The guest room had very little architectural interest, so Nancy Golden and her guest, Jan Dressler, decided to make its one outstanding feature -- a nook with a dropped ceiling -- the focal point. Dressler first made a scale drawing of the area, then began sketching her plans for a stenciled design. She knew that the bed would be placed against that particular wall, so she chose to stencil a headboard on the wall as part of her design. To make the area more interesting, she decided to make the "headboard" a stenciled garden gate and turn the rest of the wall into the garden (figure A). Dressler needed a neutral color to make the stenciled design stand out visually, so she painted the wall a celery green -- which, surprisingly, worked even for the sky and would make a perfect backing for the "pastels with punch" she had chosen for the project. The next step was to fill in the background, a landscape of mountains that would have to appear to recede into the distance. She made a frisket, or shield, out of Mylar to help her get sharp edges on the design. (She recommends using posterboard or any similar sturdy, paintproof material if you don't have any Mylar sheets lying around.) Once the frisket was cut, Dressler taped it to the wall at various angles and painted the hills with a roller, using a downward motion to keep the paint from seeping up under the edges. (She points out that you should work from the top to the bottom and from the back to the front.) The sky is the lightest area, the most distant mountains the next lightest and the nearest ones the darkest shade; this helps create the visual effect of depth. Next Dressler established the pillars and arbor of the garden and began placing the flowers in the design (figure B). Using very few stencils (arbor, gate, hollyhocks, cattails and five or so additional flowers), she was nevertheless able to create a design of surprising depth and variety. (She emphasizes that although it was hard as an artist to cover up any of her work, she had to paint the flowers peeking from behind the gate; otherwise the design wouldn't have looked convincing.) Other suggestions for stenciled surfaces include the following: - Floors
- Ceilings
- Furniture -- unfinished or flea-market finds
- Cabinets.
Note: Keep in mind that if you stencil floors or furniture, you'll need to protect the finished surface with a polyurethane sealant; walls, however, don't need as much protection. One possible design obstruction that reared its head when Dressler was decorating the garden wall was the light switchplate -- located exactly in the middle of the wall. So she did what any good stencil artist would do: she stenciled it (figure C)! One corner of the wall received a stenciled "planter" with a profusion of charming cottage flowers "growing" from it. A final note: The garden-wall project is recommended for experienced stencilers. Dressler suggests that you work on simpler projects to perfect your technique before tackling something of this magnitude. The Bare Facts: History tells us that the earliest stenciled designs were at the Caves of a Thousand Buddhas in western China. As a decorative technique, stenciling first became popular in the Far East and then migrated to Europe.
RESOURCES :
Shabby Chic
Model: 0060982047
Author: Rachel Ashwell
1996
HarperCollins
New York, NY 10022
Phone: 212-207-7000
Fax: 212-207-7145
Shabby Chic: Treasure Hunting and Decorating Guide
Trompe L'Oeil Murals Using Stencils
Model: 1581800282
Author: Melanie Royals
(January, 2001)
F & W Publications Inc. (North Light and Betterway Books, Story Press, Popular Woodworking Books)
Website: www.fwpublications.com
Trompe L'Oeil: Creating Decorative Illusions With Paint
Model: 0891348883
Author: Roberta Gordon-Smith
February 1998
F & W Publications Inc. (North Light and Betterway Books, Story Press, Popular Woodworking Books)
Website: www.fwpublications.com
The Shabby Chic Home
Model: 006039319X
Author: Rachel Ashwell
Trompe L'oeil with Stencils: A Step-by-Step Guide. . .
Model: 0855328711
Author: Lynda Mills
Trompe L'oeil Stenciling
Model: 0806928514
Author: Jocelyn Kerr Holding
Amerock Corporation
The producers of Bare Walls would like to thank Amerock Corporation for supplying fcabinet hardware for this room makeover.
Amerock Corporation
Website: www.amerock.com
Lillian Vernon
Website: www.lillianvernon.com
Peacock Alley
The producers of Bare Walls would like to thank Peacock Alley for supplying bedding for this room makeover.
Peacock Alley
Dallas, TX 75207
Website: www.peacockalley.com
GUESTS :
Jan Dressler
Renton, WA
Phone: 425-656-4515
Toll-free Phone: 888-656-4515
E-mail: customerservice@dresslerstencils.com
Website: www.dresslerstencils.com
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