Antelope Pattern Inspired Hallway Makeover

Hey, Friends! Did y’all have a fun 4th of July? We sure did…we did the “all American” stuff: grilled burgers & hotdogs, went to see fireworks, went to a Braves baseball game, & played with the dogs at the lake. I finally got around to trying the red, white, & blue drink recipe I had pinned eons ago on Pinterest, complete with Pop Rocks around the rim. Very fun, I think even the teenagers thought that was cool! ( if you have teens, ya know sometimes they’re sometimes hard to impress! haha )

And speaking of teenagers, I finally got around to painting and stenciling our upstairs hallway while our 2 younger sons were away on a church trip a few weeks ago…..When they returned, I evidently made an impression on them! Tanner walked in and said, “Please tell me this isn’t the finished product,” and Colby muttered a little something something, too! LOL My boys have always been like that about changes. Either they like it, or they don’t. But that’s alright, they’re forming their own style &  taste along the way, right? Wait til I decorate their dorm rooms!!  ( just kidding….wait, no, I’m not! ) 🙂

My inspiration for this project stemmed from my love of antelope patterned carpet. I love that it’s a pattern that’s neither too obtrusive, yet makes an impact through its’ neutrality. 

Source

I also loved the way Pam at Simple Details foyer turned out with the Cheetah Spots Wall Stencil by Royal Design Studio Stencils. It gave her entry such pizzazz & chicness ( is that a word?! ) Anyway, it was beautifully and tastefully done, and it sparked an idea in my mind. Since an antelope carpet runner isn’t in ” the budget ” currently, I could achieve a similar look with the Cheetah stencil based on my paint choices.

Some members of Royal Design Studio were at Haven Conference last year, and seeing their products completely changed my attitude about stencils. I have stenciled many things in the past, but their design choices are much more like wallcovering: elegant with overall design. I contacted Regina from Royal Design Stencils & she emailed me back saying that she would send me the stencil to review as part of their Blogger review program. She was very nice & helpful, and made sure I had all the supplies I needed for my project.

Because my 2 story foyer opens up to the upstairs hall, I had to stay within the same family of tans I had used when painting the foyer. ( of course it can be done, but it gets tricky finding ones with compatible undertones- some may have too much yellow, others too much red, etc. So I stayed within the same family ) The foyer is painted in an older Duron paint color called Brushbox. I chose Daplin which is one color up from Brushbox to keep the space flowing. The hallway previously was painted with Gumnut, the darkest color on the paint card, which is actually just one down from Brushbox. I wanted to go lighter than Daplin, so I had the paint consultant at Home Depot mix a sample at 50% of the original paint color. I took it home &  tested it with the white/cream stencil paint, and the contrast was better with the unaltered Daplin shade. Do you ever ask the guys at the paint counter to mix your paint color at a percentage of the full paint color? It’s a great trick if you want something a tad lighter or darker, but not a completely different shade. 3 out of 4 of the adjoining bedrooms off the hall have different tan/greige paint colors, but they seem to flow, and are not the first thing you see when you enter the foyer or walk upstairs, so that was less of a concern.

Tip: ( to alter a paint color )  Start with 25% of the original paint shade and then test. The paint consultant can always add more pigment to the existing but not take it away. You can then tell them you would like to try 50% or even 75% of the original shade. They’re always very good about this at my Home Depot location, and it helps vary a favorite paint color to use throughout your home, while still unifying the space!

Here are a few “before” shots of the hallway in Gumnut:

 The Daplin paint color I used as the new base color for this hall project:

And the Cheetah Leopard Allover Stencil:

I tested the paint colors Regina sent me, but ended up wanting something more opaque for the space. I chose these 3 acrylic craft paints and mixed them in a quart sized container. The colors are Summer Linen by Martha Stewart, Vanilla by Craftsmart, and Bisque by Craftsmart. I didn’t want anything too white or too cream. The blend was perfect!

My blank canvas with Daplin painted on the walls. I was pleased with the overall tone and flow in the space, and was eager to see the stenciled effect.

It had been a few years since I had stenciled ( remember my harlequin patterned boys’ bath before the makeover? Yeah, that was like 8 years ago….) so I had to reteach myself about the basics.

Tip #1 :First, an allover stencil comes with registration marks. I marked mine in black Sharpie by looking at the registration marks on the instructions that came with the stencil. Black permanent marker is visible even if paint gets on it, so that worked well. ( the point of the registration marks is to align the ending pattern to adjoin the next pattern on the wall. So, after you stencil your first pattern, move the stencil over so that the last spots line up with the registration marks ( My method was left to right on the main wall, then down to the next row and left to right, etc. until I had stenciled the complete wall) all the while lining up the previous design with the registration marks ) Do you think I’ve said “registration marks” enough?!!

Tip #2: Next, I poured some paint on a heavy duty styrofoam plate, then gently “pounced” the great stencil brush from Royal Design Studio in the mixture, but then “pounced” the brush on several layers of a good quality paper towel ( I used Sparkle ). Use a good quality stencil brush, as well. The general idea is to be able to “pounce” the stencil brush on to the stencil attached to the wall, and cover multiple spots with one brush load of paint. Too much paint and it will seep under the stencil, which, of course, you don’t want. After some practice, it went very quickly! 🙂 Too much paint= not good results. Tread lightly, Friends. (definition of pounce- to dab quickly & firmly with your stencil brush, not to jump on; just so we’re all clear )

Tip #3: I highly recommend a good, quality painter’s tape like Scotch Blue or Frogtape. Take your pick, they’re both great! Next, stencil spray adhesive is a lifesaver when it comes to corners and other hard to handle areas. Just take the stencil outdoors, and give the back side ( not the side you’re putting paint on…obviously, right?! ) a light overall spray and let it dry for a few minutes. It will be tacky, which will help it adhere to the wall, but it will not be sticky and gooey. Make sense? Just enough tack that you can move it around..works like a charm!

Tip #4: You may have to improvise in certain areas, meaning you will have to strategically place the stencil where you think you need a few more spots or designs. It’s the artist’s touch. Don’t get too OCD, it somehow works out wonderfully, and if you screw up, just repaint the base color, let dry, & try, try again. I strategically misplaced  in a few spots, but it’s barely noticeable..or I just don’t see as well anymore….

I broke this project up into 3 days: 

Day 1: Paint wall basecoat.

Day 2: Stencil wall.

Day 3: Paint & freshen old trim and door paint in hallway with a fresh coat of Behr’s Swiss Coffee in high gloss.

The stenciling itself took me an evening and part of a morning to complete the whole hallway. A little tedious, but I think the results were worth it. 

Before I move on to the “after” pictures,  part of my vision for the tan & white antelope inspired cheetah stenciled walls ( yeah, that was wordy! ) was to use what I had, while giving this area some interest & casual elegance by painting the accessories I had gold. I tried to use the wall accessories I already had, but wasn’t loving the wall sconces that were in the hall previously because they were too predictable and boring. After painting them gold, I still just wasn’t “feeling it,” if ya catch me.  I found some that will work for a short time, but  just used what I already had, for the most part, with the exception of the orchid I bought/made and the framed pictures. 

Sometimes I use Rub ‘n Buff straight on an item, but other times I spray it with a gold basecoat first. These are a few of my favorites.

And finally, alas, the AFTER!

I found these sconces at Hobby Lobby after looking at a thousand other places…they will work for now, but I’m really looking for something more French inspired. Ballards has some very similar to these, &  it gave the space an update until I find exactly what I had in mind. The framed tulip print  is one I found years ago at an antique shop on River Street in Savannah. It’s been there for years, but I still love the print. I may do a gallery wall of family beach pictures sometime soon, and move this to another room. 

 I love this Home Decorators Rug I bought last Winter!

 

 I really love the way some of my photos turned out as oil-paintings from the Glaze app for iphone. I shared with my Instagram followers that I had them printed at Target, after saving them in a medium resolution on my phone, and sending them to Target’s photo site. When I tried to save them in the highest resolution, the app crashed, but these prints are proof that medium resolution worked great, if you’re interested in trying this cool app. A big thanks for the inspiration from Artsy Chicks Rule for her Coastal prints project where she shared Target’s printing for a similar app she used! It was just the kick I needed to print some of my Glaze app photos 🙂 Thank you, Nancy! 🙂

 I like the way the tan and white cheetah pattern gives this hallway some interest while keeping it neutral. It gives the same overall effect of an antelope patterned carpet or runner, but the focus is on the walls, not the flooring. While I’m sure it’s not for everyone, I like the way it blends with each adjoining room’s colors and fabrics. Notice also that I did this in a “pass through” area of my home, and not a whole room. That would be a bit much, don’t ya think? I can see so many possibilities with this stencil: the back of a bookcase, one wall of a room, even on a plain colored smaller piece of furniture, like a chair or ottoman, to give a space some interest and depth. Lots of possibilities, right?! 

 

Are you seeing spots yet? Another thing I like about stenciling is that it’s only paint. When you grow tired of that pattern, there are hundreds more to choose from, and it’s such a simple process that yields such dramatic results. I’d love to hear your thoughts about stenciling…do you like it? Have you tried it in a while or ever? It can really give you a design change in a space, without much money or long term commitment. I encourage you to try it if you haven’t, and if you haven’t in a few years, check out the vast selection of beautiful stencils at Royal Design Studio soon. They have everything from traditional to modern, and a little in between.  

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you’ve been inspired to try something a bit daring like this in your home somehow. I’d love to hear about it if you have already, and what your family & friends thought. Did they like it? Or were they leary & a tad skeptical like my guys? That’s the thing about design- one size definitely does not fit all, and aren’t you glad? The world would be so b-o-r-i-n-g if we all liked the same things, right?!

Excited to be going to Haven Bloggers’ Conference here in Atlanta tomorrow through the weekend. It’s a great & fun time with other creative minds… can’t wait to meet new faces! 

Take care, Friends! Til next time……

xoxo

 Disclaimer: I received a Royal Design Studio Stencil to review, but was not compensated. All views & opinions are 100% my own!