Last week I spent a few days with a pair of fashionable friends who recently moved into a new apartment in New York. While touring the space, I noticed that one friend's room had an accent wall half covered in a birch forest pattern (she used the same pattern behind the cats in the photo above), and even though she's known for being reasonably crafty, the endeavor looked like an awful lot of work until she showed me the stencil she was using.
The stencil was basically a 26"x48" clear plastic panel with a repeating pattern cut out of it. All my friend had to do was prime the wall and paint her base color, then tape up the stencil and paint the pattern on one section at a time. You have to do it piece by piece so it's not quite an instant fix, but even if stenciling is not quite a single-afternoon project, it's still faster than any reasonably attractive alternative.
A more permanent cousin of the vinyl decal, stencils can be used to create a mini accent moment or to create a wallpaper effect by running a repeating pattern all the way around the room. Some intrepid DIYers have even used them as a starting-off point for a custom wall mural; combining branch, leaf, flower and bird stencils allows you to create your own scene without having to rely to much on your own ability to draw a straight line. And as a huge plus, there's no steaming or scraping to do if you change your mind; you can just paint over it again.
What do you think? Have you used stencils in your own place, or would you consider it?
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Very beautiful!
Nice wall treatment! But cats on the table...gross me out the door!
Cats on the table?? yuck!
Cute wall stenciling! As for cats on the table... well, I love that!
where did she get those bird pictures?
I'm currently renovating my kitchen this week and I bought that exact stencil to use as part of my renos. Most of my condo is grey and I plan on painting the wall between my kitchen and living room with white birch trees with a yellow background (the wall is full height behind the stove and half height behind the sink and counter so you. An now see into the living room)
If you're a cat person hehe the photo is cute,but I still chase my cats off the table if I catch them up there
So...no source on that stencil?
http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/allover-stencil-birch-forest.html
i plan on stenciling the walls up my stairs at some point in 2012 ;) i just wonder if its as easy, albeit time consuming, as everyone says
The folks over at young house love did a beautiful paisley stencil in their office.
Cats on the PLACEMAT--OMG. My napkin and utensils sitting on a bed of cat hair??
I love--no--ADORE-- my dog, but her contact with the dining area is relegated to UNDER the table.
oh i love it! totally digging those bird prints on the wall - source?? vintage?
Photos like this are what give us cat people a bad name...those cute little paws resting on that placemat were scratching around in the litter box a few minutes ago. Ick, ick, ick.
Enough about the cats, already. We'd be a lot closer to World Peace if everyone just kept their opinions about other peoples pets to themselves.
Love the stencil. Thanks for the source link.
Glad to see a link for the stencil.
And a kitty will do what a kitty will do: much better for your mental health if you just accept it instead of getting your knickers in a knot about litterpaws and hair.
People. What do you think your cats do when you aren't home? (Besides sleep) They sit on all the places you think they don't sit on. Cat fact.
@ Kat M - my cat is longhaired and sheds everywhere - if he sat on my table or counters, there would be tumbleweeds of fur left behind, as there are everywhere he does sit. Cat fact.
You can train cats, people. Every time they go somewhere they're not allowed they get a loud hand clap, "NO!" and a quick spray of water from a squirt bottle. My cat hasn't tried to jump on the counter or dining table since he was a kitten (except for the one time I left a bag of catnip on the table, but that was my bad). Serving food on a placemat that an animal's been lounging on is disgusting. Gah, this picture - I couldn't even notice the cool stencil b/c of the cats.
@hlg22 I sort of agree with you. Yes, cats are trainable but some of them are too stupid to get it. My eldest never set foot on the table but the youngest hadn't learned yet since she'd been too young to try. So I spritzed her when she jumped up the first time. She hunkered down and looked sad. So I kept spritzing.
cat:*sad*
Me: *spritz, spritz, spritz*
cat: *SAD*
I emptied the entire bottle on her and she just kept looking sadder and sadder. Same thing happened the next day. And the third, she scurried into a plastic grocery bag on the table and cowered. I gave up. Now they both waltz across the table but I clean it before I actually serve food on it.
(yes, I know this is totally off topic but I had to reply)
Does anyone know how stencils look on textured walls? The walls in my apartment aren't smooth and I'm not sure how it would look.
"Gross me out the door!"
HAHAHAHA! I haven't heard that since seventh grade. Awesome.
@Everyone who wants to know about the birds-
They are illustrations from the book "The Birds of America" by John James Audubon. I'm willing to bet you could find a calender with a few of the prints and just frame them. Or look on ebay for reprints of the book.
I like the stenciled wallpaper, and those cats are too cute! Mine would be sprawled across the keyboard.
It only took two comments for someone to say "eeww cats on the table"... Seriously, some people have no joy in their lives. Get a pet, you'll change your mind.
I have no problem with cats on the table, counter, or anywhere they want to go. I don't think "training" them actually works when you aren't looking, so why torture them to behave in human-acceptable ways? Live with them as they are or get a different pet. I do think leaving placemats out for the cats to sit on is kind of foolish, but counters and tables can be wiped down before food appears, and anyhow, those same "litterpaws" are there when you pick them up or they sit on your lap, so what's the big deal? I don't know of anybody who has died (or even gotten sick) from that, ever!
Meanwhile, back at the stencil, it's really nice, I love birches. But with an art background, I have to think it would be easier to free hand a design like this with a narrow paint roller for the verticals, and some minimal brush work for the branches and black "scars".
i agree that "training" them doesn't work when you aren't looking. for the last 2 years i thought i had "trained" my cat not to walk on counters. it wasn't until recently, i had a house guest tell me that my cat prances along the counters all the time. just not when i'm in the room. -_-
The people who think cats on the table are no big deal are probably the same ones who are adamant about houseguests going shoeless inside their house. Would love to know the overlap between people who think the cats aren't disgusting, but shoes are.
Who else read the first sentence "....I spent a few days with a pair of fashionable friends..." and thought, the cats!
You can also use a little spray adhesive on the back of the stencil instead of taping it up.
I only came to see how many people complained about the cats on the table. Psssst: Tablecloths are washable.
A year ago I did a birch tree feature wall in my daughter's bedroom. I made my own stencil using a large sheet of acetate and spray adhesive to keep it in place. It turned out great. :)
Everyone thinks I used wallpaper. Tricked them ;)