We have beautiful built-in shelving in our mudroom, but I wanted to do something to add a little pizzazz. I also (in true Tiffany form) decided to use whatever I had on hand to add said pizzazz – which meant reusing the Augusta Tile stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils and Annie Sloan Paris Grey paint that was in the cabinet.
And since I couldn’t use that same pattern on the wall, and the hardwood floors were in perfect condition (and only 2 years old) I decided to take it to the next level, LITERALLY. I hopped on a ladder and stenciled that bad boy on the ceiling.
Here is the before pic: 
I always know if a room needs improvement, if I would NEVER post it on the House on Brisco Instagram page. This is one of those times. I’m cringing at the sight of this picture. That greenery is 10 different kinds of wrong. If I would have just taken that down, I might not have went into complete overhaul mode…. but lets leave the past in the past. Mmmmmk?
So I started with the door. I decided to use the only paint I had on hand, that wasn’t white, Annie Sloan Paris Grey. I taped off the edge, hardware and hinges.
And went to work.
Now for the FUN part! Stencil the ceiling!
Supplies needed:
- Stencil (I used the 12×12 Augusta Tile from Cutting Edge Stencils)
- Painters Tape
- Sponge Roller
- Some Paper Towels
- Paint (I used Annie Sloan Paris Grey)
- Ladder
Again, I just used what I already had on hand. So the stencil looks like a hot mess from being used to paint our hallway with charcoal gray. But these stencils are washable and reusable. YAY! Except if you use chalk paint. One of the best qualities of chalk paint is it’s ability to adhere to just about anything, so it wouldn’t wash off of the stencil (after it was dry).
There are two very important things to keep in mind when stenciling:
- Use plenty of painters tape. You do NOT want your stencil to slide.
- Barely use any paint on your roller. This keeps the paint from seeping underneath.
Ok, so I taped up the stencil like this. Since it is a repeating pattern, you can literally start anywhere because the pattern is going to meet back up with itself at some point.
Please excuse my shoddy video. The struggle is real when you are standing on a ladder trying to paint (over your head) with one hand and film with the other!
I rinsed the stencil off, so that I could make sure I kept my pattern on track. That came with it’s own set of problems because it didn’t dry all the way and it made my paint get a little runny. So I was one and done in my super OCD mode.
The stencil has (what I like to call) leader marks to help you line up the next one. It gets more difficult to line it up after you have rolled paint over the clear parts (the reason for rinsing it off) so the leader marks will be a HUGE help.
You can see the little hash marks outside of the pattern in these pictures. Those are the leader marks I’m talking about.
Remember rule number 2: barely use any paint on your roller. You will have to apply a ton of pressure to make the paint dark enough. You can see in the picture below that I had to use both arms to roll… which brings me back to rule number 1: use plenty of tape.
When I got to the light fixture, the pattern got out of sync. We took out the metal part of the light, because I didn’t want to get paint on it. BUT when I rolled the stencil over the area, the plastic went into the hole and made the pattern squish together. You can see in the picture below that it isn’t 100% perfect, but the design is so busy – that you really can’t tell.
I’m not gonna lie. I was ready to quit at this point. But I just had to keep going.
must.
keep.
going.
YAY!!! A finished ceiling!!!!
I added the cotton wreath, and took out the greenery… but still felt like the room was unfinished. So I headed over to Hobby Lobby and picked up an olive branch wreath for 50% off and this “hello” sign was on sale too.
I found this “bean basket” as my dad calls it, at the 127 Yard Sale this summer (I’ll share more on the “world’s longest yard sale” in a later post) and swiped a fern off the porch. Now I’m in LOVE!!!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’m happy to help any way that I can!
House on Brisco 