After Bill and Marcy Pyziak expanded a tiny galley kitchen into a kitchen-cum-great room at their house in Manhattan, Ill., the freshly painted walls and vaulted ceiling called out for something more.
Bored by wallpaper, they hired professional stencilers to create a graceful, meandering leafy vine that sprouts flowers and grapes over windows and doorways. The result was so appealing that they recently had their living-room walls stenciled to resemble an opulent damask silk. Stenciled birds take flight over their bedroom fireplace. And across the room, a set of framed botanical prints adds a touch of whimsy.
“Stenciling has more depth and richness than wallpaper. It seems subtler and blends in. And it’s a unique way to show your personality, whether it’s a little job or throughout the house,” Marcy Pyziak says.
No longer the cutesy ducks, hearts, bunnies or other clunky 1980s-era designs, today’s stencils are sophisticated and elegant.
From Arts and Crafts-inspired gingko leaves and Art Deco irises to complex contemporary wall murals, elaborate Victorian swags, dancing frogs, birdhouses, sports equipment, Greek columns, pots of ferns, watering cans, wisteria vines and sand castles, there’s a stencil design for every taste, style, room and budget.
Stencils now are used on walls, windows, floors, lampshades, ceramic tile, chalkboards, doors, steps, fabric, furniture, canvas floor cloths, place mats, wrapping paper, you name it–as long as it doesn’t move, you can stencil it, says artist Beverly Saxton of Saxton Home Decor in Mokena.
Saxton has taught stenciling for 11 years, and many of her students have transformed their hobby into a profession.
“Stenciling has changed dramatically. It’s truly an art form. The subject matter and what you can create is endless,” she says.
Among her favorite projects are inexpensive garage-sale finds of tables, bookcases, chairs and other items, which she transforms into stenciled works of art.
Stencil templates are thin pieces of plastic film or other impervious material with cut-out designs. The stencil is affixed to the wall with tape or a removable adhesive while the paint is applied. Offered at stencil and craft supply stores, stencils cost anywhere from $5 to hundreds of dollars.
Stencil paint or cream is sold in small containers for $2 to $3.
Simple stenciled borders–vines or swags–featuring flowers or fruit are popular for “dead” space found above kitchen cabinets and windows.
Stenciled wall murals also are popular. They include garden gates, rose-covered arbors and decorative iron fences adorned with morning glories and songbirds. Castle walls and a winding staircase mural a la Harry Potter are popular with kids. There are stencil patterns for cottage-style windows adorned with lace curtains, shutters, flower-filled window boxes, even a kitten if you like, that make for the perfect focal point on a small wall.
“If you had an artist do it, it would cost about $3,000, but with stencils you could do something similar for $125,” Saxton says.
Saxton’s three-hour $45 class is limited to 10 students and includes all the tips and techniques a novice would need to do nearly everything that’s displayed on the shop’s walls. “It’s all hands-on until I know they understand it. Stenciling is an art form, and there are tricks to applying the paint so that it appears three-dimensional,” Saxton says.
One of the tricks is not to use the same amount of paint throughout the design, which can make the image appear flat.
Crystal and Scott Ferguson’s Naperville home sports a Northwood’s theme.
While vacationing in Wisconsin, they spotted a stencil border design with silhouettes of deer, bear, moose and pine trees. For $50, they picked up the stencil, three brushes and three small jars of paint.
“I’d never stenciled before, but they gave me a quick lesson and showed me how to stipple the design so that the heavier paint was at the outside of the design and the lighter amount was on the inside,” Crystal Ferguson says.
Ferguson customized the design by moving the stencil to create more space between the images. “It had more animals than I used but I modified it so the design wasn’t too busy or heavy.”
It took about five hours for her to stencil the 6-inch high design across a 15-foot stretch in the couple’s great room.
“I didn’t do the entire room because I felt it might be too busy and make the room look smaller. It frames the wall beautifully and we’re thrilled with it,” Ferguson says.
Since she began stenciling professionally eight years ago, graphic designer Eileen Henning of Northbrook has developed a large clientele. From small jobs such as swags and stenciled borders, Henning also has tackled a new 6,000-square-foot house, where she worked with the interior designer to choose the wall colors for every room before selecting the stencil designs.
At the owner’s request, Henning painted a quotation in French–part stencil, part freehand–in a guest bedroom. Stenciled tassels and ropes adorn another room. And she stenciled a damask design on the master bath walls using pearlized paints that produced a fabric-like sheen.
“There are many unusual applications. You can stencil with a sponge roller to create the look of wallpaper. Rollers offer architectural designs like scrolls and other historic [elements],” Henning says.
Depending on the job and the complexity, homeowners can expect to spend between $400 and $500 a day for stenciling services, she says. For do-it-yourselfers and those who don’t have a stencil supplier nearby, Henning suggests doing an Internet search using “stencils.”
“There are a lot of beautiful stencils and many can be bought online. And they’re designed to look like hand painting for the person who can’t paint,” Henning says. She suggests that novices take a good look at the colors in their furnishings, rugs and curtains and pick out the hues they want emphasized.
“Stenciling can be the crowning touch that pulls some disparate elements together,” Henning says.
Janelle Tague of Stencil & Sponge-Creative Paint Concepts of New Lenox created the Pyziak’s damask walls.
“People want things that are more personalized,” Tague says. “They want it to match their fabrics or pictures. Wallpaper is too static and too difficult to remove and it’s expensive as well if it’s installed professionally.”
Tague began her career by stenciling her church 10 years ago. “I was on the decorating committee and we ran out of money,” she says with a chuckle.
Her work has grown steadily through numerous referrals. She brings about 50 stencil design catalogs when meeting with clients and rarely uses a stencil more than once because of the demand for customized designs.
Stenciling is not just for indoors. “You can use special paints to do the deck, flowerpots, benches and window boxes,” Tague says.
Can’t draw a straight line? “That’s the beauty of stenciling. You find designs that complement your room and the colors of your walls and furniture,” Saxton says.
You can even find inspirational sayings such as “If you believe it, you can achieve it,” which Saxton says are popular for children’s bedrooms.
Brenda O’Neill of Homer Glen began stenciling six months ago when she took Saxton’s class.
“I was doing it for myself but I’m getting jobs lined up now from people who have seen my pieces,” O’Neill says.
When she finishes creating a garden-style room complete with a picket fence, flowers and billowy clouds for a neighbor, O’Neill will stencil an Army theme in her young nephew’s bedroom. “It’s a way to do something artistic, and if you change your mind, you can paint over it,” she says.
When Crystal Ferguson gets the urge to change her stenciled border, she can pick something new. But for now, “It’s so rich looking and has a nice effect. You don’t have to worry about it peeling away. Anybody can do it,” Ferguson says.
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Stenciling tips for beginners
Professional stencilers offer these tips for do-it-yourselfers:
Take a class and practice on paper before trying your design on the wall.
Try 2-ounce stenciling craft paints found at home improvement and craft stores, or stencil cream, an oil-based product that comes in little pots.
Use a separate dry brush for each color. Apply very little paint if you are using small brushes. A big wet glob of paint will bleed under the stencil. If you are doing a border, measure from the ceiling and draw a chalk line around the room to keep the stencil straight before you start.
If your background color is not the same as your fabric background, you need to adjust your colors, says graphic designer Eileen Henning. You may need to test or custom mix your paints to get the right color.
Consider moving the stencil around so the elements don’t appear all the same. Leave spaces between some of the designs for a freehand-painted look.
Some horizontal borders can be used vertically. Position the stencil in various ways until you achieve the right effect.
For more information, visit the Web site of the Stencil Artisan’s League Inc. at www.sali.org.
