DIY Star-Stenciled Floor

Consider the floor a blank canvas and use it to inject detail into a room. Here, a deep earthy brown serves as the background for a constellation of bright white eight-point stars, evoking a clear night sky. A thick white banding contains the pattern and helps to deliver the effect of an area rug.

Materials and Tools

• Tracing paper
• Utility knife
• Mylar
• Sand paper
• Primer
• Paint (use glossy, oil or latex)
• Paint roller

Step 1: Make a stencil

Decide on a motif — we used an eight-point star inspired by Farrow & Ball’s Brockhampton Star wallpaper — then draw it on tracing paper. Place the paper over a square of Mylar. Use a utility knife to cut the shape out.

Step 2: Prep your floor

Using a hand sander, remove any old paint or finishes to create a surface the primer and paint will adhere to.

Step 3: Prime and paint

Apply a coat of primer, let dry, then apply the colour (use glossy, oil or latex). For this effect, we wanted a rich look, so we used two coats of our brown base colour. Let dry.

Step 4: Start stenciling

Draw up a plan for where the stencil marks will go or simply eyeball their placement. We placed the stars approximately 6″ apart in relatively straight lines. If the paint bleeds a bit, it will add to the charm.

Paint, Artisan Brown (71YR 08/119A), Drifting Snow (10BB 83/014 W/B), CIL.