Part 1-Create a Designer Wallpaper Look with Stencils
I recently decided to do a major purge and edit of our home office. This space in our home gets used almost daily. It’s a place I use to work on this blog, pay bills, make calls and all the usual “office” tasks. It is also the place where mail and paperwork-to-be-filed gets stashed. It doesn’t take long before it starts to look cluttered and messy.
If our office space was upstairs and behind a solid door, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. However, our office is right inside the front door and has 2 glass french doors. There is no hiding the clutter, so I had to get creative.
I wanted the space to look like an extension of our home and not a true office space with filing cabinets and an oversized desk. We had that setup for several years and while it is functional, it’s not very pretty. So I thought I would share what it looks like now and how we got here.
Our home has a dedicated office space that I’m so thankful to have. In typical interior designer fashion, the office space has been through a few cosmetic renovations throughout the years. It was painted a bold blue when we moved in. While I wasn’t the one that chose it, I liked it enough to live with it for awhile. Several years later, I chose a dark brown paint to create a cozy feel. Last year, I decided I wanted to lighten it up and add an accent wall using wallpaper. The wallpaper I chose was beautiful and it became what I would base all other decisions on for furnishings and accent pieces in the room.
The Problem…
The only issue is that it was going to cost over $400 for the wallpaper plus the cost of an installer (roughly another $200). That seemed like a pretty big investment for one wall when there were so many other projects on my list. Then, I considered hanging the wallpaper myself. I’m not afraid of a d.i.y project but I didn’t want to mess up using such beautiful and expensive wallpaper, which would cost me more in the end.
The Solution…
The other issue is that I get pretty impatient once I decide on a project. Can you relate??? I already had a plan for this home office edit, and I didn’t want to wait! So, I started searching the internet for alternative options. I found a stencil that would achieve a similar look with paint which costs a fraction of the wallpaper, even if I mess it up. I settled on this pattern from Oak Lane Studios.
Oak Lane Studios offers three options of stencil sizes for this pattern. I opted for the smallest one. The larger ones would cover more area without having to be moved as often, but I was concerned that it would be too cumbersome for a one person job.
The stencil was very cleanly cut and the material was nice and thick without being too rigid to maneuver. Also included was a topper stencil which fills in the gap at the top and bottom for a more finished look. I also ordered a level that clips onto the stencil which makes keeping a straight line so easy! I’m sure the level saved me hours of time! I also purchased repositionable adhesive spray, painters tape, small foam rollers and a set of stencil paint brushes.
Next, I matched two paint colors to the wallpaper; the background color and the palm frond color. There are three north facing windows in the room, so there is plenty of natural light. After wiping down the walls, I painted the three remaining walls the darker of the two colors and the lighter background color on the accent wall.
I’m positive there are thousands of videos and tutorials on the internet on how to properly stencil a wall. This blog post is definitely not one of them! I had a general idea of how to stencil so after reading a couple of Pinterest posts about it, I dove right in.
The Process…
I started in the top left corner with the full size stencil and worked my way down the wall to the floor. Quickly, I realized after I started that I probably should have found the center of the wall and then began stenciling there instead but it worked out to be mostly even on both sides.
The plan was to have tall bookcases in each corner so it wouldn’t be obvious if the pattern was not the same at each corner. From there I moved down to the second row, started on the left side again, matched the notches on the stencil, and worked my way across.
I decided to flip the stencil every few rows to mimic the wallpaper I had initially chosen which made lining up the pattern a bit more difficult, but I think the overall result was so worth it. This is why I worked from the top to the bottom, so I could see how the overall pattern was going to look.
Once I had finished the wall, I went back with the topper stencil to fill in the areas the larger stencil wouldn’t fit. Finally, I took a small paint brush to touch up any areas where the paint had bled through the stencil.
I absolutely love the result! The wall always gets noticed when guests enter our home. Is it perfect like the wallpaper would be? Heck no! But I’m proud that I took on a project that taught me new skills. It took me about a day and a half to complete the wall. I know I created a look that is practically one of a kind. I love the striking pattern and contrast and I think I will love this look for a long time!
The Finished Product!
I’ll be back next week with Part 2 of my home office edit.
What projects have you taken on in your home that required new skills? What projects do you want to do but have hesitated to try yourself? Let me know!
