DIY Wall Stencil: The Nursery Closet

Rockin Roses
Boy, what a productive day yesterday was! It initially didn't start out that way. I didn't wake up feel like my perky self because yesterday morning was rather gloomy – I guess I was really getting used to waking up to sunshine! Strange, I know, but I am all about sunshine every day, all day and when I don't get it, I somehow lose all sorts of motivation and energy. The plan for yesterday was to sand and paint the spackled part of the nursery closet (Project 'Wall Stencil') and just leave it at that, but it turned out that the paint dried much quicker than I had anticipated so I was able to start the stenciling process a day early. Like I said before, I initially had no motivation whatsoever yesterday to do anything, but I wanted to prove to Steve that the amount of effort going into the wall stenciling project would be worth the beautiful result. And as usual (I kid, I kid) I was right! The stenciling turned out even better than I had expected and I honestly prefer it over the wallpaper that I had originally chosen for the nursery closet.

The whole process from start to finish took me almost 4 hours to complete. I expect it could've taken less than that, but I'm 34 weeks pregnant and can't really move around as quickly as I used to. Those of you who are not pregnant could probably finish this in under 4 hours for sure. Also, I would not recommend 34 week pregnant women to attempt this unless you have crazy motivation and a strong desire to prove your husband wrong! I chose Martha Stewart's Precious Metals Paint in Tiger's Eye:

Martha Stewart

Home Depot

My weapons of choice for the project included a painting mask (so I don't inhale paint fumes since I'm pregnant), painter's tape, repositionable spray adhesive, stencil brushes, a mini roller, and a fan. I know what you're thinking, it's not safe for a pregnant woman to paint especially if the paint isn't low or no VOC paint, but I am too stubborn and impatient to have my husband do it (plus he really didn't want to at all). So I made sure that the window in the nursery was open the whole time and I had the fan on to circulate the air. I also made sure to leave the room as soon as I was done painting one coat at a time. And yes, I had the mask on the whole time I was in the room.

It was a bit back-breaking to say the least, but SO worth it. I would highly recommend wall stenciling if wallpapering is not in the cards for you. Even though it took me a while, it was nowhere as difficult as I thought it would be, and it's instant gratification so you can't beat that.

The instructions recommended either using painter's tape or repositionable spray adhesive to hold up the wall stencil. I definitely think spray adhesive is the way to go, no doubt about it. I only had to spray the stencil about 3 times throughout the entire process since it stuck on so well. I only used painter's tape to seal off the adjacent walls and ceiling.

The wall stencil had registration marks to make it easier to create a repeated design.
And the reveal...

Voilà!

Absolutely perfect!

We'll be adding the closet shelves this weekend so I'll be sure to post photos of that next week!