DIY Wall Stencil

So as mentioned before, I painted my room over memorial weekend and hand stenciled an accent wall using this template and tutorial. Doing just the one wall in my room was very time consuming but well worth it.  The tutorial I found was done to an entire office so if she can do that, I thought I could do just one wall! So  I did and here's how...

Before beginning, decide what paint would look best against the color of the wall you have or if you are starting from scratch find two colors that look nice together.  I picked more muted and natural tones but anything would look really nice with this stencil.  I wanted the wall to look like wallpaper so I painted the background with a flat paint and for the stencil I bought a semi gloss paint so it would kind of "pop" against the flat finish of the background and have a sort of shine to it like wallpaper.

First you need to find a stencil that you like, there are tons of tutorials and templates online and on pinterest which is where I found mine. So, I printed one out and traced it onto a piece of sturdy cardboard.  Save the original template you printed out so you can use that one for corners and the bottom of the wall so it bends easier. Once you have cut out the stencil, begin stenciling (with a pencil) starting with the bottom of the wall so it starts off even and will continue to be even from bottom to top. 

 I started off just tracing but I became impatient and wanted to see what it would look like once painted so I kind of alternated from tracing to painting. Do whatever is easier for you.

To make the "double line" in the second picture,you just trace the shapes about an inch away from each other, maybe a little less, and then take the template and fill in the spaces in between each shape with the stencil. You can make it just a single like and just put the shapes really close to each other.  It's whatever look you want to go for.

So just keep stenciling and painting and eventually you will finish.  I promise!