I have mentioned before, that one doesn't have to have faux finishes and decorative art all over their home to make a statement. I do think that a whole room faux finish can create a certain ambiance, however, strategically placed and well done accents can sometimes say so much more.
I was recently commissioned to create a stenciled design on a dining room ceiling and some niches that were adjacent to the dining room. The challenge was to find designs that were different, yet worked together well. In this case, I turned to a great resource for decorative artists, Modello Designs. A Modello is a one time use custom stencil that is basically a big sticker.
Of course I have hand-painted designs before and have created my own stencils, but with this particular product, I have convenience and time efficiency.
Modello Designs have a great library of artwork to choose from and for a small graphic fee, they will customize an existing design, or if you are an artist, they'll even make your design into a stencil for you.
For this project, the homeowner and I thumbed through the Modello Design book and chose three designs. I was able to have them adjust one of the designs to work better in the space I needed to place it.
There were two unifying factors in these three designs. First, we chose designs that had similar elements: leaves and bold, thick borders happened to be in all of these designs. Secondly, the fact that I used the same products and colors inside each stencil brought them all together.
I started with a three layered texture, then placed my stencils, colored them and removed the stencil. I finished up with a glaze and this is the final product.
It was a delight to collaborate with my homeowner on this project and find that exact look that she was in search of that would speak to her and show off her personality.
