DIY: The Stenciled Kid's Room, Boreal Forest Edition - Remodelista
Sometimes DIY is a bit like giving birth: faced with the beautiful results of your efforts, you begin to forget what a pain it was. Photographs by Justine Hand. And so, nearly a year after completing the arduous task of painting my daughter Solvi’s room with a roller... ...I found myself trying out a different stencil technique in my son Olie’s room. But it took some time to find a design that inspired me to put stencil to wall again. Possessed with the confidence of the experienced, I laid out my supplies and was ready to begin. Note: When choosing your supplies for this project, make sure to select a roller with a shorter nap (3/8 inch), because you don’t want it to absorb too much paint that could potentially leak under the stencil. Step 1: Apply a base coat over all the walls you wish to stencil and allow to dry thoroughly. Step 2: To position your stencil, begin in the upper right-hand corner of one wall. Step 3: Grab the paint with your roller making sure that it is thoroughly saturated but not dripping. Step 4: Starting at the top, roll down pressing firmly enough to get a crisp design, but not so hard that you push the paint under the stencil. Step 5: To repeat the pattern, simply overlap the last row, either horizontally or vertically... ...depending on which direction you are going. I worked down each wall and then moved back to the top of the next row and down again, until the wall was covered. Step 6: After I completed all the large areas, I cut a piece of the stencil to finish off the edges and small spaces. Then with a small brush, I touched up mistakes with a bit of my base coat. Oliver’s room is now crisp and clean and cheerful. I’m truly sorry that I didn’t get a before picture of the room. To unify the space while maximizing storage... ...I choose two PAX cabinets from Ikea (79 inches by 13 inches, a size you can only order in the stores) with Bergsbo doors ($49.95 each) . The kids settled right into the new space. And have a look at her choice: The Perks of Being a Pale Blue Wallpaper.