Stenciled Wallpaper Copycat

I am a big Sex and the City fan.  Watching the show has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, so of course I was very pumped to see the movies.  While I enjoyed the plot lines the thing that stood out most to me in the second film was the decor.  Sex and City has always been known for fashion but the home decor is AMAZING.    I kept getting distracted by all the beautiful things around the rooms.  I was absolutely nuts for Carrie and Big's headboard in the Sequel.  From the graphic print to the elegant shape, I loved everything about it.

Image from Elle Decor

Now fast forward a few months, one night I'm checking out blogs and I see a tutorial that makes my jaw drop to the ground!  Emily at Jones Design Company redid her office and stenciled the most amazing pattern on the walls.  It was my headboard!  She was so nice to not only post a tutorial but also a template, you can find her tutorial here.

From Jones Design Company, isn't her office gorgeous?!

The next day I went to Lowes and got one of those $2 paint samples in a beautiful blue.  The samples are always a satin finish which I knew would be perfect because I wanted my wall to have a bit of a sheen.  Then I just traced the template onto a piece of cardboard and got stenciling.  Now be warned that doing each one of these individually takes a Looonnnnggg time.  I also had to keep stepping back to make sure my lines were staying straight and evenly spaced.  After I had the stencil traced I went over it with the paint.  This wasn't actually that hard.  I just used a brush that had a nice straight edge and was the width I wanted my lines to be.  It just takes a very steady hand and a few breaks.  There were a couple times that I thought my hand would be permanently in the paint brush holding position.

Halfway there!

When I was all done, a couple days and several Criminal Minds marathons later, I just went over the wall with one of those eraser pads.  It takes off any visible pencil that may have been left behind.  I only did one wall, I can't imagine how long it took Emily to complete her whole office!

Finished!! ( Ignore the crafting disaster all over my table.)

I absolutely love the way it turned out.  It is the first wall you see when you come into my home and now it makes such a statement.  Plus it defines the separation between my living and dining rooms.  Right now it is home to my, yet to be redone, campaign dresser.  I am debating some DIY art for the wall so you will have to wait and see how it all ends up. This project is my favorite thing that I have found on someone else's blog and recreated in my own home.  It definitely took some time but for $2 and change, so worth it!