My First Stenciled Wall

I am so excited about my first stenciled wall. I was really thrilled to win this stencil and this will not be the last stenciling I will do. I love it! To give you a little background..I decorated my last home in a Victorian style..I had reproduction wall papers in every room. I am used to a lot of pattern. Then I fell in love with Shabby Chic and went from all kinds of pattern to almost no pattern, as I was trying to figure out my take on Shabby chic style. I have been slowly trying to bring pattern in. After having to remove wall paper at the other house I no longer think that wall paper is my friend. This seemed perfect to me, and when I won the contest..I knew it was meant to be!

The stencil I used is Anna Damask and the company is called The Cutting Edge . I have nothing but wonderful things to say about this company. The items I received from them are of the best quality and their customer service is exceptional.

This little wall in my sun room/creative space was the perfect place to do a practice wall and get the hang of it.  What do you think? So far everyone who has seen it has said they like it a lot. My husband even likes it! When Janae saw it she immediately asked if she could borrow the stencil.

It was really quite easy to do but I thought I would share some things since I am now experienced at this (LOL). Remember, I haven't been trained..I am just saying my own opinion on what makes this turn out beautiful.

This photo is the most true to the color of the walls. It is my "soul paint" from Ace Hardware called Harbor Lane. It is an aqua color, like a Tiffany's blue.

First of all, I highly recommend buying the tool kit. That little level that attaches to the stencil is genius. My husband was very impressed. Unless you have 4 arms you really need this level. The kit also comes with a roller, and a brush. Everything you need.

Educate yourself. I watched all the videos and read the articles that were on The Cutting Edge website. Also, reading posts like this one is a good idea:).

Embrace imperfections. I am really bad about being a perfectionist and I even like my distressing to be perfect. But I wanted this to be Shabby Chic--I wanted it to look like old wallpaper. So I didn't have to make it perfect. Wyatt told me it looks like it has worn spots..and I was quite happy with that. If I was going for a modern look I would have done a second coat and made sure the paint was more evenly distributed.

Have a helper for corners and hard spots. I didn't have a helper but next time I am going to plan to do those pieces at a time when someone can help me hold the stencil in place.

Clean the stencil when it gets heavy with paint. The stencil is easier to work with when it has a few coats of paint on it. But when it gets so it actually is heavy with paint it is harder to keep it taped to the wall. I guess with some patterns it effects the detail too. I used Folkart Wicker white acrylic craft paint.

Use a good tape. I am a lover of blue tape..but in this case I was having some issues with the stencil staying up. Part of it is I let my stencil get too heavy with paint. Next time I am going to buy frog tape because I think it is a little stronger.

My final tip is slow but steady wins the race. I actually waited until the previous paint had dried before I did the next stencil. I figured it saved me a lot of stress of messing up wet paint. It worked fine for me because I always have so many things going on...taking care of kids and kittens, pulling weeds, making dinner. I just did a little through out the day. I kept the roller in a zip lock bag so I didn't have to clean it each time.

LuLu likes my wall.

This wall was so much fun!

I hope you like my wall as much as I do. I can't wait to do my bedroom wall behind our bed. I think I want to do it in like a white metallic paint. Now I would really like to do a 2-layer stencil. I really like the birds of paradise one here. I want to do that one in my livingroom on my fireplace wall. If I had the money I would order it right now! I am really liking this wall stenciling technique.

Well, I have babysitting for the kittens and so I think this would be a great time for a nap!

Please show me if you do any stenciling projects. Thanks for visiting!