Habitat bright ideas with Fleur Thorpe – DIY projects
Give an old stool a new lease of life with a stencil detail. A new coat of paint with a hint of gold adds glam to your new decor.

Step 1: Clean the stool well. If the existing paint is waterbased you don’t need to sand it. If the existing paint is solventborne paint, you will need to lightly sand the stool to help the topcoat stick well.
Step 2: Apply two thin and even layers of Resene Lustacryl paint in your choice of colour; Fleur used Resene Double Foundry, allowing the first coat to dry before applying the second coat. Using loops of painter making tape on the back and sides of the stencil, position the stencil in the desired location.
Using a small piece of sponge, dip it into the paint (green) and then dab it on to a plate or piece or scrap cardboard to ensure that you get a thin and even coverage of paint on the sponge. Too much paint on the sponge will cause bleed-through on the underside of the stencil.
Project before
Step two
Step three
Step 3: Dab the sponge on to the opening holes of the stencil and move it using a circular motion so that paint gets into all the tight corners. Don’t do this too vigorously as bleed-through can occur. Do this all over the stencil until it is all painted in.
Step 4: While the green paint is still wet, use the other end of the stencil to dip into the gold paint. Use this on the edges of the stencil openings.
Step four
Stencil detail
Finished project
Styling and images by Fleur Thorpe, 2020.