upgrade your home decor but don’t have the funds, this rug stenciling tutorial is a great place to start. You can find great deals on large sisal rugs and then buy a stencil to bring your decor to the next level instead of spending thousands on a designer rug. Below is the easy how-to tutorial on achieving our DIY stenciled rug:

Stenciling Supplies

This DIY home decor project doesn’t require much more than Benjamin Moore paints and your favorite stencil. We have hundreds of stencils to choose from so be sure to browse our website and pick out the perfect stencil for your space.

Here is what you’ll need for your sisal rug makeover:

Stencil (we used the Shipibo Allover stencil)
Large Stencil Brush
Benjamin Moore Brown Horse paint
Paint Can Opener
Blue Painters Tape
Styrofoam plate
Paper Towels

Prepping the Rug for Stenciling

Before stenciling you want to mask off the rug binding with your blue painters tape. This will create a nice border around the stencil pattern. Make sure that the tape fully covers the binding so that you don’t get any paint on it. Also, press the tape down nicely especially on the edge that meets the rug so that you don’t have paint bleed through.

stencil placement DIY home decor rug tutorial

Place Your Stencil and Stencil Away!

Once your sisal rug has been taped off properly, it is time to place your stencil! You want to line up the edge of the stencil design with the edge of the tape on both the top and right side. In the photo above, you can see how the stencil sheet overlaps the blue tape because I have lined up the Shipibo stencil pattern with the edges and not the actual stencil sheet. Once your stencil is nicely placed, use some blue painters tape to hold it in place. Pour some Benjamin Moore Brown Horse paint onto your styrofoam plate, load your brush, offload the excess paint and stencil away! For more detailed instructions on how to stencil be sure to check out our how-to stencil tutorial videos.

Check your Stenciling

Before getting too far into any DIY stenciling project, you want to check your work to make sure you are on the right track. Without removing any tape, lift up a corner to check your work. If you like what you see, lay the corner back down and continue. Want it to be little bit darker? Make the proper adjustments so that you get the look you want. I made the mistake of starting out too dark so that when I realized I could get a more subtle vintage look using a dense foam roller, it was too late because you can’t really remove paint.

Another Stenciled Look

Above you can see another look you can achieve by using a dense foam roller instead of a large stencil brush. By the time I discovered this alternative look it was too late because I started out using a stencil brush and getting very solid bold coverage. I would advise to start out light, check to see how it looks and then you can always make it darker. I love the way the sisal rug turned out with bold solid coverage but as a side note, if you want something less modern and bold, try using a dense foam roller to get a subtle vintage look instead. The dense foam roller technique also happens to be much faster and can be achieved in under an hour. Either way, it was well worth the couple of hours it took to get our beautiful results as well.

Aligning Your Stencils

Once you have completed your first stencil application and you have checked to make sure you like the results, lift up your stencil and re-place it to interlock the pattern (refer to the image above). Once you have aligned your stencil for the next application, tape it place and continue to stencil.

Almost Done with the Stenciling!

Continue interlocking the stencil pattern as you move across and down your rug. Before you know it you will be stenciling your last corner! Doesn’t this sisal rug already look stunning? Almost finished!

Stenciling the Edges

Once you have stenciled the majority of your sisal rug, all you need to do is fill in the edges. Simply line up your stencil with the pattern on the rug and fill in any edges that have missing elements of the design and voila! Rug stenciled, check. Edges filled, check. Now remove the blue tape covering the binding and you are finished!

DIY Home Decor Masterpiece

We really couldn’t be happier with how our DIY stenciled sisal rug turned out. Doesn’t it just transform this room? You can see from our tutorial how easy it is to achieve this stunning look! All you need is a couple of hours, your favorite stencil and a great Benjamin Moore paint color to match and this rug can be yours. It’s really that easy.

Want to see more about our DIY stenciled rug makeover? Check out our how-t0 video:

If your creative juices are flowing and you’ve been inspired to take on your own stenciled DIY home decor, this is what you can do:

Stop by our website to purchase stencils
Browse the Benjamin Moore website for awesome color combinations
Go to our Pinterest page to get more project ideas
Check out our Facebook page for updates and special promotions
View our extensive stencil video tutorials

Thanks for stopping by!

Stay tuned for more daily posts.

Yours truly

~Gabi and the Cutting Edge Stencils crew

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janna

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10 comments

Lesley Anne Kinney August 17, 2012 - 9:44 pm

Fabulous idea!

CESteam April 2, 2013 - 6:07 pm

Thank you Lesley. We agree! :)

Jena August 17, 2012 - 11:00 pm

does it make the rug feel hard on the painted spots? We have a toddler who would be crawling all over our rug, so I want to have an idea of how this would work/feel.

GabiStryker August 20, 2012 - 1:30 pm

Hi Jena,

Thanks for commenting! The paint doesn’t change the texture of the rug but sisal rugs are not very soft. There are some that are more tightly woven than others which are slightly smoother but for the most part they are not great for crawling on. If you would like to stencil a rug that is soft enough for your toddler, you can get a very nice cotton or linen one instead and stencil it. If you are worried about changing the texture of your fabric rug, you can add a little fabric medium to your paint (4:1 ratio of paint to fabric medium, you can find this at your local craft store in the craft paint section, Martha Stewart has it). Hope this helps!

Best,
~Cutting Edge Stencils

Carpets Melbourne April 2, 2013 - 12:21 pm

I’m glad that I found this blog. I am searching best design to my floors to looks more elegant then I read this blog now. I am planning to follow the design and setup and I am also wondering if where I can find this products. Hope you can help me?

Cheers!

CESteam April 2, 2013 - 6:07 pm

If you go to our site, “Cutting Edge Stencils,” you will be able to find anything stencil related….. :)
http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/

There is a search window, (site and blog), there are FAQ and videos, so please take a look and let us know if you have more questions.
Thanks!!

Gold Coast Carpets May 23, 2013 - 2:12 pm

Outstanding, it looks easy but you have to be skilled enough to create something like this, will definitely try it with some old rug.

CESteam May 24, 2013 - 10:36 am

Not that difficult, especially if you watch our “How to Stencil Videos” >> http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/how-to-stencil-videos.html

Cherry December 4, 2014 - 5:03 pm

Hi there, glad that I came across with this. I have a large beige sisal rug but unfortunately someone spilled a small amount of coffee! Although we only have had the rug for a year, dirt started to show as well so I am thinking whether painting a pattern on it will cover the stain? Will you advise me whether it is a good idea? Also wondering what pattern /colour will be best for it to last long especially if I want to use in a high traffic area like lounge? Many thanks! Cherry

CESteam December 5, 2014 - 10:35 am

Hi Cherry,
Yes, a pattern will help distract the eye and minimize how noticeable stains are on a sisal rug. Choose a color that works well for your room. Picking a pattern is a personal choice. Select one that you love since all of our stencils can be used on a rug. The Shipibo is great choice for beginners http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/shipibo-craft-stencil.html. As far as paint goes, you can use an acrylic craft paint. Martha Stewart makes a great all purpose craft paint that would be perfect for your project. Good luck with your project!