Blooming it Up with Bonnie Christine Stencils

 

With so many great new stencil patterns available now in the Bonnie Christine Stencil Collection it was a hard choice of what to do a stencil project with first! Fortunately, we found a way to work in "a few" new stencils on this stenciled feature wall and fab furniture facelift! We think this is such an adorable, colorful concept for a child's bed or play room. Don't you agree??

 

We started by stenciling the feature wall with 2 sizes of the pretty Bloomers Zinnia Flower Stencils Sets: Big Bloomers and Medium Bloomers. You can read all about how to stencil and layer these bountiful beauties in this handy Bloomer Flower Stencils How-to!.

 

Why stop your stenciling at the wall? We had this old oak chest hanging about just waiting for some painting/stencil inspiration to strike-and it was the perfect candidate for painting and stenciling with Chalk Paint® decorative paint. While we used latex paint for the roller stenciling on the wall, we chose to match similar colors of Chalk Paint for the chest for ease of use, coverage, and durability. We found that it was easy to create the perfect shade of turquoise blue by simply combine Florence Chalk Paint and Greek Blue Chalk Paint at about a 1:1 ratio (mix to YOUR taste!). Arles Chalk Paint and Barcelona Orange Chalk Paint seemed about perfect right from the can, and of course good old Old White Chalk Paint makes for the perfect background color.

 

As a nice contrast and counterpoint to the Zinnia Bloomers Flower Stencils we chose two smaller, geometric designs that are perfectly sized for furniture stenciling: the Small Wonderment Trellis Stencil and the retro-inspired Small Diamonds and Dots Stencil. To get some additional stencil pattern variety we changed up the background colors, introduced multiple colors within each stencil pattern using small 3/8" stencil brushes, and even flipped the Diamonds and Dots stencil in its side to get a completely different vibe.

Well, this should get some new stencil ideas blooming for you! Check out these links for even more pretty pattern goodness.....

• Introducing the Bonnie Christine Stencil Collection on our Stencil Ideas Blog.
• Furniture Stencil Ideas Galore!
• Top 10 Furniture Stencil Tips.
• How-to Paint with Chalk Paint on Furniture

 

 

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Top Drawer Stenciling with 3 Oaks Studio!

  

Chalk Paint® decorative paint and Royal Design Studio Stencils -- two great tastes that taste great together! Transforming drab used furniture into something fresh and fabulous has become one of the go-to projects that many DIYers and artists alike adore. When we spied the painted and stenciled furniture of Vicki Shoemaker of 3 Oaks Studio, we knew we had to share them with you! Vicki has an elegant and charming style with the refinished furniture pieces she sells out of her central California shop. She is also a fellow Chalk Paint® stockist and teaches the painting and stenciling techniques that she uses to create her custom furniture pieces. Today, we're taking a closer look at two of those pieces, a beautiful buffet and rockin' dresser!

Isn't this buffet amazing? The colors  used were predominantly Old Ochre Chalk Paint® decorative paint on the outside with touches of Duck Egg and Chateau Grey as well with touches of gilding waxes and both Annie Sloan clear and dark wax. Inside the doors are a fun stenciled surprise with the Small Scrollallover Furniture Stencil from the perfectly-sized Furniture Stencils Collection. What an extra layer of panache there is with an added stencil pattern inside doors, drawers and other unexpected places!

The fresh and modern Rockin' Roses Damask Stencil completely transforms this dresser into a high style design piece! It's elegantly fun with a color scheme that works beautifully within so many design styles! The eclectic and bohemian stencil is part of the Allover Floral Stencil Collection.

Many thanks to Vicki Shoemaker of 3 Oaks Studio for sharing her wonderful stenciled furniture projects! She had those lovely pieces photographed by John M. Reynolds - gorgeous. Refinishing and stenciling your own furniture as a DIY project is easy and FUN to do. If you have been eyeing your own stenciled furniture makeover, make sure you check out our Top 10 Furniture Stencilips tips first! You can always contact us for help with any questions either via e-mail or on the Royal Design Studio Facebook fan page. Be sure to send in your projects, too!

Check out other fabulous stenciled furniture makeover ideas!

• Transform a chest with Chalk Paint® decorative paint and stencils! 

• How to use lettering stencils to refinish a table -- or any craft or furniture project you have!

• Sparkle up Chalk Paint® decorative paint with our Royal Stencil Cremes and make your stenciling project a SNAP!

• You can NEVER go wrong with all the incredible inspiration found in the Stenciled and Painted Furniture pinboard!
  

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Easy Weekend Stencil Projects with Ladies Home Journal

  

Easy Weekend Paint Projects were shared in this month's issue of Ladies Home Journal -- and guess whose stencil patterns showed up! That's right - it's Royal Design Studio Stencils you spy! The DIY Weekend project feature came about when our friend Linda Smith of the gorgeous Burlap + Blue blog shared her easy peasy china cabinet makeover with our Endless Circles Lattice Moroccan Stencil. The stencil is part of our Allover Moroccan Stencils Collection and works SO well within different design styles: ethnic, bohemian, contemporary and more! In fact, the Moroccan stencil designs look equally fabulous stenciled in bright colors for a global vibe or in tone-on-tone finishes for an elegant, understated look. Let's take a look at Linda's ingenious process for a flawless stenciled finish.

 

 

Linda used a very creative idea for stenciling the back of the cabinet. Instead of painting directly on the furniture piece, she bought foam board at the Michaels craft store, cut it to size and stenciled the allover Endless Circles Lattice Moroccan Stencil pattern directly onto the board.  She then installed it quickly onto the back of her cabinet for a Voila! moment. This stencil technique also works great when you want to stencil staircase risers, too!

 

Be sure to read Linda's stenciled china cabinet tutorial to see her step-by-step process. She shares that the entire project took her four hours and that most of that was dry time. Your furniture deserves a beautiful stenciled pattern and it takes so little time!  We thank both Linda and Ladies Home Journal for showcasing how stencils can help make any surface and space look better -- one weekend at a time!

See other fresh stenciled furniture ideas just in time for Spring!

• The results are too cool for school on this stenciled desk transformation with a Chevron stencil!

• Learn how to stencil wood furniture with Chalk Paint® decorative paint and Royal Design Studio!

• Super ideas abound in the Royal Design Studio Stenciled and Painted Furniture pinboard!
  

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A Painted & Stenciled Modern Furniture Makeover!

 
 

Stencils can fit into so many styles: Victorian, Shabby Chic, French Country and Contemporary to name just a few! Royal Design Studio Stencils has an amazing array of stencil patterns to choose from, but when it came time to pick a design for their own mid-century furniture makeover, Modern was the key word for Carrie and John Waller of Dream Green DIY! They originally bought the dresser with no makeover plans but as they explained, "We love the lines but light wood just wasn't our jam in a large-scale piece".  The Herringbone Pattern Furniture Stencil from the Furniture Stencil Collection proved their inspiration -- once that decision was in place, they formed a plan to transform the dresser into a Stencil Show-off!

Mid-century pieces wrapped in a painted white exterior were a favorite furniture style for Carrie and so she and John decided to stain the dresser fronts a rich, dark walnut and paint the exterior in ultra white. The stenciling was done in a mint color to add contrast to the overall look of the dresser. You can see all the great details in Dream Green DIY as Carrie wrote about the complete process in her stenciled dresser transformation tutorial. We think it's fantastic how even just a small pop of stenciling can adds so much interest to a DIY project!

Sigh. Just look at her. We absolutely LOVE this modern stenciled dresser! If you wanted to use the stencil pattern for your walls or a larger surface, the Herringbone Pattern Wall Stencil has additional sizes available and they are part of the striking Allover Modern Stencils Collection. There are so many other great stencil patterns there, too!  We hope you've enjoyed this rockin' makeover -- doesn't it make you want to pick up a stencil and do an amazing transformation of your own? :)

Mod's the Word! Let's take a look at other Modern and Contemporary Stencil Ideas!

• The Modern Wall Stencils pinboard from Royal Design Studio has plenty of painted and stenciled inspiration!
  

• Ombre Chevron Wall Stencil Technique. Doesn't that sound amazing? Wait until you see the tutorial!

• Take a look (and see the video tutorial) of a modern stencil used for a nursery feature wall!

Be sure to follow Royal Design Studio on Facebook, Twitter and HomeTalk!

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Royal Design Studio Stencils are a Lowe's Creative Idea!

 

Stencil pattern inspiration for home decor was recently featured in home improvement giant Lowe's Creative Ideas magazine! They love to share easy DIY projects, home makeover ideas, decorating tips and more for their legions of customers -- and one of the best design inspirations is to use stencil patterns to transform the look and color of any surface. Lowe's picked FOUR different Royal Design Studio Stencil patterns to work with, along with a sunny sherbet color palette-and we are pleased as punch to share them here with you!

The Modern Chevron Wall Stencil is a fantastic zig zag graphic pattern that saves you the trouble of needing to measure and tape out the design yourself.  It is part of the Allover Modern Stencils Collection and comes in several sizes.  Lowe's used the Large Chevron stencil pattern on the floor to add a gorgeous wow! factor. SO amazing, don't you think? They shared the full tutorial on stenciling a floor on their website.

Next, Lowe's tackled the walls by stenciling the wainscot. They used three beautiful satin paints from their Valspar line and the Chez Ali Moroccan Stencil from the Allover Moroccan Stencil Collection.  We love those sweet sherbet colors and the design is perfect for Spring!

 

 

What to do with that plain Jane mirror you have? Spice it up with stencils! The Indian Floral Inlay Stencil Set did the trick for Lowe's -- and aren't the results SO pretty?  Lowe's shared how they built and painted their stenciled mirror frame project, which they suggest can be done in a weekend. You can easily find more stencils suited for smaller projects in the Wall Art & Motif Stencil Collection and the Furniture Stencil Collection. It true that good things come in small packages!

It's time to feather your nest! Using the large Peacock Fancy Stencil, that is! Lowe's oh-so-cleverly used the peacock feather stencil in an ombre painted and stenciled room screen.  They used beautiful bright colors here but you could easily change it up to match your design scheme. It's a great DIY weekend project and such a creative idea for other furniture pieces and crafts, too!

Lowe's Creative Ideas magazine is full of great inspiration for DIY projects big and small -- and we're so happy they chose Royal Design Studio stencils to celebrate and share a love of color and pattern. Be sure to look for your issue at your local Lowe's or check into their online site!

Want MORE creative stencil ideas? Let's do it!

• Check out the Royal Design Studio Pinterest boards for inspiration on all types of surfaces!
  

• See a fab video How to Stencil a Hardwood Floor with the Chez Ali Stencil used by the DIY Network's Shannon Kaye!
  

• Love that stenciled mirror frame? Try stenciling on a mirror, too!
  

• "Like" the Royal Design Studio Facebook fan page to get your daily dose of pattern, design and inspiration!

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A Dressy Damask Dresser!

Using Stencils to refinish and transform furniture can add pattern and interest to a plainer piece and also be the perfect surface to showcase a bold stencil design. Mary Spitzer of Because I Like to Decorate had a dresser she found at a thrift store and used both Chalk Paint® decorative paint and the Large Fabric Damask Stencil from the Allover Damask Stencils Collection to transform the dresser into a stunning piece! Our Furniture Stencils Collection is perfectly sized for stenciling furniture but here, Mary used a larger design made for walls and creatively designed the pattern to fit the piece perfectly.  She also chose to forego centering the design and instead off-set the stencil -- gorgeous!

Mary used one coat of Provence Chalk Paint® decorative paint because she wanted a lot of the wood undertones to show through the paint and distressing. She then applied a heavy coat of Annie Sloan Soft Dark Wax. Since the dresser had straight, simple lines, Mary decided to stencil the Large Fabric Damask onto the front with navy latex paint and not install hardware in order to maintain the modern style. [The dresser has grooves under the drawers for ease in opening.]  After stenciling, the dresser was distressed again, finished with the Annie Sloan Dark Wax and finally, the Annie Sloan Soft Clear Wax.

Mary wrote a beautiful post with more images on this stenciled furniture project for her blog.  If you are interested in stenciling and painting your own furniture, please be sure to read Royal Design Studio's Top 10 Furniture Stenciling Tips.  Many thanks to Mary Spitzer for sharing her stenciled furniture project!

Looking at your furniture with an eye to Stenciling? Check out these ideas, too!

• Here's another Chalk Paint® and Stencil furniture project with a full step-by-step tutorial!

• Find out how to layer many tones to creatively color and antique with Stencils!

• Sparkle up Chalk Paint® with our Royal Stencil Cremes for a gorgeous and color-coordinated furniture transformation!

• Our Stenciled & Painted Furniture Pinboard has SO many inspiring ideas just for YOU!

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Rockin' Stylish Filing with Stencils

 

Stencils are an incredible way to transform those dated filing cabinets we all seem to have. Gray, functional, bulky...just blah. Once you turn your creative eye to them, you can see that paint and stencils can add beauty to what was once an eyesore.  Chelsea from the Two Twenty One blog did just that when she chose the Rockin' Roses Damask Stencil to help create a very pretty space for herself at home.

The Rockin' Roses Damask Stencil Chelsea used for her DIY project is part of our Allover Modern Stencils Collection. The modern flower stencil design is both classic and fresh at the same time. It also added a contemporary, bohemian twist to her decor. Chelsea chose to paint her filing cabinet in white first and then stencil in the design in a pretty gray. She shared all the details in a full step-by-step tutorial on stenciling a file cabinet.

 

 

Chelsea adds that from prep to cleanup, it took her 3 - 4 hours to complete the project. This makes for a fantastic and fast weekend project! But...what about those boring files inside? Check out our how-to for using Moroccan stencils to create stylish stenciled file folders! The tutorial uses our Moroccan Stencils but you can also review our site for other favorite stencils. Now, you're all set to make your office work that much more fun!

William Morris once said, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful". This stenciling DIY transformation proves to be both -- and stencil patterns can make an incredible impact in the blending of the two!  We thank Chelsea from the Two Twenty One blog for sharing her gorgeous project with us!  

Are you looking around your house now, with an eye to transforming that piece you've always thought could be so much more? Now you CAN do it with a little paint, your favorite stencil and maybe some extra How to Stencil tips! Please feel free to PIN these images to your Pinterest boards and let us know what what you've been inspired to transform!

Can you handle more Stencil Ideas?  We thought so! ;)

• Our DIY Craft & Stencils Board on Pinterest has many weekend project ideas!

• Take a look at other goodies our Furniture Painting Stencils have transformed!

• Our Facebook page has DAILY inspiration, ideas and info you can't miss!

• Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Houzz for more design, pattern & stencil loveliness!

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Pretty Handy Table Rescue

Here's a tale of trash to treasure with the help of a Pretty Handy Girl, stencils, and the ever popular Chalk Paint® decorative paint-the ULTIMATE paint for fast and easy furniture transformations.

 

Pretty Handy Girl Brittany spied this table by a dumpster and transformed the abandoned ugly duckling quickly into a painted swan with the help of the pretty Lisboa Tile Stencil from Royal Design Studio and trendy Chalk Paint® colors.

Visit Brittany's paint and stencil post here for all the details and see the basic 1-2-3+ below.

1. Use shellac or a shellac-based primer like Bin to seal any exposed raw wood (in this case table top) and prevent any knots in the bare wood from bleeding through the Chalk Paint®. 

2. Paint the tabletop with two coats of Old White Chalk Paint®.

3. Paint the table legs with Duck Egg Blue Chalk Paint®.

4. Use low tack ScotchBlue Painter's tape to tape off a "frame" around the tabletop edge and paint inside with Duck Egg Blue Chalk Paint®.

5. Find the center of the tabletop and center the Lisboa Tile Stencil there. Use a foam stencil roller and stencil overall with Old White Chalk Paint®.

6. Stencil the main tile centers and additional details with Cream Chalk Paint® for added interest and dimension. Add some hand painted details here and there with Versailles Chalk Paint®.

7. Distress all with a light pass of an Orbital Sander. Apply Antiquing Glaze. Seal.

If you are not as lucky as Brittany to find an awesome FREE table laying by a dumpster, you can easily find this sort of 90's-era table for sale at great prices at thrift stores and on Craigslist. Remember! One girls trash is another one's treasure-especially when you have awesome Chalk Paint® and stencil patterns at your fingertips!!

Inspired to try a painted trash rescue for yourself?!

• See more Stencil Ideas Posts on Furniture Stenciling.
• Check out our Pinterest board on Painted and Stenciled Furniture.
• Follow Royal Design Studio Stencils on Facebook and @RoyalStencils on Twitter for the latest and greatest stencil projects.
  

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