Floors -what some designers call the "fifth wall"- are an integral part of a room. However, floors often don't get the attention they deserve.

Here at Ryle and Co we are always looking for new and interesting ways to decorate floorspace. Right now, we love the patterned floor trend! Tiles are one great way to enhance a floor, especially in a bathroom or hallway. However, tiles aren’t suitable for every room in a house, and can stretch a budget. Another way to brighten up a floor without breaking the bank is floor paint. Be it geometric patterns, monochrome stripes or bright and bold colours, floor paint is a great way to liven up wooden or concrete floors. In this post, we are going to take you through some floor paint inspiration, give you some advice on how best to paint your floor AND give you a *FREE* chevron floor stencil!

Be Inspired

When it comes to floor paint, the possibilities are *almost* endless (tile painting is not recommended- it peels!).

Stripes can elongate, or widen a room.
Monochrome patterns can add a refined touch.
You can use paint to accentuate or accent a staircase. You can use muted contrasting tones for a classic look, or turn your staircase into a feature with bright and bold colours.
Plain white painted floor achieves an easy, rustic look. Or you can go dark and glossy to make a simple Scandinavian statement.
If you're really creative, you can try doing your own hand-drawn piece with masking tape. Farrow & Ball give great tips on achieving this here.
Bold patterns can give a room a fresh, modern twist. Try a chevron pattern (like the one we provide at the bottom of this article!), or a diamond pattern in an interesting colour palette.

We have provided a little bit of inspiration below. For more, you can visit our pinterest here.

Ideas Gallery

How To

Farrow & Ball do an excellent floor paint that is suitable for both wood and concrete*. Here are their tips for how to use their floor paint:

Thoroughly clean the area of floor you wish to paint your rug.
Apply a coat of Farrow & Ball Wood Floor Primer & Undercoat.
a) If you are ding a pattern Draw the pattern onto your floor with a pencil. Then mask the areas required for your first colour and paint two coats of your chosen colour with a paint brush. (When you have finished, allow the paint to dry before removing the tape)
b) If you are using a stencil: Tape down the stencil, beginning in the corner of the room.
In every case, including painting in a single colour, make sure to give all areas two coats of paint.

*Concrete floors can be a little bit more complex. For advice on painting concrete floors, check out Apartment Therapy's excellent advice here.

Our Chevron Floor Paint Project

Fleur with our new stencil (not cut out yet!)

While working on a current project, Sharon got inspired by monochrome chevron floor designs. Instead of splashing out on a chevron tile, she commissioned Fleur to design a chevron floor paint stencil instead. After design, we had the piece printed in A0 size on vinyl (this is much better for painting than paper!). The black parts of the pattern are to be cut out to create the stencil. This project is a work-in-progress, so watch this space to see how we get on!

If you would like to try this chevron floor stencil, we are giving away our bespoke stencil template for free! You can download it by clicking, here. You can print this stencil in any size you like (A1, A2, A3, A4 etc...). We are doing ours in black and white, but you can get creative and try all sorts of colours! Farrow & Ball give great advice on colour schemes and other floor inspiration at eu.farrow-ball.com.
Our store in Kilmacanogue can order in any Farrow & Ball floor paint you like (we place our orders every Friday).

We hope you are full of inspiration and bright ideas after reading this post!
Wishing you the best of luck in all your interior design endeavors,

The Ryle and Co Team