Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Wallpaper??

I finished the paint and stenciling in our family room!!! Let me just tell you that the results look FAN.TAS.TIC, but it took FOR.EVER! HA! I would however do it again in a heartbeat because I love the look so much! But you didn't come here to hear my talk about how long it took, you want to see pictures!!!

So, without further adieu, here is the before picture of the wall in question:

Not horrible, right? I was just over the way that it made the room look SO dark. It is a big room 20 x 20, and I felt the colors were making the room feel smaller!

Here is the after picture during the day:


Here is a close up of the pattern:


Another of the wall at night:



So what do you think? Pretty, right?

I hosted a baby shower on Saturday, and everyone that came in kept commenting that my wallpaper was so pretty. They were shocked when I told then that it was stenciled! Everyone kept asking how I did it, so I thought I would post a little tutorial! Now I don't claim to be an expert on this. I just kind of figured it out as I went!

***********************************************

Okay you are going to need a few supplies:
  • A stencil- I got mine from Hobby Lobby
  • Aerosol spray adhesive-I used THIS one
  • A 2 inch foam paint roller
  • Level
  • Paint-2 colors-a flat base paint, and a semi-gloss for your stencil. I used Glidden Natural Linen color matched in Behr paint and primer for my base coat. I then used Behr Swiss Coffee for the stenciled part.
  • Ruler
  • Wet rags


Okay, the first thing that we did was use the level to make sure that our ceiling is straight. We used a laser level, but if you do not have one a hand level will work just fine. We quickly realized that our ceiling is not exactly level. So we found a line of best fit and went with it. Once we found the right spot, we sprayed the stencil with adhesive and placed it on the wall. We then took the ruler and pressed it down on the stencil to make sure it was sticking down everywhere.


You want to start at the top middle of the wall that you are working on. The stencil has a triangle cut out in each corner, so you trace them on the wall each time you move the stencil. This allows you to line up the stencil in the right place w/out having to level the stencil each time. You then just use your paint roller to cover the opening in the stencil with the paint of your choice. After the first one is one, you will just repeat the above steps until you have covered the entire wall.


After about every 2-3 uses, you will want to wipe the paint off of your stencil. This will prevent build up on the stencil. Trust me you will want to do this otherwise you will spend 2 hours scraping the paint of the stencil like I did. The build up go so bad that I couldn't get the paint through the stencil onto the wall. After you have wiped down the stencil, now is also a great time to reapply spray adhesive to the stencil. If you don't reapply adhesive enough the stencil will separate from the wall and you will get bleeding under the stencil.

Don't give up! It may feel like it is taking forever, but the end result is worth it!!! Also don't worry if I feel like some of the areas have thicker lines than others. Once the whole wall is done you cannot even tell!

********************************

So that's it! What do you guys think? Will you attempt this? If you do please send me pictures and I will be happy to post them here!

3 comments:

  1. I am so impressed! I am loving this! Stenciling takes some serious patience! Looks great! I love love your new lamps!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I came upon your blog when I just googled "horizontal stripes." I had planned on painted a two toned horizontal stripe in my dining room. Now, I think I am going to stencil! I think your room is beautiful!! My husband and I were both reading your tutorial and he just had a question about the spray adhesive. Does it make the wall sticky after you pull it off? Also, did you paint the lighter color over the darker? Thanks! Love the blog. Jennifer, KY

    ReplyDelete