Stencilling is dead, long live stencilling!

Maybe you think stencilling is out of date, but think again. The technique of stencilling can be used to make just about any pattern you want. It’s just a technique after all– holes in card! It really does not have to be a row of flowers in saccharine colours on a white background.

Geometric for a Wall from ‘Modern Paint Effects’ by Annie Sloan. Click here to order it from the online shop.

Using a couple of sheets of thin card, I made uneven geometric shapes using a sharp knife and a ruler. Choosing a selection of sample pots in mainly cool colours I printed the wonky squares onto the background imagining a loose grid as I did it. For speed and for the uneven texture I chose a small sponge roller to apply the paint. The occasional smaller square applied over a larger square helps lift the effect to stop it looking too flat.

Printing light colours over a darker colour is quicker and more effective than visa versa. The rich warm chocolate brown background makes solid foundation for the lighter colours.

The paint and colours used: Warm brown background (No 17 in the Decorative Traditional Range), with wonky squares in Silk Pink, Clay, Straw, Plaster, Cement and Urban Blue in the Architectural Range of the Mid Sheen finish.

Mackintosh Stencilling

If you had heard of an architect who used cement, polished steel and white painted wood in open geometric minimal interiors would you think it was someone who was working 100 years ago?

Charles Rennie Mackintosh clean contemporary look has once again found favour although he has long been an influence to architects and designers for many years.

He was an architect who designed the whole building from outside in, from the largest concepts to the tiniest detail including the cutlery.

The stencils he designed and used were an integral part of the structure of a room and not only a decorative item.

As Elizabeth Wilhide says in her excellent book, The Mackintosh Style (see below) …'stencilling never descended to the level of tentative trimming often seen today, where wispy tendrils trail half heartedly round door and window frames. Instead, it formed part of the entire interior composition, organised in bold vertical bands or banner like panels.'

Click here to view some Mackintosh stencils

These are now available to buy online.

Click here to order from the online shop

A corner of the drawing room at The Hill House in Glasgow (1902-04) showing the rose stencil design with the same motifs on the lampshade, lamp stand and wall sconce.

The Mackintosh Style. Decor & Design.
by Elizabeth Wilhide