The Stencil Project

OK.  I've had a busy week, and finished the "trial" attempts using variations of color combinations a few days ago.  Travelin BRITS came home over the weekend.  I was able to explain to and show him my trail run for this project.  We were also able to place the board on the stairs at the house to get a feel of how it would look.  I was sent to another level of anticipation and excitement, he was a bit less enthusiastic, but was willing to give me the go ahead for the project!!!   WOO HOO!!!

Please keep in mind, this is not the design I plan to use.  I painstakingly chose 3 different patterns from the wide selection at Royal Design Studio, and placed my order TODAY!  I hope to finalize our color palette for the entire house sometime this week, so that when my order arrives from RDS, I'll be able to jump right in to giving our home a very unique look.  But I'm still thinking the risers will be painted the same color as whatever color the trim work will be (most likely a creamy off-white color) and for the stencil design, I'll go with a very subtle shade darker than the riser.

I was able to pick up a long piece of plywood that would allow me to try several different variations of background and pattern colors.

I measured it out and then sectioned off 1-foot areas for each of the variations of color and pattern.

Paint, brush, tape, pencil, and one photo-bombing dog wanting to play......

Still not definitive on our paint colors for the house, but here are 3 varying Valspar paint colors.  From left to right:  Courtyard Tan, Mediterranean Caramel, and Cafe Miel...

....all shown here on the plywood board.

Here I've got everything laid out and ready to go... stencil in place, paper towels, paper plate, brush and paint.

The neat thing about stenciling is you don't have to use a lot of paint to get the look you're going for.  Just a small amount applied to your brush, which is then rubbed off onto a paper towel.  Then, in circular strokes, you're going over the surface of the stencil, careful not to apply too much pressure for fear of resulting in bleeding under the stencil...

This is the result of the first section I worked on, with the background done in Valspar Courtyard Tan.  Unfortunately, the design on the left is not quite what I envisioned due to my not completely cleaning the brown paint from the brush.  However, I sorta like the light creamy color that resulted using Americana Light Buttermilk and a not-completely-clean brush! :)  The design on the right was done with a darker paint, Americana Toffee.

An action photo, showing the daubing on the paper towel, the paper plate palette, and the result using much darker paint, Americana Cocoa and Honey Brown on Valspar Courtyard Tan.

This section is shown with the Valspar Mediterranean Caramel background and the Cocoa and Honey Brown stencil paints.  As you can see, or maybe can't see, the Cocoa is virtually the same color as the Mediterranean Caramel.  I want to go subtle, but this is a little too subtle considering all the work this project entails! 

Lastly, the background using Valspar Cafe Miel and Americana Honey Brown on the left and Stencil Magic Paint Creme in Warm Brown on the right.

I still think my favorite result is the Valspar Courtyard Tan with the stencil design done in Light Buttermilk.

Keep in mind, I'm still perfecting the technique and hope that when I start the project for the stair risers, I'll be a lot more confident with my technique, knowing just how little paint it takes to achieve the look I'm going for.

All Valspar paints from Lowe's.  All Americana paints from Hobby Lobby.

So...what do you think?