How to Stencil A Wall

I partnered with Royal Design Studio for this post.  I absolutely adore their stencils and their other stenciling products.

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments about our guest room! We are loving this space.  We haven’t had any guest stay yet, but Poppy is enjoying sleeping on the bed and the boys had a slumber party in there over the long weekend.

This post contains a few affiliate links for your convenience.

I first saw the Parlor Lace Stencil at the Haven Conference almost two years ago and knew then that I wanted to do it in our guest room!

Many of you had questions about the stencil.  It has really transformed the space and given a lovely texture and romantic feeling to the room.  Some wondered if it was hard and wanted to know how we did it.  So, today I’m sharing how to stencil a wall!

Stenciling our wall took us a few hours so make sure you put aside enough time on the day you decide to do it.

What you Need to Stencil a Wall

Materials

• A stencil – we used the Parlor Lace Stencil by Royal Design Studio.  They also have more lovely stencil from Moroccan, Japanese, modern and more!
• Paint or Stencil creme.  We used Benjamin Moore’s Simply White in Aura in the satin finish.
• A stencil brush and a roller.  We used a flocked roller here.
• Instruction sheet from Royal Design is helpful.
• A tray for the roller
• Easy-Tack Spray 
• Painter’s Tape for Delicate Surfaces 
• Q-tips, baby wipes – for touch ups
• Paint scraper, Motsenbockers Lift Off and Motsenbockers Latex Paint Remover
• paper towels
• craft paper

How to Stencil a Wall

Step 1 – Find a level line along your ceiling.  I had wanted to do the stencil all the way to the top (but our room is a little wonky being an old house and going to the top you would have really noticed this issue). So we measured a level line a quarter inch from the top.  Tape this off with delicate surface tape.

Step 2– Place drop cloths down to protect your floors and put a sheet of craft paper on top (a big enough piece to lay the stencil on).  Lightly spray the back of the stencil with adhesive.  The adhesive will enable the stencil to stick to the wall and hold down all the detailed bits.  The Parlor Lace stencil is quite intricate so it was very important to use the adhesive.  Wait a few minutes to apply the stencil to the wall after spraying the back- it should be tacky but not soaking wet.  We started our stencil in the middle and worked our way out.

Step 3 – Stir paint and pour a small amount into your tray.  Run roller in the paint and then remove excess on the ridged part of the the tray.  Fold a few paper towels and rub the excess off the flocked roller.

Step 4 – Roll paint on using an even amount of pressure, not too hard or too soft.  If you push too hard paint can get under the stencil.

Step 5 – Once the area is done carefully remove the stencil from the wall, check the back to make sure it is clean and reapply to the next area.  Our stencil had little marks which go with the pattern to guide you lining it up.

Keep going with this until the whole wall is done.

Step 6 – Cleaning your stencil while doing this project really helps.  It prevents paint caking up and helps the stencil stick better with adhesive.  We set up a basin with soapy water in the bedroom and used the Motsenbocker Lift Off to clean the adhesive and the the Latex Paint Remover to clean the stencil.  We also used the tub later on in the process.  Once we cleaned and dried the stencil, we’d do steps 2-5 again.  You don’t need to clean it every time but you’ll know when you need to.

You may also need to clear paint off the guide marks on the edge of the stencil so you can see to line it up.

If any paint does get under the stencil or smudges you can use a q tip or baby wipes to touch it up (due so, when the paint is still wet).  The great thing about this pattern is it is very busy so it is hard for the eye to notice imperfections.

Step 7 – Corners. I think this was the hardest part.  To go around the corner we bent the stencil (which is very pliable), Luke pressed it out to make it easier while I rolled.  I also used the stencil brush to get in here.  We had some touch ups along these parts.

Step 8 – Use the filler stencil to work along the ceiling line. This was the last part we did.  The wall is finished!!!

Step 9 – Clean your stencil thoroughly as mentioned above.  We spent more time in the bathroom for this.  Then I put the stencil back in its plastic case to keep for the next time I want to use it.

I apologize if any of the lighting is funny in these photos.  We had to have a light in the room to see what we were doing because we did the stenciling during a Nor’easter.

Please let me know if you have any questions or want more information about the products we used.

We are so happy how are room came out!  A huge thank you to Royal Design Studio for helping me on this project!

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