I can’t really pinpoint an exact feeling for how I feel about that. I created my Hexagon Painted Accent Wall for my entry in the Frog Tape Earn Your Stripes Contest 2013. I didn’t place for anything, but it received a bit of attention on the world wide web and even landed me my first ever guest post gig on Remodelaholic. So there’s sentimental value in that wall. But as my style has evolved and furniture and decor pieces have been purchased for the house, I was finding it harder and harder to “work with” the wall. And I knew I wasn’t loving the wall anymore. So, I figured out how to paint over a stenciled wall.
Plus, it wasn’t perfect and it had started to see some damage 🙁
I’m not a wall painting expert but I have been learning an awful lot the past few years as I’ve painted and repainted rooms in our home. Since I can now add “painted over a painted stenciled wall” to the list of painting projects I’ve conquered, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned.
How To Paint Over A Stenciled Wall:
1. I still recommend a flat paint for this such as I would recommend as the paint paint finish for wonky, uneven textured walls.
2. Use a decent paint. It doesn’t have to be expensive by any means. But go with the paint you know covers well and dries with a good finish. It needs to stay where you put it, even with a thicker than usual coat.
3. Use more product on your roller than you normally would. I say that because I found it really stuck to and globed up around the ridges of the hexagons (where tape welled up beside the painter’s tape) and made them smoother instead of evenly distributing paint and leaving the ridges just as visible.
4. If your walls are relatively flat with few imperfections to start with, take a fine grit sand paper and go over the noticeable outlines of anything still visible after painting your first coat. My walls are old, wrinkly, patchy and bumpy. So the outlines from the former hexagons are barely visible upon close inspection.
After all of this, I’m not sure that I’ll ever tape out or even use a stencil to paint out a wall again. I’m happy with my indecisive decorator paint color choice. I can always buy a sheet of MDF and paint it fun and just hang that on my wall. Those of you that can commit to these kinds of changes, kudos to you. You know what you like and that’s pretty cool.
If you’ve ever painted over a stenciled design before, I’d love to hear what you recommend. Share the knowledge!
Check out these other Paint Related Posts in my Once Weekly Paint Post Series!
Ahhhhh, tears! That wall was pretty great. I totally hear ya on the itch to change things up. I was always worried about paint lines/stencil lines so I shied away (actually I really have paneling EVERYWHERE). Can’t wait to see how the room evolves.
I’m semi-jealous you have paneling! I would watch people groan about paneling all the time on HGTV shows growing up and have secretly wanted my own so I could play with them and prove they weren’t bad. So you’ll have to be honest, are they really that bad?
i painted over a polka dot border i did in emmy’s nursery, as well as stripes in this house. both times i used an orbital sander and sanded the edges and then primed and painted. 🙂
buh bye hexagons! was nice knowing you! onward and upward!
Thanks Cassie! An orbital sander has definitely been on my “need to buy” list. For walls prettier than mine I’d bet it’d be a necessity!
Those hexagons were pretty great, but I can totally see how hard it would be to decorate around them. I’ll have to keep this post in mind if I ever decide to do any stencil or paint tape designs.
the hexagons were super fun, but I can see how they’d be hard to work with, too. Farewell, hexagons!
It’s a sad but necessary adios!