Yikes, This Is Taking MUCH Longer Than I Could Have Ever Imagined!

Do those words ring a bell?

I tried out two new (that is new to me), stencils from Cutting Edge Stencils in a townhouse of a lovely couple who found me by doing a search on the Internet. I don’t really know how I show up in a search, if it is through this blog or my website, but I’m just glad I do, because that is one way I acquire new clients! A shout out to Julie Krefta, who maintains my website… and yes, I know I am way behind with sending her some new photos… and hope to get to that task soon.

My new clients wanted an accent wall in their soon to be born baby’s room, and an accent wall in their Master Bedroom. Naively, I thought it would take me 1 day to do each room, using a small roller with the stencils. The Master Bedroom wall was quite long, approximately 17′ x 7′ 6" high with one double window. What I did not take into consideration was the fact that the dark gray color they chose for the stencil pattern, needed two coats to cover well. Jeesh, you’d think this was my first rodeo! I just was not thinking, apparently! My brain was slacking off, clearly in summer vacation mode. To make matters worse, thinking this was a quick day job, I had agreed to teach a few afternoon science workshops at some camps, so now had no more full days left, which had me traipsing back and forth to this job site for partial days to complete. Not my favorite scenario, but once I resigned myself to the fact that this was going to take a lot more time than first allotted, I got with the program and just decided to enjoy the process, since I could see how great the room was coming out, and how happy my new clients were. Btw, a stencil brush proved the better way to go with this stencil vs. a roller.

I knew the nursery was going to be a challenge because of the very dark navy color chosen, but again, I thought I’d crank it out in a day since the wall space was small and included only one window. What I also forgot was the fact that this dark color would need 3 coats, not two, and I would have to stop and wash the clogged stencil every so often because I only had purchased one. Let’s just say my mind was having an off week. To get two coats on the first day, I opted to not stop and wash the stencil and just went around quickly with a liner brush to even out where needed. I used a small roller for stenciling since the opening is so large. Also, there really was no appropriate space to wash this stencil here without making a total mess and wasting a lot of time. I brought it home, cleaned well, and returned to do the final coat. With this stencil, the wall is painted white and the stencil color is the navy.

My clients were kind enough to send me a partially set up nursery once they put the crib together. I love the white crib against this wall and larger version of the pattern with colors in reverse on the rug!