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Super Contributor
Posts: 493
Registered: ‎02-25-2020

Stenciling-UPDATE

[ Edited ]

I want to stencil one wall in my dining room.  It's very bland.  This is the wall:

DINING ROOM.jpg

I don't know if I should do an "all over" stencil like this:

thumbnail_trellis.jpg

Or a striped version like one of these:

FILIGREE BORDER.jpg  Image7.jpg

 

I just want something simple.  I plan on just using a plain transparent glaze for the stencil over the wall paint, which is a flat paint by the way.  That way it's very low key and muted, like this:

tone on tone.jpg

I have asked for opinions from my sister and she said the top pic with the "all over" design is too modern looking with my furniture.  I don't see it as modern, but now I'm starting to drastically over-think this.  I know everyone has different opinions on decorating, but I've thought myself into a hellish corner!  In the grand scheme of things it's really a small issue, but...help please...I'm driving myself nuts! 

 

Well, I finally opted for wallpaper over stenciling.  I'd leave a picture of the wall with the new wallpaper but for some reason I can't make the picture come out clear.  So I'll just show the swatch taken off the website.  It's a muted damask stripe...not exactly what I had in mind (yawn) but it goes nice with my furniture style.  Those who thought stenciling would be too big a job on a whole wall were right!  I looked at some how-to videos of stenciling and decided wallpaper was the way to go.  

wallpaper.jpg

Man plans. God laughs.
Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,781
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Look at RoomMates decor dot com

 

 

I've used their products with success.  It's so easy, I did it myself, although I did a whole room.  Very reasonable.  Very little effort.

 

Peel and stick ( it does stay) and you don't like it or want to change it in time, remove, there is absolutely no residue.

 

I did my office with the blue distressed wood horizontally and I did a little in my bedroom....love the office!

Super Contributor
Posts: 493
Registered: ‎02-25-2020

By the way, if I fail to get back to anyone who replies, I have had a horrible time trying to post lately.  I can't log in most of the time.  When I try to log in, it just takes me to the shopping log in, not the forum log in.  I've tried every link on the site to try to log in sometimes, to no avail.  Then all of a sudden, maybe three days later, it works. 

 

So, if you don't hear from me for a few days, that's why!

Man plans. God laughs.
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,880
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Either use peel and stick or stripable wall paper ( I think stencils are very 1980s).

Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,389
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@caroln242    Have you tried temporarily changing browsers?  I haven't heard anyone else complaining of your problem. 

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,743
Registered: ‎03-15-2010

@caroln242 

 

I have stenciled my living room walls in corners and along our chair rail.

 

Stenciling an entire wall may be more than you want to do, even if it is a repeating pattern.  If it was broken up with a chair rail, you could just stencil the top or bottom.

 

Unless it is very subtle and almost a textured feature, it might appear too "busy" when you are done.  My opinion, for what it is worth, stenciling looks best done with a restrained hand.

 

My house is Victorian, so it fits our decor and does not look dated (at least I don't think so).

 

Someone suggested peel and stick features, and that might be a good option unless you have your heart set on stenciling.

 

 

 

 

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,987
Registered: ‎05-13-2021

@caroln242To me it sounds like you want a painted stencil, not the peel and stick variety.

A painted stencil will look more elegant and custom than a peel and stick, plus you can choose the exact (paint) color you want

The stripe design is very matchy matchy with your furniture style. That may end up looking bland.  The all over design is definitely not modern. It's transitional, it goes with many different styles. Of the two, I prefer that one, it's not as expected, it's more interesting than the stripe design.  JMO

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,106
Registered: ‎03-28-2010

@caroln242 wrote:

I want to stencil one wall in my dining room.  It's very bland.  This is the wall:

DINING ROOM.jpg

I don't know if I should do an "all over" stencil like this:

thumbnail_trellis.jpg

Or a striped version like one of these:

FILIGREE BORDER.jpg  Image7.jpg

 

I just want something simple.  I plan on just using a plain transparent glaze for the stencil over the wall paint, which is a flat paint by the way.  That way it's very low key and muted, like this:

tone on tone.jpg

I have asked for opinions from my sister and she said the top pic with the "all over" design is too modern looking with my furniture.  I don't see it as modern, but now I'm starting to drastically over-think this.  I know everyone has different opinions on decorating, but I've thought myself into a hellish corner!  In the grand scheme of things it's really a small issue, but...help please...I'm driving myself nuts! 


I stenciled my parents living room many years ago, when I was in my 20's.  It was a lot of work and not as easy as I thought it would be.  I wouldn't undertake that project in my 50's.  I also had the look of the last picture (looks like 2 different shades of green striped paint) in my living room (from previous owner).  I hated it.  The second picture looks more like wallpaper.  Out of the 3, if I had to pick one, I'd pick wallpaper.  It does add some "pop."  I think wallpaper is making a comeback.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,204
Registered: ‎06-16-2015

I stenciled hydrangeas above my large bedroom window. It was a multi color process, and I used the jars of stencil paste. Very tedious, and it took me several days. In my office I stenciled on each side of a corner that stuck out into the room That time I used a Celtic rope design, all one color, and I used a small roller and regular wall paint. The key was making sure the roller was a little dry. Too much paint will cause running down the wall behind the stencil. Tape the stencil well with each section. I got the roller on done in an hour.

 

Super Contributor
Posts: 298
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Honestly, the wall looks blah because the picture on it is too small to be the only thing there imo.  BUT, the look of the first wallpaper is quite lovely also. If you got a much larger art work I think that would solve the problem or make a picture grouping.  I do think you could also try just painting the wall a deeper darker color to make it pop.  In the end though, you get to do whatever you want because it's your home!  Smiley Happy