The first thing I saw when I walked into our house for the first time was this massive, white, massive, huge, empty wall! It was a dislike/hate relationship and I had no idea what to do or where to start with this nightmare of a wall. [I may be a little dramatic, Mother....hush.] Normal people would lose sleep because of such excitement of being in their new home in Japan; I lost sleep over this massive white wall.
I had no idea what I was going to do with it, I guess that's why it made me so anxious. I can normally look at something and tell you right off the bat what would look nice....not with this! I decided that if I painted it tan and hung things all over the wall, it would be a cluttered mess. I did a lot of research and came across a piece of fabric that was a moroccan print and instantly thought....
"OH MY GOSH! A STENCIL WALL!!"
I got on etsy, ebay, and Amazon and finally found the one that fit the image I had in my head, along with the price tag that worked for me! I also ordered a stencil kit for doing this which included little things to help, like a stencil level that clips on the top of it and a stencil roller, which really helped me.
This is the stencil I purchased. It's the Moroccan style! Love it.
I painted my wall two coats of tan and decided on a cream color for my stencil. My walls are pretty awkward so I did the center part first and ended up having to cut the stencil in half to finish the sides, where the wall levels changed.
You can see at the top of the stencil, I attached my stencil level; best purchase ever with doing this! I just used painter's tape to hold mine up. I've heard you can use spray adhesive, but I used this instead :)
After painting my first stencil, I lined it up with what I had just painted, made sure it was level, and just kept going across! It really is an easy thing to "make more complicated than it really is." It was quite simple, just very redundant. You get yourself into a little rhythm and just go to town.
I ended up having to go around my TV, boo! I'm such the instant gratification type that I just had to hang the TV on the wall even before I painted.
My girl wanted to help her Momma :) She's such my mini me!
Finally finished! Kickin' my feet up admiring my beautiful new wall and very hard work. You deserve a pat on the back after doing this much painting in one day!
I ended up refinishing a Japanese entertainment unit [it wasn't finished in this picture] but with this, you can see pretty much the whole wall :)
I love my wall so much now that I literally come into my living room in complete awe of what I was able to do to that ugly white wall, all for around $50. That's less than a few picture frames that would have taken up, hmm... no space at all! Woohoo!!
I hope you have enjoyed!
