When Pottery Barn Kids asked me to design a nursery for their fall catalog, I was thrilled! I couldn’t wait to create a nursery using their products and was excited to get my creative juices flowing. After having a baby last December, this became a project that was near and dear to my heart. As a child, my life was spent traveling and living abroad with my family. I knew I wanted to create a room that evoked the spirit of travel.
Recently, I traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico and this is where I drew my inspiration for the room. I started with the quote above the crib: “Let everyday be an adventure.” From there, my goal was a room that had an adventurous spirit with a neutral palate. The tepee is a place I can see kids playing in for hours on end. I had originally wanted to use wallpaper but couldn’t find a design I was satisfied with for the aesthetic I was envisioning. Instead, I decided to stencil the walls with a pattern I had seen on a tapestry in New Mexico. This was a much less expensive solution and turned out perfectly. I wanted to share with all of you the step by step instructions on how we went about painting the stencil – thank goodness we had help from a professional!
Materials Needed:
For Stencil –
Clear laminate sheet Printed design drawn out Rubber cutting mat X-Acto knife Masking tape Marker
For Wall – stencil paint brush painter’s tape pencil paint paper towels level
Instructions:
For Creating Stencil –
1.) When selecting an image or design, make sure that it will only need two paint colors.
2.) Trace the design by hand onto the clear plastic laminate sheet. Use a marker for this
.
3.) Now it’s time to cut the stencil – set your piece of laminate on the rubber cutting mat. Using a X-Acto knife to cut out the area you will be painting. Be sure to take your time with this. Once you’ve cut out all of the pieces, voila!
For Painting Stencil on the Wall –
1.) Determine the starting point. Once this is determined, attach the stencil using painter’s tape.
2.) Paint stencil design on the wall with a paint brush. Make sure the bristles don’t have any excess paint on them. If so, use a paper towel to take off the paint.
3.) Apply paint – make sure you don’t brush paint over stencil openings, this will lead to paint seeping under the stencil. Make sure you hold the stencil in place and apply pressure where you are painting.
4.) Once you are done painting, measure the distance you would like between each stencil. Mark that point with a pencil. Do this for the entire wall before painting the rest of the stencils.
5.) Continue painting the stencil design. Move the stencil across the wall until the entire wall is covered in the design.
All Sherwin-Williams paint:
–Wall, SW7064 Passive
–Arrow, SW7066 Gray Matters
–Arrow Accent, SW 7006 Extra White
Here is a time-lapse video from start to finish of the stencil going up. It’s pretty incredible to see it come to life.
A huge thank you to the Pottery Barn Kids team for having me be part of this fall catalog. It was a true honor to work with such an incredible team. Now, pop over to the Pottery Barn Kids blog to learn more about the inspiration behind the nursery.
Product:
Photos by Pottery Barn Kids
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