Leaf Stencil + Faux Roman Shade

Hey!! Today I’m sharing the final details on our entry. If I miss something that you’re curious about, let me know!

First up, the stencil. If you’ve been following for a while, than you know that I love stenciling. It’s time consuming, but it’s super inexpensive! Several weeks ago, I mentioned to David that I’d like to recreate Katie Ridder’s leaf wallpaper in a stencil. We spent a few days coming up with variations on the design, but we didn’t come up with anything that we liked better, so we decided to go with the original. It’s balanced, has contrast, organic/hand drawn look. Love it!! We knew right away that it would be tricky since the shapes in the center were floating (stencils need to have connecting pieces) so one shape would need to be done with two stencils.

To get started we traced the pattern in Adobe Illustrator, and then David figured out how to split it in two.

As you can see, it looks pretty different..

Then we imported to cut on our Silhouette Cameo, one stencil at a time.

You can see the finished shapes on the bottom and top left and the half stencil on the top right.

I wanted something organic to 1. contrast the geometric lines of the floor and 2. since there were several wall beams to work around, we wanted something that didn’t have to be perfect to look good.

Here’s a few issues that we had with the stencil ..

1. Since it took two stencils to make one shape, they had to line up perfectly. Which was tricky once the stencil had paint on it ..

2. Since the shapes were so tiny, they would get clogged with paint easily. We used Sherwin Williams test paint and it peeled easily off the stencil (as long as it didn’t sit overnight)

We used a smooth foam roller, rolling off all excess paint first, making sure that it was even on the roller prior to applying. You want to use as little paint as possible. You can always add more paint later, but you can’t (easily) take it off.

We used 4 stencils (2 complete shapes) but we should have cut more .. for the edges, we cut one set  so that it would fit easier, but we definitely could have used more since they clogged up with paint.

I wish this was a complete tutorial but unfortunately that’s not really possible since everyone doesn’t have access to Adobe Illustrator and a Silhouette.. so it probably wouldn’t benefit too many people. Right? If you’d like to try something similar, I’d recommend trying out Gus & Lula’s method with a sharpie!

Next up, something much simpler! A no sew faux roman shade.

We didn’t need privacy or light blocking so a non functional roman shade was perfect!

There are several tutorials out there, so I’ll just give a brief overview of my process. I cut a piece of white fabric to the size of my window (and planned it to be bunched up about half of the window) Finished the edges, I sewed them, but they could just as easily be glued with permanent fabric glue.

I cut three 4″ bands of Neo Toile from Tonic Living, two to run down the sides and one at the bottom. I ironed a .5″ section under on both sides.

I used Fabri Tac, permanent fabric glue to attach on both sides of my fabric and then overlapped the the edges, placing a strip at the bottom.

I cut that strip long, and secured the edges on the backside.

Then I ironed it really well with starch and installed it with tiny nails on the window. First, I secured it on the top (one tiny nail on each side, folded it in two even sections and under the fold used a tiny nail (on each side) to secure it again. I didn’t want to glue my layers so I would have the option to take it down and reuse it, but looking back, I probably won’t do that .. it would have been easier to glue the folds together prior to installation.

And a little more info on this wall, LOVE Pottery Barn’s collapsible baskets – perfect for holding umbrellas, bags, dog leashes, etc. Garden stool is from Home Goods, Bag is Kate Spade Saturday found at TJ Maxx, and Chevron duck coat hook is a DIY project.
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Finally, a wrap up of how I feel about the space (and DIY in general) .. Overall, I’m SO happy that it turned out just like I imagined in my head (Love it when that happens 🙂 It makes all the bumps along the way worth it! This was our first room renovation (not in a rental) so learning along the way was to be expected .. we had a few more learning moments than I anticipated, but looking back that’s ok. If I’m not learning .. I’m not moving forward. We’ll take what we learned from this project to the next and hopefully continue to learn! I know that some of the tutorials from this space weren’t clear cut (built-ins and stencil ..), but just wanted to thank you again for allowing us to share all aspects of our DIY process! Thanks so much for your support, it means SO much!!

Thanks to Pottery Barn, Kenroy Home, and DLawless Hardware for providing products to help this space come together! As always, I only share products that I really love!!