Master Bedroom Makeover and Wall Stencil Tutorial

We just kicked off a new month in the Home Sweet Home on a Budget series yesterday, with the announcement that the room of the month this October is going to be the Master Suite. I’ve been on the hunt for beautiful master bedrooms and baths to share with you that came together without shelling out too many Benjamins. Here’s a bedroom that I want to spend more time showing off: a complete makeover on a $335 budget.

On of the low-cost, high impact projects that transformed this master suite was the gold stenciled wall. Stenciling is a great way to achieve a luxe look without the high price of wallpaper or designer fabrics, and with many more options for customization. Check out some of the stenciled walls and draperies I’ve been crushing on, lately:

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Hello, pretty stenciled OMBRE chevron wall!

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Stenciled accent, not even a full wall, but GREAT impact!

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Stencil your fabric, in your exact colors for one of a kind draperies!

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This might be the most coveted room in blogland! Amazing stenciled walls.The thing I love about today’s featured bedroom and tutorial is the brave choice to go bold with color and patterns. It’s hard to notice the minor imperfections of an older home when brightly painted furnishings and graphic patterns take starring roles in the recreation of a space.

Submitted by: Seaside Shelter

Hello from Seaside Shelter! I’m Dani— seasoned DIY-er, professional yard-saler, and color chameleon. I don’t always pursue junk, but it often pursues me. Like a siren, an old desk on the side of the road will call out my name until I am compelled to hurry it home for a fresh coat of paint. I have been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember, and while my work will never hang in a museum, it has given me a love of color and an appreciation for what goes into great design. My objective is to share small ideas that will make a big impact on your living space. I believe that your home is your sanctuary and it should be filled with things you love—items that are valuable not in the monetary sense, but in their usefulness and the beauty they lend to your environment.

I’m thrilled to share our cottage guest room makeover with you today, along with a wall stenciling tutorial. What started out as bland and run-of-the-mill is now crisp and vibrant. In order to appreciate where we are now, you have to understand where we started. On that note, let’s take a brief and slightly unpleasant stroll down memory lane…

A few weeks back, I decided that what my small cottage bedroom needed was an accent wall. The space was cute and clean, but utterly boring. A typical update for a room might consist of repainting the walls, refinishing the floors (if they need it) and hanging a few new pictures. But how do you give a room real personality? Adding wallpaper can lend character to a space, but good wallpaper is not only expensive, it’s also very labor intensive.

I discovered Royal Design Studio‘s Allover Patterns and found the answer to my design dilemma. After much deliberation, I chose the Hollywood Squares stencil.

I’ll go ahead and get the two questions everyone asks out of the way with a couple of answers:
1. No, it is not hard to do.
2. Yes, it is a fair amount of work. But it is worth it!

Without further ado, here’s my method for stenciling an allover wall pattern…

1. GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES

Stencil
Bubble level (I like a 3′ metal one)
Can of spray adhesive ($8.99 at Michael’s and INVALUABLE)
Drop cloth
Roll of paper towels and household cleaner (just in case)
Q-Tips (for any small bleeds)
Paint (I used Martha Stewart’s Tiger Eye Metallic)*
Sponge (I used a flat sponge, sold in the tile section for grout removal, for my paint application and then tapped almost all of it off on paper plates)**

*An important note about your paint. The thicker the paint is, the easier it is to stencil. Watery paint runs. Metallics are watery.

2. PREP YOUR WALL

I prepped the wall by painting it with a semi-gloss white. I chose semi-gloss because that’s the can I happened to have in my hand (we were painting trim) and I thought the sheen would look cool with the gold (it does).

3. FIND YOUR STARTING POINT

Just like you would when putting up wallpaper or tiling, start your pattern in the most conspicuous spot. I find the center point on the most dominant wall and start there. Your pattern will end equally at both corners of your main wall.
Each pattern is different, and many people like to begin the pattern at the top of the wall and let it end wherever it ends up at the bottom, since most of it will be covered by furniture. I wanted to make going around this window as easy as possible, so I started below and got lucky with my pattern ending perfectly at the top.

4. POSITION THE STENCIL

Spray a light misting of re-positionable stencil spray adhesive on the back of your stencil to keep it flush with the wall and secure. This is critical. I tried tape and it helps, but the adhesive cuts your time in half.
*NOTE: The adhesive needs to be sprayed outside! If you get this on your carpet, even Sears can’t get it off and every speck of dirt will forever adhere to it. Please take my word for this.

5. MATCH YOUR PATTERN USING LEVELING AND REGISTRATION MARKS

Getting the pattern level is CRITICAL for success. Use your large plastic bubble level and check the levelness of the pattern each time you move it by holding the level along one of the vertical or horizontal edges. The allover pattern stencils have the repeat registration cut into the mylar. It’s a little L-shape in each corner. Simply position these over the previous stenciling to line up the pattern, then double-check with your level. Be sure that the paint you just applied is dry before placing the stencil over any area of it. I worked side to side to give each stencil some drying time.

6. APPLY THE PAINT

You can do this a number of ways, using a low-nap mini roller, a stencil brush (this will take you forever) or a sponge. I opted for the latter, but if I wasn’t sleeping in this room and had been able to tape off the floors and woodwork, I would have used spray paint – no question.
Whatever you choose to use, remember that LESS IS MORE. You can add more paint, but too much will bleed under your stencil. This is going to take some time.

7. SIT BACK AND ADMIRE THE RESULTS!

What do you think? When I mentioned to friends that I was painting our bedroom wall gold, I got a few quizzical looks, but I think it was just what this room needed.

The stenciled walls were a big part of this makeover, but adding other bright, bold colors and patterns elsewhere in the room was really important, too.


Here’s the cost breakdown of this makeover:
MAKEOVER COST
Stencil – $56
Paint (green and gold) – $20
Desk – $5
Lamp – $1
Metal Box – $5
Jewelry Dish – $1
Nightstands – $60/pair
Dresser – $50
Brasso – $0 (had it already)
Bedding – $69 (TJ Maxx)
Sunbrella – $21
Nail heads – $17/roll (had them already)
Yard sale art – $8
Curtains – $40 (IKEA)

Total Room Budget = $335.00

You can read more about the details of my bedroom makeover here.

If you’ve been bit by the stenciling bug, there’s more inspiration available here at Remodelaholic! Check out these stenciled wonders:

1. Stenciled Rug | 2. Navy Chevron Wall | 3. Stenciled Cabinets

Check out the get this look Fixer Upper Baker House Master Bedroom Makeover for more ideas!