Any advice for stenciling a wall?

[Dee*Jay]

My "bedroom" wall has me baffled and I'm looking for ideas. The area opens up to the rest of the space (I live in an open loft with no walls except in the bathrooms) and I just cannot find the right thing to hang over my bed or use in lieu of a headboard so I'm considering stenciling the whole wall. I would do a big stencil, probably about 2' squar-ish, and some sort of damask style pattern. The wall is approximately 12' x 12' and I am considering a shiny/flat tone-on-tone scheme. (Don't ask me what color -- that's a whole 'nother problem!) If anyone has done any stenciling or has any tips I would appreciate it!

 

[smitcompton]

HI,

I stenciled a design in my foyer around the entry door. The Foyer is painted yellow, and the white of the design color didn't show up as well as I expected, so I had to go back and outline it, so you could see it.

The most important part is to make sure you have your pattern flat and secure, so that paint doesn't seep under and ruin your design.

I have another suggestion you can consider, which is what I have done now for many years. I use an oriental screen as my headboard. It happens to be bamboo, with a beautiful design on it and I like it very much. I'm not so into headboards. It is 3 panels and I have it tied to the frame which gives it some stability. Oriental screens are so beautiful, in my opinion of course. I have a Queen bed.

Good Luck

Annette
Can't do pictures, not tech savvy

 

[April20]

I stenciled a damask pattern on the living room wall when we lived in our condo. I bought one that had guide marks. It was not difficult, just incredibly time consuming. I would definitely recommend getting one that has guide marks as then you don't have to measure between the design, just where you want it to stop/start.

I just looked- I bought mine from Cutting Edge Stencils. I also bought the little level thing that you attach to the stencil.

 

[soocool]

I haven't stenciled in over 15 years, but will point you to a website that should help you http://www.plaidonline.com/ .

This site did not exist when I began stenciling, but I did use their stencil paints. You might consider Dry Brush Stencil Paints or a Paint Crème (the ones I used in the past were called Plaid Dry Brush stencil Paint and Delta Stencil Magic Paint Crème). I would highly advise getting a Stencil Brush Cleaner, very good stencil brushes (you do not want bristles stuck on your wall, and painter's tape to adhere stencil to the wall (Kleenedge Easy Mask Tape http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Mask-591260-60-Yard-Painters/dp/B000DZCZTQ ) (some amazon reviews did not sound good, but for stenciling this was great)

 

[PattyCo]

I know it's not a stencil, it's just an idea. Kim Myles did this when she had her HGTV show after winning Design Star. She painted the alcove with a flat red paint. Then she painted the diagonal lines with a glossy red paint. Then she nailed brass tack into the middle of the glossy diagonal lines. Here is a picture of the results.