Stencilmania: How a Simple Stencil Changes Your Walls, Furniture, Floors and More

I love stencils!!  I remember the first time I ever tried to stencil, I was living in the Pacific Northwest and I bought a few stencils to liven up my bathroom.  Well, true to form back then - I didn't read a manual or book or anything on how to actually use a stencil...I just tacked the stencil up on the wall, took a stencil brush and put some paint on it - and away I went.  Well - the paint seeped through the stencil (because I didn't "offload" the paint) and, in short, my project came to a schreeching halt!


I've since learned how to work with these beautiful bits of plastic and there are never ending ways to use them.  Melanie Royals - who is my go-to designer whenever I want a stencil - has the most incredible line of stencils in her online store Royal Design Studio.  There you can find very traditional stencils - like damasks and other allover designs...as well as some more modern, transitional patterns that would fit in beautifully in today's interior designs.  She has come out with a new line of stencils that I feel the younger, more contemporary homeowner would love.

This is "Chain Link" from her new collection. It looks very modern and "today, " unlike what many people feel about stencils - old and grandma-like!  I just love using geometric patterns in interiors.

This is "Linked In" - how's that for being current?  Again, a great overall geometric that many of my younger clients would gravitate toward.  It's subtle - but it has a great energy to it.

This is "Hollywood Squares" - and it's, again, geometric but there's a definite Hollywood glam and retro feel to this pattern.

This is called "Feather Damask," and it has a modern Swedish kind of feel to it, I think.  This can be used as an accent wall - perhaps with a neutral gray on the other walls.  Add some yellow and gray and cream fabrics and you have a simple but elegantly modern room.

Here, just taking one single motif - in black and white...over a stried glaze and you a have a modern interpretation of a traditional pattern. 

Another pattern I see a lot of (and I love) is the Suzani pattern.  But this time instead of being on a bed or a pillow - it's on an entire wall. This is refreshingly beautiful.

This is the Donatella Damask - a beautiful, more traditional pattern.  It looks lovely in a bedroom in soft, hushed colors.  Using it as only an accent, as above, is a very inexpensive way to add some pattern and spohistication to a room.

And finally, for the true traditionalist, how about adding a poem in French on an accent wall!  I have always loved this French poem.  I've used this on dressers and on tables as well to give them that special touch! You can read more about this beautiful French script pattern here - we used this stencil in a Designer Showhouse last year,

If you would like to give your home a special look and feel, call Linda at 631 793-1315 for a consultation.

Some Beautiful French Antiques...At Reasonable Prices!

From a blog by a fellow blogger, Jamaica Byles I learned about many beautiful stores, artists and antique dealers that I would never had heard about. One such is Tongue in Cheek Antiques


Tongue in Cheek Antiques' owner – the poor dear, Corey Amaro, lives in the South of France (so jealous!) and her job is visiting various French Flea markets (that’s something I would do for fun!), and then she posts her finds on her site – for very reasonable prices. She collects beautiful remnants of how life used to be lived, such as calepins (see first image on the left - small decorative notebooks used by a woman at a ball to reserve her dance partners). People used to be so civilized! Plus ex votos (see last image in center - these were small decorative charms that would be placed in a church if a prayer had been answered.  On her site you'll also find antique French stencils, love potion glasses, small pocket frames, antique measuring tape, French clock faces, French marriage vases, French stamp holders, communion wreaths and so many other beautiful things. Here's a sampling -

 I purchased some antique music cards (left) – small cards that were used by French marching bands. Admittedly – I am weak when it comes to anything French and anything dealing with music – so I had to purchase these. I will frame them and use them in my home office – and, of course, by my baby grand piano in the living room.






Tonight, Jan 31st, Corey will be posting new finds. You do have to act fast - items get scooped up very quickly!  Good luck.

Please visit Jamaica’s other blog Pattern Lovely  - it’s her online journal where she experiments with beautiful surface and textile designs. She is so creative – and designs just flow from her. I took a silk screening class with Lucretia Moroni of Fatto a mano a few years ago – and I learned to draw my own fabric designs and wallpaper patterns (without the help of a computer). This was not an easy thing to do – so I am very envious of Jamaica’s natural talent.