BUTTERFLY PATTERN WALL STENCILLING

In this blog from Ideal Stencils we will be showing you how you can stencil a wall using our pretty repeat pattern fluttering butterfly stencil. We did this on a wall where the clients were in the process of moving in and they wanted their daughters bedroom wall decorating and the theme was butterflies. The colour chosen was pink splash which is a B&Q branded paint which is fast drying and great for wall stencilling. They had one wall painted pink and they wanted the butterfly stencilling done using the same pink on the opposite wall.

Ideal stencils to the rescue. This is an overview of how we completed the project with some helpful hints and tips to help you with your own home decorating stencilling projects.

To start with it is worth saying that we only used 1 x A2 LARGE size butterfly stencil for this project. All stencils from Ideal Stencils are reusable and made from a thin plastic called mylar which is thin but durable and provides perfect stencilling results. Stencilling a wall is a lot cheaper and less hassle than wallpapering and the results are far more natural and unique. We believe that stencils put you in charge of creating your spaces, and if you put in the effort, it is rewarding and you will enjoy the space a lot more because of it.

Step 1

So this is everything that we needed for this project and it is pretty much what you need for any wall stencilling project.

-Stencil
-Spraymount (repositionable)
-Low tack tape
-dense foam roller
-stencil brush
-polystyrene plate
-paint (B&Q emulsion paint)
-large sheet of packaging paper
-kitchen roll
-spirit level

Step 2

The walls were all prepared and ready to paint on. We put our large piece of parcel paper down on the floor to protect the floor so we didn’t get any tacky spraymount on it while we sprayed the back of the stencil. Just a small spray will be enough to make it tacky. We also like to use 4 pieces of low tack tape to hold it in place. We lined our first butterfly stencil repeat up in the top left corner of the wall and used a spirit level to make sure that it was straight.

Step 3

Now we can start painting. Put  a little of the paint onto the polystyrene plate and roll through it with the dense foam roller. The roller needs to be dense (also known as good quality gloss rollers and rounded at the edges if possible) so that paint doesn’t get pushed under the stencil which causes blotchy edges. Once the roller is even with paint you have to roll it off onto some kitchen roll, so that all the excess paint is removed. The roller wants to feel damp with no visible paint blobs on it. We taped a large square of the kitchen roll to the wall for convenience as its something you will need to go back to a lot during a stencilling project. Roll over the stencil with light/medium pressure to transfer the first part of the butterfly pattern onto the wall. Its really quick and should only take a minute with each repeat. When done you can remove the stencil and see your results. We found that one coat of paint was enough.

 

Step 4

We had a hair dryer to hand to give it a quick blast to dry the wall pattern before doing the next repeat as the stencil does slightly over lap with previous repeats. Move the butterfly stencil horizontally or vertically to line up the next repeat. The stencil has 4 butterflies in the corners which you use like registration marks. So simple. You may or may not need to reload your roller. If your having to push too hard to get the paint out of the roller then it is time to reload and of course roll off the excess onto the paper towels before you continue.

 

Step 5

Carry on this process to repeat the stencil across the whole of the wall area.

 

Its really nice to see a pattern coming together and see the gradual transformation of the wall space. This stencil is very good when it comes to finishing off edges or working around light switches and sockets etc,  as you can simply miss out or add butterflies where you need to. Occasionally around the edges of the wall or near plugs etc we would need to use the stencil brush instead of the roller. Just make sure that the brush doesn’t have a lot of paint on it and that you blot it off well. Use a pouncing up and down motion to apply the paint.

 

The stencil didn’t need washing at all, not just for one project. We could have kept on and on! Only wash a stencil when the paint build up on it is effecting the stencilling results, or if you want to, after a project, before you store it away.

This project took us 1-2 hours to complete and you will find that it is time well spent and really fun and enjoyable to do.

We hope that this has given you the confidence to enter the rewarding world of wall stencilling so that you can create your own unique and personalised spaces.

Let us know of any stencilling projects you have done and how they went or any feedback on this post by commenting below. We always love to see your stencilling pics so please email them to us at info@idealstencils.co.uk