Speed Stenciling

I love color and I love pattern and I love character so when I grew tired of the old world style stencil pattern in my dining room,  I came up with a way to brighten it up and add color.  This speed stenciling tutorial is for those of us who love the weathered look.  This room took a full day (8 – 10 hours) and I’m an experienced painter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4HIsZXaxes&t=73s

1. Remove your trim and tape off the area you plan to stencil.  I raised my chair rail to 68″.  Use a level.  If you live in an old home like mine where nothing is level, 68″ from the floor will look like a crooked line. 
2. Paint the base coat.  I used SW shoji white.
3. After the base coat is dry, place your stencil on the wall, use a level to make sure it is straight.  Dip you sponge into your paint and remove some of the paint by first sponging on the dry area of you paint pan. 
4. Dab your sponge onto the stencil creating different motions each time you use your stencil.  (circular, diagonal, vertical, horizontal).  See video above for this step and for corners.
5. Line the pattern up.  Since this is a weathered pattern, I’m not 100% concerned with keeping it perfectly lined up (which is why this will take 1/4 of the time it would normally take.)
6. After you finish with your first color, the second, third, forth and fifth will go even faster. 
7. The last color is your base color.  The more you add in, the more weathered your stencil pattern will look. 
8. Remove the tape, paint below the dado rail (high chair rail).  I used SW Conservative Gray.
9. Nail  your trim back up and enjoy!