DIY Stenciled Rug

I have recently discovered Royal Design Studio and fell in love with their line of stylish and pretty stencils. My first project was a bookcase that I loved so I was feeling brave enough to try something a little different. I was brainstorming for ideas for a CityLine DIY and thought a rug would be a fun project. Stenciling a rug is a fun and easy way to add colour and pattern to a room. Now, when I say easy, I mean it is not difficult. But I am not going to lie to you, it is a bit of a workout!

I started with an Ikea Egeby rug:

I then taped the edges because I wanted to keep the trim in the natural colour. Once taped, I primed the entire rug using a foam roller. Trust me when I tell you NOT to skip this step. Because of the texture of the rug, it soaks up a ton of paint. Priming will save you time and paint. Then roll on the base colour. For this rug I chose Benjamin Moore's Simply White.

Then comes the fun part...choosing a stencil! I knew I wanted a pattern with a lot of detail. This Lisboa Tile stencil is perfect, don't you think?

For a larger area rug like this, I suggest placing the first stencil in the centre of the rug. Measure it from every side and angle to make sure it is centred and straight, then tape in place.

Now comes what I call the Dip and Dab: dip your stencil brush in the paint, dab off any access on a paper towel and then start filling in the stencil with paint. I used Benjamin Moore's Pool Blue. Once you have the first one finished, line up the next one and continue the pattern. This stencil is a single overlay, which makes it easy to align each one. I would still measure from every side for a rug of this size just to make sure.

When you are done, you will have turned a neutral rug into a beautiful custom piece. And probably have lost a few calories along the way. Here is how mine turned out: