March 1, 2019

The Kid’s Playroom Week 3: How to Stencil on a Textured Wall

When we bought this house nearly two years ago we had no idea we were buying lakefront property. I’m half kidding – we typically back up to a dried-up marsh, but it has been raining BALLS here in NorCal and ironically enough, the window on the “waves” stencil wall I’m working on now looks out over water. The marshland is completely flooded and I can even see waves in the water. While it is beautiful, it won’t stay long which is actually a good thing. Sadly some towns and roadways are entirely flooded to an extent we haven’t seen since the early 80’s. It’s really been an onslaught on Northern California over the last couple years between flooding and fires, and that’s not what I’m here today to discuss, but it’s just so sad and sucks for our sweet community. Boo.

Anyway – insert awkward transition – what I AM here to discuss today is stenciling on textured walls and a couple new tricks I learned the hard way. And I’m here to tell you it IS possible and give you some tips as to not make it look like shit. 😉

USE A STENCIL BRUSH, NOT A ROLLER. I’m sure this is controversial, or as controversial as stencil arguments can get 😉 but ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use a brush. I don’t care what the stencil makers say or suggest. They likely don’t have textured walls! I made the mistake of attempting this with a roller this time for two reasons. First, this is a really intricate stencil going on a decently large wall that would take HOURS AND HOURS using a stencil brush. Secondly, the roller was offered as an add-on to purchasing the stencil, and I’ve seen so many people having success using rollers lately (again, probably not on textured walls). So against my better judgment I went for it. Terrible idea. The paint ran behind the stencil and blurred lines together and now I have to spend even MORE time fixing it.
USE A HAMMER MOTION. Yes, you are “painting” but really you are blotting the paint onto the wall. This helps keep the paint from edging out from around the edge of the stencil
USE THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF PAINT AND ERR ON THE CONSERVATIVE SIDE. Too much paint will bleed, so you definitely need to load up your brush and then UNLOAD onto a towel or paper towel. You can always add another coat if it’s not enough, but too much will really look sloppy!
AVOID WHITE ON COLORED BACKGROUNDS. This may apply across the board, but this was my first time using white paint to stencil on top of a colored background, and not even that dark of a background at that. Part of the reason it didn’t turn out well was because I used the roller, the other reason is because it really needs two coats. Painting light on dark always requires more paint and again, I should have known better.

ANYWAY here of some pics of how this wall is going. It’s not quite done and I’m okay with that… I still have three more weeks to completely finish the room and I’m realizing if I am going to be happy with this wall I need to be patient and take my time, do all the touch up, and take lots of breaks. So I am doing that!

Have a groovy weekend!