How To Stencil A Wall
The basics of stenciling a wall; What direction you should stencil in; Paint colour recipe mix; Difference between using a roller and a brush.
Have you been wanting to bring some life to a room, a piece of furniture or a floor? Have you thought about stenciling it? If you’ve never done it before, stenciling can seem hard and overwhelming. I’m here to show you that it does not have to be complicated.
I’ve been fascinated by stencils and all that can be done with them. Stencils can bu used to spruce up a room, piece of furniture or anything really. That’s what I love about them: their versatility! Apart from the stencil, the only other material you need is paint. Which also means, that if your stencil does not turn out like you wanted it to, you can just repaint over it! Before we start thinking about painting things over, let me show you how to go about stenciling a wall.
My plan
Ever since I knew I was going to get a craft room/office/extra guest bedroom in our basement, ideas have been flowing through my mind. I had these visions of wanting to add colour without it looking like a child had picked out the decor. I wanted it to be tasteful and grown up yet fun and playful. As my first attempt at this vision, I thought I would start in the closet.
I figured this was the safest place to start. If it didn’t turn out so great, I could always cover it up or close the closet doors. I knew I was going to need shelving because I would mainly use the closet to store anything craft or DIY related. Before we installed the shelving unit for this closet, I told my husband I wanted to stencil the whole back wall.
I’ve done this kind of a project before. My experience of Stenciling a wall for the first time really turned out great in our walk-in closet and I really wanted to try it again somewhere in our house. So I did! The difference is that I really had a complete blank slate this time. There were no shelves or furniture in the closet so I had a lot of room to work. I also used a different stencil this time; a Royal Design Studio stencil. I find that the quality of these stencils is really good. What is really convenient with their stencils is how the markers to repeat the print are punched out instead of just printed on the stencil. That way, they won’t fade or erase over time or after multiple cleanings.
Here is the stencil I used. I’ll be honest, I initially bought it just because I loved the design. I never really planned to use it on a wall. It’s a little small to do a wall stencil with it but none the less doable. It just took me a little longer, that’s all.
Since I’ve already written a blog post about stenciling and have elaborated on the steps you need to follow, I thought I would focus on the direction you need to stencil in when doing a whole wall and how I went about it. But first: paint colour!
Mixing paint
I wanted to go with the colour purple for my stencil but didn’t have purple paint. I mixed up some paint and experimented until I got the colour I wanted. My mix consisted of three colours (all Annie Sloan paint colours):
After a few trials, I found the ratio that I liked to create enough of the paint colour that I needed to stencil my wall. I used cheap dollar store measuring spoons to create the colour mix and a mason jar to store it in.
Brush vs Roller
There are some debates about this and if you should be using a brush or a roller to apply the paint for you stencil. I’ve personally been tempted to use a roller because it seems like it would be much faster than doing a stencil with a brush. Even though I’ve been tempted, I haven’t done the switch yet and have kept stenciling with a brush. Mainly because of the below video.
***Full disclaimer: in the video, they are not doing a stencil but none the less, I think that the comparison they are doing between a brush and a roller is pretty neat.
I’m not telling you that you “should” use a brush when stenciling a wall. No, no, no. All I’m doing is giving you as much information as I can so that you can make an informed decision about what works best for you. If you end up using a roller for your stencil, that’s not a problem. If you are more comfortable with that, I say do it. Now, let’s start!
When stenciling a wall, start in the center
It’s important to measure your stencil as well as your wall to find the center and align them both together. Once that is done, you can position your stencil on your wall. Make sure it’s leveled. You don’t want to solely rely on your wall thinking it’s straight so use a level and make sure your stencil is positioned correctly.
The direction of the stencil
Once your first stencil print is done, where do you stencil next? There are different ways to go about it. I personally like to follow a “T” shape but then again, this also depends on the wall you are painting.
For instance, if you are doing an accent wall, you will want to start in the top center of your wall. That way, your design will be straight and will look better. However, if you are doing two walls and have a corner within your design, you may want to start from that corner like you would when installing a kitchen back splash. This will make it easier to paint that corner and make sure it looks straight. Make you decision based on your wall and then go from there. Here is how I went about it with my wall.
Making a “T” when stenciling a wall
I start in the top centre of my wall and then move on to the right. Once I’m done on the right, I move on to the left. I then go down so that I don’t lose my centre.
I finish my top line and extend my middle line along the way as well. As you probably have noticed, I don’t go right to the edge of my wall on each side. I will keep that for the end.
I then start on my second row. Here I started on the right. Once that is done, I remove my stencil and move on to the left side from my centre. That way it give my right side ample time to dry before I keep going on that side.
I like to keep a “tail” of my centre line. It aligns and guides me with the other sections. Every once in a while, I take a level and make sure that I’m going straight.
For the edges/corners, I taped it so that it would mimic the space that the stencil naturally created at the top of my wall. I find it looks cleaner but you don’t have to do that.
I also taped the bottom of my wall and Voilà! It’s done! It took me longer to do this wall than it did when I did the one in our Master Closet. That’s probably because (1) this stencil I used was smaller that the other one and (2) I really made an effort to clean my stencil after every 4th use. If I used it for more than that, it was much harder to apply the paint to the wall because the stencil was all clogged up.
I know it may sound superficial but…
Making something look pretty is motivating!
What’s great about making something pretty is that, it does not have to be complicated and it can make the greatest of effects. Now, every time I open my craft closet, I love the energy and the pop of colour that I get.
I hope this post has given you the knowledge and confidence that you need to attempt it in your own home. I’d love to know if you’ve stenciled a whole wall before and if so, how it turned out. Let me know in the comments below and share this post with others who you think could benefit from it.
