How to Stencil a Rug

Jute rugs are made of fiber, a natural material both durable and elegant. Stylish and comfortable, these floor covering rugs are made of fine and soft material ideal for moderate traffic rooms such as living rooms and bedrooms.

A way to personalize your jute rug inexpensively is by decorating it with stencils and stencil paint. This craft is a great way to add a new look to your home by simply painting decorative borders to fit beautifully with your color scheme and style. Adding a little detail to your rug with stencil painting is easy and fun. Just follow these easy steps:

Step 1 – Preparing the Rug and Working Area

Clean your rug thoroughly before you start preparing it for the stencil paint. Choose a flat surface to work on, either a table or on the floor. To avoid mess, it is recommended to cover your working area with newspapers. This will save you time from cleaning afterwards or damaging surfaces or floor wood.

Step 2 – Choosing your Decoration

Most common stencil painting on rugs are border decorations. Once you choose what type of stencil you are going to apply, start by marking off a border with a masking tape. Next, go through the perimeter of the rug again, but this time leave a distance of about ½ inch from the first taped line. Make sure to press firmly the tape so the paint will not bleed underneath it. You will fill this later with paint.

Step 3 – Making the Borders

Place the stencil next to the second taped line to determine the design placement and inner border width. Make an inner border with another line of tape just below the stencil. Measure ½ inch from this line and add a second line of tape. Press down firmly. With a stencil brush apply color between both rows of the taped lines. Only remove the tape once the color is completely dry.

Step 4 – Placing the Stencil

Finally you can put the stencil between the borders. For a better design, it’s best to start painting the corners first. Therefore attach the stencil on one of the four corners to begin. You can use adhesive spray to keep it in place in order to avoid shifts and errors in the painting.

Step 5 – Applying the Paint

With a stencil brush or sponge, dab the paint onto the rug. Using a large quantity of paint and a sponge is an easy way to paint the rug. Work slowly and let the paint dry completely before lifting off the stencil. Before shifting your stencil to the next spot to be painted, you need to clean it.

Step 6 – Multicolor Design

If you wish to apply more than one color to your rug, you need to paint one color at a time. Make sure that each color is completely dry before doing the next one. Don’t rush to finish the stencil work on the rug or it may end up with smears and mistakes.

This wonderful home decor will be a focal point and attraction in your home to show off to your guests. Thanks to this small project, you have successfully transformed your ordinary rug into a fantastic accent to your room.