How to Spruce Up Your Wall with Stencil

Variety is the spice of life, so the adage goes. When your painted wall feels monotonous and plain, you may want to accentuate it in one way or another. An effective way of adding accent and drawing attention to your wall is to embellish it with some pattern. The use of wallpaper to achieve this is common yet when you want to highlight only certain sections, stencil painting becomes a preferred choice. Besides having a more natural look than wallpaper, stencil painting always out-last the former. And just like all wall décor, stencil painting should be done right to achieve the best outcome. Let’s look at the ‘How To’ of stencil wall painting.

1. Choosing a pattern
Just like with wallpaper, different patterns will create different effects and moods. As a general rule, avoid dark patterns as they often come off as dated and cluttered. Patterns in lighter, brighter colours are better for adding a splash of creativity without appearing old. Large patterns create a visual appeal that supplement the existing room décor, hence making a space cozier and intimate, while Small patterns work well in small spaces as they add volume to the room and can also call attention to specific hues if chosen with specific colour schemes in mind.

 

2. Stencil Paint and Brushes
Crafts stores stock small cans or bottles of paint specifically for stenciling projects, but you could use any latex or alkyd-based paints. If you’re using more than one colour on a stencil, though, it’s better to work with fast-drying paints. Stencil paints work best over an existing flat paint surface, but they’ll also work over wood and non-vinyl wallpapers.
You can stencil with regular paint brushes, but there are special circular brushes available for stenciling that have densely packed bristles. They’re better than regular brushes for filling in the tight areas of a pattern, controlling paint along curved edges, and are a bit neater. They also come in several different sizes so you don’t have to labor with a tiny brush on a larger area.

 

3. Preparing to stencil
It is advisable to do a dry run of your stencil layout before getting into the paint. To see how the finished stencil will look, practice by painting the stencil on a paper. That’ll give you a sense of the paint’s texture and how to manage the brushes. Once you’re ready for the real thing, clean the stencil off and tape it securely in position so it doesn’t move while you’re painting.

 

4. Application Technique
The best stencil painting technique is to lightly tap the end of the brush on the surface, covering small sections at a time. Don’t get too much paint on the brush because paint could run down behind the stencil. If you’re using more than one colour, one option is to use separate brushes to apply each colour. On large walls, it’s often easier to apply one colour first, moving the stencil as needed. Then go back to the beginning and apply the second colour, and so on, until all the colours are done. That way, the first colours will dry before the next ones are applied.  Finally, let the paint dry before pulling off the stencil to avoid smearing the paint.
Allow yourself to experiment with colours & patterns and be surprised by the whole new look and oomph that stencils can infuse into your room.

Overall, you can only spruce up your walls with the right strategy, just as it would require Kenyan keynote speakers to do before they hit the podium! The tips we have shared above can be truly instrumental in ensuring that this happens.