Bedroom Makeover: Paint and Stenciling

I'm so happy to share the first phase of the bedroom transformation - the walls!

Choosing the colors
I had a few constraints to consider with this room: First, I wanted to keep it somewhat light/neutral. I take most of my product photos in this room so I didn't want the new paint to cast weird light/shadow/reflections on my shooting setup. Second, the colors had to work with the existing wood trim and the teal carpeting. Cool tones would work best in here. I had an idea to do a two toned effect - two walls in the darker shade and two walls in the lighter shade with a stenciled accent wall. I chose Behr Marquee Distant Star and Cameo White in an eggshell finish. Distant Star is a pretty bluish medium gray and Cameo White is a nice clean white. I was pleased with the quality of the paint - it went on thick and saturated and didn't leave any brush/roller marks behind.



Choosing the pattern
I really wanted a patterned accent wall and of course my mind went immediately to wallpaper. There are so many great options out there right now! But as I started thinking about it more, I got really excited about painting a stenciled pattern instead. Stenciling would allow me to choose my own color combinations instead of being stuck with what wallpapers were available. I could really make it my own with painting technique and finishes.

After a bit of googling, I came across Royal Design Studio. They have tons of great stencil patterns/designs to choose from and they kindly offered to send me one to try out for this project! After much deliberation, I chose the African Wave. It's graphic and has a modern simplicity that I really liked that would look great with mid-century style furniture.

Nothing like a hard day's work! Notice Baci not helping at all.

Stenciling
The folks at Royal Design Studio send detailed instructions with the stencils so there's really no guesswork involved. There are registration marks on the stencil to help you line up the pattern as you go (so helpful). I had brushes similar to this set of brushes (mine had 6 instead of 3) and found the medium sized ones worked the best. I also used spray adhesive on the back of the stencil, but it didn't help that much with my wall texture. Blue painter's tape was perfect for holding it in place while I painted.

Technique
I wanted a subtle fade to the pattern - more saturated on the top and lighter on the bottom. To achieve this look, I made sure the top two rows were very solid. From there I gradually used less and less paint until I got about two thirds of the way down. Then I mixed a bit of the gray in with the white and did two more rows. Then added a bit more gray and worked with a very dry brush for the last two rows.



This wall was about one day's work (I took a lot of breaks). I touched up the corners and any small areas the next day. All in all, a relatively quick project for the big impact that it gives to the room. I'm so happy with how it turned out!



Stay tuned for more bedroom makeover projects as I work towards the big reveal!

Disclosure: Behr provided the paint and Royal Design Studio provided a stencil to review for this project. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands who keep this blog going!