More Stenciling Lessons

If you were keeping track of the punch list on the bedroom door, you would notice that another item is crossed off - the stenciling.I finished the stenciling and am pretty happy. I bought another stencil after the first one got gummed up and produced some hairy stencils. The latest stencils came out great. I owe it all to the stencil adhesive and I strongly recommend this stuff as it pretty much makes the work moron-proof.
I don't want to know what is in this stuff - I think that "Extreme Danger" and the skull and cross bones says it all but I have to admit, this stuff was awesome. It held the stencils to the wall and produced very crisp patterns. I feel like going back and re-doing 5 or 6 of the hairy ones but I won't mess with what is finished.
The bedroom is shaping up pretty well. I hope to make some headway on the rest of the punch list over the next few weeks - hopefully before the weather gets too nice and I am forced to start more work on the yard.

What I learned about stenciling

Before I go into detail about the stencils, I thought I'd lighten things up with an update on the radiator covers - I found a faux hammered spray paint that oddly enough, I like. So this is it. I typically find this kind of thing tasteless but it actually looks good so I am keeping it that way.
Now for an account of the stencilling.

I don't think I need to explain to most of you about why I stenciled. It is a typical and inexpensive means for decorating bungalow interiors and though I didn't choose a "historic" design, I felt the one I did choose went with the room design and had a nice Arts & Crafts spirit. If I am going to go through the pain and suffering to finish the stenciling job, I wanted to share some of my angst so that others can benefit from it.

The first thing I learned with this project is that I am not built for stenciling. There is a level of dexterity and patience that I am just lacking. That said, there are definitely some techniques that I have learned. When I started, the stencil was nice and flat and clean and the resulting stencil was something like this: By the time I had completed 12 or so stencils, it looked more like this:

Now don't tell me you can't see the difference (and no, the blurriness of the photo is not what I am talking about). By the time I got to the latter stencils, things were getting a little "hairy". The stencil became gummed up with paint and the brushes a little worn.

I taped the brushes as recommended and I was dabbing off a lot of the paint. But I was using acrylic paint and it was causing problems. I should have been forewarned as the folks at Trimbelle River Studios said: "Continue to pull the paint from the stencil plate into the cut opening. This will help prevent build-up on the stencil". Easier said than done. Also, this is a fine technique if you want the stencils to have a more ethereal look and I wanted the color to be a bit richer.

So what did I do?

I gave my stencil a bath. I also got more brushes. And this actually worked for about 2 more stencils and the thing became gummed up again. What I am going to do is order another stencil to finish the job. I am over half-way done but I think it is worth it. I looked back and the first 10-12 stencils are fine. I think I am also going to spring for the stencil adhesive that the stencil-maker recommends. I will go back and re-do a few of the stencils I think are messed up and hopefully it will all look more homogeneous.

As usual, the photos don't really look "right" but they give you an idea of the result. The pattern was easy to stretch around the corners so the design looks pretty good too. I wish the design were slightly smaller for the scale of the room but that would have meant more stencils so I guess I shouldn't mention it.

I ended up using three colors: green and blue are the most prominent, and then I gilded the center of each forget me not with gold paint - which looks real good because it gives variation/depth to the overall design. I am happier than I thought I would be with the whole stenciling thing and I am glad I tried it out but once I finish, I don't think I'll be trying this again.

Stenciling

The stenciling is coming along a little better than I had hoped. The design and colors look nice in the room I'll have to write more when I am finished as there is definately a learning curve with this stuff and unlike most projects, the last groupof stencils does not look as good as the first. In the meantime, you can see the progress below.

Stenciling time... ...or should I wait until I get well

I have been sick the past few days - really sick. When I am around the house and actually do no work on the house, you know it's not good.

Yesterday I felt almost o.k. for a couple hours and after watching every Tivoed episode of Rock Solid, Sweat Equity, Landscapers Challenge and Martha Stewart, I felt invigorated. The Martha Stewart, particularly made me feel like I should start tackling the stenciling in the bedroom.

I pulled out an odd piece of drywall and painted it the same color as the wall and used stenciled with the two color schemes I chose. I think I am going to go with the darker scheme or maybe lighten it a little. I also think it might be neat to have the center of the flowers gold.

I have a long way to go before I get the hang of this though. I am also not so sure I love the stenciling pattern we chose. I don't think the wife is so crazy about it either. Ahh, I can always re-paint over it, right?

Keeping busy in the cold weather

It’s been cold here – very cold. Contrary to what you might think, Chicago has relatively wimpy winters. This year has been the exception. The nice part about all the bad weather is that I can keep working on the bedroom.

My plate is pretty full and I have several projects going on. After a short argument with my wife, I gave in and did not run out to Toms Price and buy a new Stickley night stand for the bedroom. Inspired by some of the woodworking I’ve seen on the houseblogs, I decided to build one instead.
I came up with a design (actually, I came up with several) that had a mission style appearance and would fit nicely next to the bed. I simplified it, simplified it some more, fretted for hours about how I would put it together and I finally have something to show. I’ve cut all the pieces except the top. I am particularly proud of the tapered legs. I am not a woodworker and I actually made a jig to cut them all the same. I am sure that you woodworkers out there are not impressed but when you spend more time making a jig then you do the actual product, I consider it a big deal.

I won’t be using any fancy joinery on this one - baby steps. Instead I got some ball-head screws to hold most of the pieces together. I will blog more on my furniture-making exploits once I get some sanding done and start assembly. Who knows, a trip to Toms Price may still be in order.
We also made a decision on the border in the bedroom and it arrived yesterday. It is from Trimbelle River and is a forget-me-not pattern. Now we just need to experiment with some colors and paint the border. This scares me more than the furniture project.

Finally, I got my photo of Mt. Lushan enlarged and will be making a frame for it out of some mahogany I bought (by the way, that's my leg-tapering jig sitting next to the pile of mahogany in the basement). The colors in the photo were my inspiration for those on the walls and the Asian view fits the style of the room pretty well. I can’t wait to start that project – probably by April.

Seriously though, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on the bedroom. I picked up all of the toe molding and then all I have left is to strip and re-finish the closet door and I am done.