Corey and I have been planning on doing something to this wall in our living room for a while now – we never intended to stick with the gray-dresser-on-a-gray-wall look (how boring!) but things just kept getting in the way and we never got around to doing anything about it.
So, when I got the chance to review a stencil from my newest sponsor, Cutting Edge Stencils, you know I was all over it. I might have even done a happy dance in the living room – not even kidding. I hadn’t really thought about using a stencil on that wall before, but it seemed like the perfect solution – cheap, easy, and makes a big impact!
Corey and I spent forever browsing all of the options on Cutting Edge’s website and we finally narrowed it down to the Zamira Allover Stencil that I gushed about on my last Sponsor Love post – it’s bold, graphic, and we thought it would look amazing in the living room. And we were right – you know I don’t like sharing the full “after” photos until the end of the post, but I can’t resist sharing a little peek to let you know the gorgeousness (is that a word?) that you’re in for today.
Drool. It makes me giddy.
Let’s get on with the process. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little intimidated terrified when I received my package from Cutting Edge in the mail – it included the stencil, a level to make sure things are nice and straight, and a foam roller. I read the directions about four times, growing more nervous each time I read it, and then I promptly shoved everything into the garage and pretended like it didn’t exist for a few days. That’s what I do when projects scare me – I ignore them.
Unfortunately, now every time I looked at the wall in our living room (which meant every time I watched television), I was reminded that it was supposed to be covered in a pretty stencil that had already defeated me just by existing. I couldn’t let myself be scared anymore, so last week Corey and I marched ourselves into Lowe’s, picked up some paint and Frog tape, and declared that it was time to get the damn stencil on the wall.
When we got it all home, I didn’t even let myself pause to catch a breath before I dove right in and started working – I knew if I stopped for a second the pressure would cripple me and I’d be forced to ignore the project again. So, I watched some of the tutorials on Cutting Edge’s website (seriously – SO helpful) and went for it.
I won’t even try to give you guys a ton of tips on how to do this, because the directions and the videos that Cutting Edge provides explain things so much better than I ever possibly could. I will, however, toss in a few tips that I learned along the way…
- When they say to blot off the excess paint before you put it on the wall, they aren’t kidding around. It’s vital that you don’t have a ton of paint on your roller, even if you feel like it’s too light. If you’ve got too much the stencil won’t go on well, and you’ll get some splotchiness.
- If you mess up, don’t worry about it. This was a hard thing for me to get through my head, but I was shocked by how the little mistakes that I made throughout the process were completely invisible once the wall was all done. I had a few rows that become crooked despite my use of the level, but you absolutely can’t tell. I had some splotches that seeped through at the beginning because I had too much paint on my roller, but you can’t see them unless you know they are there. There were even a few spots where I tried to line up the stencil and realized that something had gotten way off and things were really wonky – but, again, you can’t tell! So, don’t sweat the small stuff in a project like this.
- If possible, I’d recommend painting a darker color on top of a lighter color, not vice versa. We were painting white onto dark gray, and I absolutely love how it turned out, but there are definitely a lot of spots where the white didn’t cover very well. For Corey and I, this ended up being a great thing because we love how it has kind of a worn-in, always-been-there look to it versus being super crisp, but if you want a more solid and thorough coverage, be careful in your paint selection – this isn’t really a project where you can do two or three coats of paint.
And that, my friends, is just about it. I was absolutely blown away by how easy this ended up being – I did the whole wall by myself in about 3 hours!
Okay, are you ready to see the whole shebang with the television back in place and everything? Brace yourself, because it’s mind-blowing.
Love, love, love, love, love. As you can see, we also picked up a couple of new plants (from Ikea, of all places!) to add a bit of a pop of color to the wall. We also finally got around to hiding the television cords, which made a huge difference.
There are no words for how in love I am with this entire project. The wall turned out better than we ever could have imagined, and we are so happy with the impact it makes in the room – and it was SO EASY! I am now officially looking for an excuse to use this stencil on every inch of my house. Too much?
Have you ever used a wall stencil before? What are your feelings about accent walls? I know people tend to love ‘em or hate ‘em!
Pssst: I don’t usually post on Thursdays, but if you check back in tomorrow morning you’ll be in for a verrrrrrrry exciting surprise!
Disclaimer: Cutting Edge provided me with this stencil and the tools I used in exchange for this review. I am, however, more than just a little bit in love with this project and all of the opinions here are completely and totally mine.
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Comments on this post
WOW! What a huge difference. It really makes your entertainment dresser pop, where before it just blended in. Great job, and hooray for only 3 hours!
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8. August - 7:20 amLOVE IT. It looks so great!!! I’ve been talking about stenciling this little nook-ish area in our guest room for almost a year now and have been too intimidated/lazy to take it on….. perhaps I should get one that!
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8. August - 7:53 amWow! It really makes a big difference in that area, love it!
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8. August - 8:23 amOH. MY. GOODNESSSSS……. AMAZING!
Seriously, I am AMAZED. I want to do this all over my dining room! To bad we rent
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8. August - 8:37 amWOW, it looks like a completely different house now! Fabulous job!
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8. August - 8:49 amOkay, that’s just plain amazing, right there! Such a huge difference!
Stenciling has come a long way from the country borders of the 80s and 90s! (and how smart is it to have a built-in level on the stencil, that’s genius!)
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8. August - 8:57 amHUGE impact. Want!!
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8. August - 9:00 amThis is seriously amazing! I love it. You make me feel like I have the capability to do it!
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Amanda Reply:
August 8th, 2012 at 2:29 pm
You totally do! It’s easy!
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Wow. It looks amazing! Perfect wall to stencil.
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8. August - 9:32 amTHIS IS AWESOME.
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8. August - 10:29 amYou and I are on the same page with so many projects and this one is no different. I have been looking and drooling over their stencils for a week now (spending way too much time doing so I might add). I plan to do my 1/2 bath in a botanical like http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/hummingbird-stencil.html.
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Amanda Reply:
August 8th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Love that!
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I am absolutely in love with the end result! It makes such a huge difference! Such an awesome project guys!
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8. August - 11:58 amLove it!! I was skeptical at the beginning but the after looks soo good!!
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8. August - 12:20 pmI love how much this brightens up the room! Great job. I always think I want to stencil something and always end up talking myself out of it.
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8. August - 12:37 pmI LOVE this! I can’t believe it took just 3 hours. Did you wait for each section to dry before you moved on or did you just place the stencil carefully over the wet portion when you needed to line it up?
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Amanda Reply:
August 8th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
I actually didn’t wait at all – just pulled the stencil off and put it right back on. The only time I ever had a problem with smudging was when my hand hit the wet paint, but even then I was able to wipe it off with a wet cloth very easily!
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What a difference the stencil makes! I’ve been toying with the idea of a full stenciled wall in the bedroom. Hiding your wires, did you end up cutting 2 holes in the wall? I think that is in our near future as well.
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Amanda Reply:
August 8th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Yes! Corey bought two outlet-type things that you put into the wall that help guide the cords down (or up) the wall – it was in the electrical section next to all of the other outlets, and it was super cheap. It definitely made the job easier.
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i love that, that looks soo great! i am so scared to try stenciling, but this is great inspiration. love your yucca and pot-ikea, right? i have the exact same thing. i think i need one for the dining room, too!
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Amanda Reply:
August 8th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Yes – Ikea! I absolutely love it and I kind of want one for every room in my house…and my classroom!
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It looks so great! It really brightens the space and adds so much interest.
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8. August - 1:55 pmWhat a stunning transformation!!! LOVE IT.
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8. August - 3:43 pmAmanda, that looks awesome! I love the stencil you chose and it looks so great behind the tv. Awesome job! Love the pattern in the room!
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8. August - 9:43 pmOMG! LOOOOVE!
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8. August - 10:01 pmLove the impact on the room! It looks amazing!
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9. August - 10:43 amLove it!! It turned out so great!!
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9. August - 11:27 amOh, wow, that’s gorgeous. And I love that dresser!
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9. August - 10:45 pmso beautiful, I don’t think we could make that in FRANCE! so lovely idea!
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11. August - 9:59 amGorgeous!!!! I seriously not an hour ago bought that dressers twin. I love the walls o much, we just painted our master bedroom slate grey. I’m wondering and searching your site…. did you happen to refinish the dresser yourself or did you do a blog post featuring it at all. I’m IN LOVE with it. So excited to have come across your blog today thanks to Cutting Edge Stencil on Facebook.
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Amanda Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Thanks – and thanks for stopping by!
I did do a post on converting the dresser from a dresser to an entertainment console (it houses all of our television components) and you can see that here: http://loveandrenovations.com/2011/06/more-form-same-function/ – I didn’t post at all about actually refinishing it, but we just painted it gray and added a few coats of polyurethane!
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This is great! Makes me feel like I picked the wrong stencil. (Casablanca). I’ve tried a handful of time to do the stencil but it just bleeds. I am doing white over a medium tan. I think I was trying to do too many coats to get a opac white. Don’t think I’m supposed to. I like how you said it gives it a worn I look, so maybe I’ll embrace that! Either way, I’m really discouraged because I thought stenciling my kitchen wall would be a tad bit easier and less stressful than its been. I’m at the point now where I need to repaint a huge patch of my base color and start over. Glad I found your blog via cutting edges fb!
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Amanda Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 8:43 am
I love that stencil too! Definitely give it another shot! Just make sure not to worry about getting enough paint on the roller – I kept mine very lightly filled and just pressed firmly on the wall. The videos on Cutting Edge’s website helped me tremendously, too!
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[...] from the blog Love and Renovations recently completed a DIY project for house and home: a beautiful feature wall using wall stencils! [...]
16. August - 3:50 pmAh! That looks soooo cool! I love the stenciling…and accent walls are so fun! I have a feeling I’ll want to make one when we finally move into a real house where I can paint!
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17. August - 6:49 am[...] [...]
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