First up, I am soo excited to share this project with you all today! When Royal Design Studio contacted me about reviewing one of their stencils, I had the hardest time deciding what I wanted to stencil. And if that decison wasn’t hard enough, I then had to decide which of the hundreds of fabulous stencils I was going to use. Not easy.

I’ve shared my love for Royal Design Studio here and here, so I was thrilled to be able to try my hand at stenciling. I finally decided that I wanted to stencil the inside back of my china cabinet.

Having never stenciled anything before in my life, I was nervous about whether or not I’d be able to do it. But I can tell you now, there’s nothing to it (I loved it so much I purchased a second stencil for another project almost immediately after completing this project).

Here’s what you need:

I used the Endless Circles Lattice stencil for my project. It came (quickly) in the mail and included basic instruction on using the stencil. My biggest concern was being able to line it up correctly, which didn’t end up being a problem at all.

I used Martha Stewart stencil brushes for this (found at Michaels). I also used this Extender for my paint…

Royal Design Studio recommends Folk Art Extender, which I couldn’t find at my Michaels. I was thisclose to doing this without the use of an Extender, but decided at the last minute to see what Hobby Lobby had. And, let me tell you, using an extender is a must! I tried to both ways and definitely found the paint easier to work with using the extender. It makes the paint thinner and easier to manipulate, a must for stenciling projects.

And here’s the before picture of my china cabinet…

Now, just so you know, I didn’t actually stencil the inside of my china cabinet. Instead, I used foam board (found at Michaels), cut to fit the cabinet, and stenciled that.

I positioned the stencil at the top left of my board (following the clear direction that came with the stencil), loaded my brush, wiped off the excess and began. Now, I did not use a stencil adhesive. I figured that since I was working horizontally, it wasn’t necessary. I did, though, use some painters tape just to help me hold it in place.

 Almost done! I was really getting excited at this point…

This project took about 4 hours to complete, but the vast majority of that was drying time between coats.

I luuurve how this turned out. I seriously couldn’t be happier.

How about you? Have you stenciled before? Do you want to learn? What in your home would be made happier by some stencil love?

linking to:
home stories a to z
thrifty decor chick
miss mustard seed