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Much like the faux finishing industry, the stenciling industry has undergone a revival. Many of the artists of today are pushing for sophisticated, layered and of-the-moment options. We like to keep up with the current interior design styles, and the stencil and product manufacturers have kept up with our demand.
Stencil companies used to be synonymous with simple designs and borders. You know the ones I’m talking about. Chickens, hearts…the hideous unsophisticated borders with the tiny houses, butterflies or checkered squares…geez, I think I’m going to have a panic attack. Let me get myself together.
Phew. The clients of today are ever more savvy and they hire designers who keep up with them. In order to realize a designer’s vision, our techniques need to get ever more elegant as well. For instance, large graphic designs are increasingly used for a perfect shot of drama. These designs are achieve via a one-time use stencil (more on these later), cutting your own stencil design or using a projector.
Allover and Repeat Patterns
Additionally, Allover or Repeat patterns are also being used in a fantastic manner. Companies such as Wallovers are producing beautiful stencil designs with great patterns.
One Time Use Stencils
Artisans are using one-time use stencils to allow for creative, new techniques simply not possible with traditional mylar stencils. One company leading the way is Modello Designs — with applications for virtually any surface. Here are some examples for ceilings and floors. By the way, that ornamental ceiling is featured in a How-to DVD by Deshu House. It features the entire project and teaches you how to achieve the look.
Deshu House
We’ve also used their designs not only for walls, but for accent surfaces such as curved ceilings and niches. Here two photos from our work.
Making Your Own Stencil
There are some instances when cutting your own stencil is a must. We recently worked on a client’s home where we literally pored over every stencil catalog available with no success in finding the right design. With limited time frame, we drew a custom design and it proved perfect. We cut the design out of mylar and proceeded to do the technique the very same day. If you’d like to learn how to cut your own stencil, Britain’s Stencil Library has an incredible blog, Design Inspiration, which had a post on how to do just that.
I hope this has introduce you to new stenciling techniques and resources. Let me know if you have any questions — I’m here to help! Have a great day!
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Notes from the hosts: To read more from Faux Finisher Regina Garay, here. For more from our general category, Decorating – there. ~jb