Stencils are an excellent way to create your own unique designs to suit your living space.

They can be selected from a dazzling range of designs available from commercial stencil suppliers, but you can also make your own from special acetate sheets designed for this purpose.

The combinations you can come up with are almost endless, but the trick (particularly for the beginner) is to select a simple design which can be repeated easily.

For this bathroom project I've chosen a combination of an anchor motif, which I bought from a stencil shop, and a rope circle surround, which I cut out myself from a blank acetate stencil sheet.

The two stencils will be used together to produce a combination pattern, in a random spread across the wall, laid on top of a colour wash paint effect.

Make sure that your wall surface is satisfactory before you start, and if necessary, redecorate with some good quality lining paper.

First, I created the colour wash using an attractive shade of blue emulsion.

If you would like to see how this is achieve in detail, have a look at the colour wash I created for my bedroom project.

Selecting complementary colours for the wall and the stencils is important. I'm going to use a darker shade of blue for the stencils, using special stencil paint rather than ordinary emulsion.

Stencil paint and stencil brushes can be bought from most DIY stores and craft shops.

Once the base colour wash is completely dry, it's time to stick up the first stencil.

The trick here is to choose a convenient starting point around which your design can build. If you have chosen a random pattern, this is quite simple, but for regular patterns you will have to take accurate measurements to ensure that your chosen design will fit into the available wall space.

Once you have chosen your starting point select your stencil and spray the reverse side with some low-tack, repositionable spray adhesive. Place and press the stencil firmly onto the wall so that all parts of it are in contact with the surface.

Using your stencil brush, dab the design area of your stencil until the whole pattern has been covered.

Avoid overloading the stencil brush or applying too much paint otherwise the paint could seep underneath the acetate, or the pattern could become raised.

Then leave the paint to dry for a few minutes...

Once the paint is dry, gently peel away the stencil from one corner.

Be careful not to smudge the design or peel off any of the wallpaper. If you are successful, you will see a nice crisp outline of your pattern!

With a two stage design like this I think it's best to complete all the stenciling with one stencil first, then leave plenty of time for the paint to dry before starting on the second stencil.

In a random design, it's important not to make the pattern too dense, otherwise the result can be overwhelming.

Step back from time to time to see how the design looks from a distance.

Once you've completed all of the first stencil outlines, leave the paint to dry completely.

Now it's time for the second stencil.

As before, spray the reverse side with some low-tack, repositionable mounting spray, and very carefully, stick the stencil in alignment with your first stencil pattern.

With my design this is fairly easy, but for more complicated patterns you will have to be quite precise.

Dab the stencil with your stencil paint to fill out your design.

If you want to be more adventurous you could choose a different colour for the second pattern, but remember to use a clean stencil brush.

If your stencil becomes clogged with paint, it's worthwhile cleaning it periodically to avoid smudging. Again, leave each paint application to dry for a while before gently peeling away the stencil.

Stencils can be used in all sorts of places around your home.

They can be used to create interest and character in a room, on walls but also on furniture such as wardrobes, or kitchen cupboards.

I used a hand made stencil for a crackleglaze cupboard using silver metal leaf, just one of the many projects featured in my video, "Ellen Kharade's Style Secrets For Your Home".