Stencils are a terrific way to decorate a wall without having to buy and hang wallpaper. Personally, I hate hanging wallpaper. I love stenciling. It’s really easy, as long as you’re careful with things like straight lines. All you do is stick the stencil to the wall and paint, or dab, or spray. It all depends on what medium you’re using.

Here is a gallery of ideas and some resources at the end. Enjoy!

The best place in the world to buy stencils is The Stencil Library. Most of these photos are from their blog (a great how-to resource). They have everything from this Rococo design to car tires and barbed wire.

The floral motif is a stencil. Here you can see it with just black and with the flowers in color – all stencilled. Which is your favorite?

I love this one. Use images from a book, enlarge them, and place them inside the stenciled swag. Instant gentrification! Your friends will buy you much better Christmas gifts when they see this in your hallway.

This is really pretty, too. Instead of inserting portraits into the “holes” they’ve used a flower stencil. Love it!

Looking for something Colonial? Some trees and a peacock made a nice frame for a fireplace. It softens the look and creates a beautiful focal point.

Yowza! You can stencil over wallpaper, too. Give it new life with some eye-popping motifs like these hearts. They’re made with the heart stencil and a lace stencil on top. This would look great in a teen room.

You can use your stencils over and over again. Make matching fabric and “wallpaper”. Do up the furniture while you’re at it.

Oh, I forgot. You can stencil the floor, too. You can stencil anything. Better stay away from the cat.

Stencils can also make a nice replacement for artwork. A few flowers and birds in a corner are so lovely. That’s all you need.

Finally, you don’t have to go all out. A few light birds in flight on a white ground makes a beautiful design statement.

RESOURCES

The Stencil Library – Best place ever. You can buy a CD of their designs.

Stencil 1 – Another creative choice.

Stencil Planet – I’ve never used their stencils. They have some nice damasks. Just wish they had larger gallery photos

Designer Stencils – Good for standards

Wall To Wall Stencils – Specializes in creating custom phrases, etc…

These palettes comes from photos I took just yesterday. I turned to the paints of Benjamin Moore to find matching colors from nature. Mix and match these colors on the walls and in accent pieces. Strong, saturated colors can brighten any room. Use lighting to create reflection off the walls and ceilings.

Warmth can also be found in pastel colors drawn from winter’s leaves and branches. Warm browns, yellows are combined with greens and violets. You can use these paints through-out the house by carrying the colors into each room. You can paint the walls in one color, use another for curtains, throws and accent pieces. Upholstered furniture carries the colors as well.

Your local paint store will have mix and match colors. Websites – like mine! – are another source for inspiration. Or make up your own. Do you have one to share? Send me a photo via the contact button and we can begin our own color palette conversation.

Where do you find your inspiration for color palettes?

They’ve put together one of the best color quizzes I’ve seen in a while. The Color Sense Game asks questions that are easy to answer and, best of all, cover all of aspects of one’s life. For example, what music do you like? Instead of asking you to choose jazz, rock, etc…, they’ve put together actual samples to listen to. Easy, right? It is. The quiz covers all the senses – taste, scent, touch, etc…

It also covers emotions and ideas. What do you long for – Compassion?  Justice?  What feels the most important to you – Creativity? Joy?  One tricky part here – the words for the emotions and ideas were set inside colorful circles. I wondered if I chose Joy, did that mean I also like the associated green circle? I’d like them lose the colors. It’s confusing.

Overall, the quiz was awesome. The really interesting part was that misterarthur and I took the quiz separately. We both came up with the same palette preference. Yes, it’s a beautiful marriage. Sigh. This quiz would be a really good exercise for couples to do separately. If their choices are polar opposites, they know a discussion on how to compromise is essential. One thing I wasn’t so fond of were the rooms they chose to show off the colors. Boring and too spare.

The palettes are divided into Collections, such as Tapestry & Mosaic (the one we chose). Within that collection, there are a series of eight palettes. Each palette has five colors. Use them for your entire room. Combine a couple within the same collection and use those for your entire home.

The Voice of Color offers the do-it-yourself-er an excellent starting point for home design. The palette is meant to be used as a guide for everything in the room: paint, fabrics, furniture and accessories. Most importantly, it makes things so much easier and less stressful. Just remember my number one design rule: choose the paint last! You may find that, once you’ve chosen your fabrics, you need to tweak the actual green on your palette. That’s okay! You’ve got your starting point – and that’s the main point.

Another thing I liked about the site is their online shop. You can order sample pots ($4.99). Yay! They’re a bit pricey, but shipping is free if you order 4 or more things. The pots will cover a two-foot square in 2 coats. Use them to paint a swatch onto a board you can move around the room. Check it out in different light and at different times of the day.

They also sell 8″ x 12″ color cards ($2.99). Note to Customer Service: do you really need to sell those brochures? No. They should be free and included with every purchase. Or offer a PDF format to download. As a professional, I’m loving the kit they sell with every color i larger swatches. They’re fairly essential if you use their paint a lot.

Bravo to Pittsburgh Paint. The Voice of Color is very well done and the quiz is a winner.

The winner of the Lilly Pulitzer gift set is….

Shahida!

Congratulations! I’m giving Shahida the preppy name of Curly, after the woman who built our home, Curly Ledyard. She was the ultimate prepster. So, Curly! Your gift will be winging its way to your home on Monday.

The winner of the Paint Style book is….

Jeanne!

Jeanne is not in to pink and green. I’m sure she’ll find some excellent ideas to paint her home beautifully. Congratulations!

Next week, I’ll have two more giveaways. Stay tuned on Monday for the big reveal. Have a great weekend.

First up is this lovely set of Lilly Pulitzer photo frame Christmas ornaments. They’re from Grosse Pointe’s own Lilly shop, The Village Palm. To enter this giveaway, simple leave me a comment with your top-notch preppy name. Mine is Tucky. Feel free to borrow ir.

Next, is this fantastic book from Benjamin Moore. Paint Style is a real decorating book with lots of tips on how to paint and how to achieve different effects in your home. To enter, just leave a comment and let me know you wnat Paint Style. Or, let me know your name is Buffy and the Help will be needing that book. I’ll enter you in both!

The winner will be drawn at random tomorrow. So you have until the end of Friday to enter. Everyone living in the US and Canada is eligible. Good luck!

The book is filled with tips for creating your own finishes and a perfect paint job. If you know someone who’s planning to take the holiday between Christmas and New Years to spruce up the house, this would make a great gift. Maybe it’s you!

The contest runs all week and I’ll announce the winner, chosen at random, on Saturday. I ship to the US and Canada.

To enter, simply leave a comment under any of the Paint Style giveaway posts and give us your paint tip. Or, ask me a painting question and I’ll answer it.

Good luck!

The subject was online decorating as a profession. I think you’ll find the article interesting. You can link to it here.

For those of you who know me, you know I like to run Design Dilemmas where I redecorate spaces completely from photos. I wish I could do more of them and plan to in the future. It’s a time consuming thing and right now my time is crunched! I would only do these as a freebie and always underscore the importance of checking color options in real life. The reason? Because, as you’ll read in Rachel’s article, computer monitors do not reflect real life. Never assume that colors will match in real life because they do in Internet Land.

That doesn’t mean we can’t run a business long distance. But it has to involve the US mail.

Would you hire an online designer? I’m really interested to know if you have ever considered it.

How did you paint that armoire?

Ann wants to know what paint I used for this armoire. Originally, it was plain pine. Here are the steps to do this yourself.

1. First, primed the furniture with a low VOC primer. Or, you can use Kilz. Have the paint shop tint the primer for you.
2. Painted the furniture with Benjamin Moore’s Chili Pepper (#2004-20). You can use latex, but an oil-based paint will show fewer brush marks. Alternatively, you can use a sponge roller, but I can’t vouch for the results since I’ve never done it this way.
3. Yet another idea is to ask an auto body shop if they can do it for you. I’ve had furniture painted there, but I used Bondo and car paint. I don’t know if they can set up latex.
4. Expect to use 4 coats to cover; that’s typical with red paint. The warmer the red, the fewer the coats.
5. Please remember that colors vary widely from monitor to monitor. The red you see might not be the exact red you want. Any deep-based red you like will work fine.

How did you make that metal wall?

I created this metal-clad, magnetic wall using perforated, galvanized steel from McNichols. I ordered the sheets online and had them cut for me. Here’s how to do it.

1. First, choose the perforated style you like. If you want a magnetic wall, you must use galvanized steel. Stainless won’t work.To see the selection, follow this link.
2. Make sure you choose a perf size with holes large enough for your mounting screws to fit through the holes.
3. Measure your wall carefully to create a template. McNichols cut the sheets to fit my template. For example, I bought 3 sheets. Two were flat. The third was cut to fit over the wall and then over the door.
4. Paint your wall the color of your choice.
5. If you live in a humid climate, the steel might rust, so you’ll need to prep it by spraying it with a clear coat of Rustoleum.
6. Mount your sheets you will need flat metal pieces I bought at the hardware store. I used those to frame out the edges of each sheet. Then, I used flat screws, up the middle, to attach the panels to the wall more securely.

Now, have fun buying all kinds of magnets. You can use hooks for hanging calendars and hats. I like this idea because your child (or you) can change out the decor easily. My son is not longer interested in space and ships. He’s 16, so what do you think he has on the wall now?

By the way, if you’re wondering why my portfolio isn’t on my site, it’s coming soon! I’m planning a redesign to launch in January.

Do you have a DIY project you’d like to share? Have you seen something somewhere and need ideas on how to make it yourself? Contact me and I’ll create a plan.