Do you remember Ashley from Philly, who brought us a pendant makeover for less than $12? Well she's back in the DIY saddle with some great stenciling around her home. Instead of spending big bucks on vinyl decals, she used her amazingly steady hand to tackle some large graphics to help fill out her decor. Click through the jump for more of her handiwork.
Ashley also brought a little nature to the back of a door, a great place to personalize, even if you rent. Can't paint your walls? Repainting a door before you leave is far less daunting than repainting an entire room!
Is designer wallpaper still out of reach? You can either make large stencils like Ashley or use an overhead projector to trace your favorite design onto the wall and bust out the paint!
There are times when installing new flooring really isn't at the top of your priority list. If you're looking to spruce things up follow Ashley's lead and create your own design or faux flooring. 9 times out of 10 you will end up covering over it eventually so having to remove it won't be a worry.
Thanks for the inspiration Ashley!
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I love these types of stencils in the right place. My hairdresser has a custom one on his salon wall and it's repeated on his website to great effect - see here:
http://www.mcjhair.com.au/page.php/salon/2
view zadie's profile
awesome! She is very talented, and has completely customized her home. can she post a "how to" ?
view southnapoleon's profile
Now this is an affordable and beautiful way to jazz up a home!
view Seaside's profile
More! More!
Can we have a tour?
view kelleyk's profile
thanks, sarah & all! i've actually been out of town and just popped onto apartment therapy before i checked my email (with your note, sarah, saying that you were going to post this), so imagine the surreal surprise i got when i logged on here and i was like...wait a minute here...i...i think i LIVE there!
@southnapoleon:
1) the lotus/mum-flowery stencils were made with flexible cutting boards (i got mine from dollar tree, but they can be had for less than $2 pretty much anywhere including the ever-helpful IKEA), sketched the design i wanted with a fine-tip sharpie (but for those not inclined to free-hand, the cutting boards are transparent, so if you blow up the design you want in a xerox, you can just trace it through the plastic), and cut with my trusty x-acto knife (and lots of trashy tv to keep me entertained during the tedium). Then you just use it like you would any other stencil.
2) The bird/branch was also free-handed based on an image i had stumbled upon on the internet (i'm embarrassed to say i don't remember where) using 89 cents platinum "folk art" paint from AC Moore (like Michael's), but again, for the free-hand-skittish you could totally use a projector like sarah suggested. in fact, i used a projector for...
3) the tree because it was so large i had difficulty maintaining a sense of scale/dimension while i was up close painting it and i was feeling too lazy to 'grid' it like muralists do. i'm fortunate in that i was able to borrow a projector from work (the same one we use for power point presentations) because i believe these are sort of pricey to rent. and from there it's very intuitive (but tedious)...focus it on your wall where & how large you want it, trace all the lines with a pencil, and paint, paint, paint!
3) ummm...what else? the floor was super easy. they are hardwood floors that i found under several layers of really yucky linoleum. sadly they were terribly, irrevocably water damaged, so i couldn't just stain them...it was either paint them or replace them. so i just got two porch paints from home depot, slapped on some painter's tape to form the squares, and then painted, painted, painted (the theme of my life!). they got a couple coats of poly afterwards.
i realize these descriptions probably aren't the "how-to" you were asking for, but i neglected to take pics while i was doing this stuff (also, i'm out of town right now), so hopefully the "talk-through" helps.
i think my mother thinks my apt looks like some manic 5 yo girl and all her girly, unicorn-y silliness was unleashed on it, but i figure there's plenty of time for me to develop more sophisticated taste! i imagine i'll have to tone it down big-time & paint over everything when i resell my condo, but for the time being my semi-childish aesthetic sensibilities make me happy!
and kelleyk, i'd be happy to give a tour when i get back home, but i'm currently studying for my medical boards, so it'll be a little while!
thanks all!
view littlebunnyfoofoo's profile
I love this, and in fact, maybe a unicorn would look good....;-)
view mjr's profile
I'm relieved it's not more wall-decals...
view bepsf's profile
Do you still have the tree graphic, by any chance? I would love to replicate it on my wall!!
view alyss0486's profile
love it. you're a genius on a shoestring budget! i've been debating whether or not to stencil our bedroom wall in lieu of a headboard... this has just convinced me to go for it :D
view formosagirl's profile
@ alyss0486...sadly, i don't. it was on my old hard drive before it crashed. i remember google image searching for a long, long time until i found the right one, though. i can take a higher res pic of my tree, send it to you and you could use that...?
view littlebunnyfoofoo's profile
Thanks for the offer but my roommate ended up photoshopping this pic you have posted. I painted it yesterday and it looks great! Thanks for the idea!
view alyss0486's profile