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Decorating with Plaster Stenciling |
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A Plaster Stone Wall from a self made stencil!
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click photos to enlarge
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The thing about Pam I like is that if she can't find what she wants then by
golly, she will make it herself! She wanted a raised plaster stone wall and oogled over our design but it just wasn't quite what she had pictured in her head. So with poster board in hand, she set out to make the perfect stencil for that wall!
Here's her email to me, telling me just how she did it:
I contacted you a few weeks ago about your stencils after looking
at your website
and reading all of your great tips! Unfortunately, I wanted larger
stones than your stencils so I made my own but instead of just making 2 or
3 and reusing them, I actually made enough out of poster board to cover
the entire 12'X9' wall, attached them with thumb tacks and then my friend
helped me put joint compound over the entire wall. We then immediately
removed the stencils and voila, wonderful looking stones! I did not tint
my joint compound since I used premixed, could not find anyone to tint it
for me and was afraid I could not get it thoroughly mixed, but it really
wasn't a problem. I then painted the entire wall with a base cream color
which I thought was the color I wanted for the grout and then proceeded to
shade and paint all of the stones. It looked wonderful but I then thought
the grout was too light, so I painted the grout and it really wasn't
difficult and didn't even take that long since you really don't want it to
look 'perfect' since 'real' grout isn't! One thing I did learn in the
process which I didn't find mentioned on your website was that if joint
compound is applied too thick, it can crack as it dries. I found that the
few that did crack could be patched or the cracks filled in with
spackling. Another idea I used on the practice board I did before
starting the wall was that you could also glue tissue paper over the
stones creating more texture and covering the cracks. I am so please with
the final project and so far the few people that have seen it say it is
awesome. I was trying to create a French country feel in my kitchen and
breakfast nook and believe I have done it. I might also add that the
china cabinet you see is a $60 estate buy that I painted with an aged
finish and the table and chairs were another yard sale find that I painted
and stripped the top to stain a darker color closer to the cabinets in my
kitchen. While this is a brand new house we built 2 years ago, I think
this has given the kitchen character and is a warm and inviting space.
Thanks for all the information on your website. You might even consider
doing some large stencils. My large stones range in size from 12-16" X
6-7" and the smaller ones are more the size in your stone stencil.
Thanks again.
Pam NItsch
Thank you Pam, for sharing your GREAT wall with us! Designer's tip: Pam is correct: Joint compound indeed will crack if you apply it too thick. The reason for this is because the outside of the joint compound dried much quicker than the inside. To prevent this, you can apply two thinner coats instead of one thick one (removing the stencil between coats of course). But think about it. Would natural looking cracks in some of the stones be so out of line? I think they would look fabulous! |
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Exciting News! |
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