My master bedroom is a huge boring beige with a tall vaulted ceiling!
I thought of multiple ways to spruce it up, one classic was the gallery wall. I even put some Buddha art together that would’ve done nicely, but then it didn’t seem to get me that dramatic makeover I wanted… especially something that would span the breadth and height of the wall.
Hence, STENCILS!
I discovered Cutting Edge Stencils on pinterest and have been obsessed since. They carry a wide variety of patterns, from clean geometric shapes to intricate damask. I ordered the diamond damask stencil for my ambitious bedroom project! I also got the stencil starter kit particularly for their clip-on spirit level, that I highly recommend!
Cutting Edge actually featured this blog on their website YAY!! http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/blog/stenciled-damask-wallpaper-in-a-master-bedroom.html
Here’s what you get out of the box:
Try and visualize what you want your room to look like. I initially wanted something subtle – like a sheer metallic paint over the beige. I got the Ralph Lauren Buttermilk Gold special finish paint from Home Depot and tested out my technique and the appearance in my powder room. After I tried it out.. I decided I wanted a Black and Gold theme for my Master bedroom… so I got Black Gloss paint as well! <Pictures taken on my iphone 5>
Here’s what you’ll need:
Stencil:Diamond Damask Stencil – $50
Cutting Edge Stencil Essentials
4″ Roller brush, Clip-on Spirit level,
Stencil brush – $20
Paint:
Ralph Lauren Buttermilk Metallic Gold Paint – for powder room – $21
Rustoleum Black Gloss Paint – for Bedroom – $8
Other Supplies:
Tarp
Gloves
Styrofoam plates
Bounty paper towels
Cutting Edge Stencils come with a good instruction sheet that helps you get started. Each stencil is different and requires different amount of attention and technique, so I highly recommend starting out with a small testing patch before your big project. I started by stenciling a ribbon across my powder room – mostly to get an idea on how the paint holds up, if it bleeds, how to recover… to generally figure out my technique with the stencil and roller.
Step 1. Start by pouring a few tablespoons of paint into the plate. Roll the brush to pick up paint generously. Run the roller brush on a paper towel to absorb excess paint – this is critical to avoid bleeding.
Step 2. Use painter’s tape to seal the sides of the wall and tape the stencil to the wall. The clip-on stencil will help ensure you’re aligned. Roll the brush slowly with medium pressure. Be patient as you’ll need to do 2-3 coats for complete coverage, but its better to go slow that load up the brush – this will definitely cause paint to bleed.
Step 3. Once you’re done with the first piece, allow a minute for the paint to dry. Then align the stencil along the just-painted piece and tape again and start painting. Be careful not to paint over already painted parts – in case of a slight misalignment (which could happen), it will be enhanced.
Step 4. For the powder room I worked my way across making a single layered damask ribbon! Simple – easy – took me about an hour on a Friday evening! 🙂
You can’t tell from the pictures, but that’s metallic gold 🙂 LOVE IT!
Step 5. Now that I had my technique down, I was ready to start on the real deal – my bedroom wall. I decided to go BOLD for the bedroom. The wall is so huge, the ceiling so high.. playing into my Black and Gold obsession, I bought some Black Gloss paint to spruce up the old beige.
BEWARE: Black is such a delicate color to work with – every bleed, every misalignment is visible from miles away. So I took my time … 7 hrs to be precise 🙂 Saturday 1pm, I started out from the left side of the wall. Make sure to tape the length of the wall to protect from misplaces paint strokes.
Step 6. Slowly making my way across the wall… I wanted two vertical layers – with a “header” and “footer”. I experimented with gold for the footer, but later changed my mind and made it all Black.
Step 7. The most demanding part about stenciling is the re-positioning and alignment of the stencil. Cutting Edge’s stencils are such fine quality, I could pull it off the wall, slap layers and layers of paint on it and it’s held up perfectly – 7 hrs and more!
My husband got me beer in between breaks … definitely helped 🙂
Step 8. Layer 1 done! 🙂
Step 9. I considered taking a break, took a few iphone pics… but this was so exciting I couldn’t wait to jump right on the second layer.
Closer look at the BEAUTIFUL damask details 🙂
Step 10. I powered through the second layer, header, footer et all.. by 8pm I was done 🙂
More angles:
Anya seems to love it! 🙂
So does the dear husband! 🙂
I couldn’t be happier with the makeover… can’t wait to start on other stencil projects across the house! Some additional pics I took with anya … in low light 🙂
