Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

I want to move into this movie set now, part 18

No, you didn't miss the first 17 parts to this post, I am just trying to make the point that quite often I watch a film that I just want to leap straight into then and there.  I will have almost lost sight of the story for a split second and just immersed myself in the interior and/or clothes.  One section of the my art deco sideboard/TV cabinet is devoted to a very special stash of films that I find generally lovely, or from a design point of view, inspiring.  Another film joined that exclusive club last night and that was "The Danish Girl" which I finally got around to watching after a friend reminded me of it.  She wrote to say how wonderful the interiors were and I remembered I had bought the DVD so last night when hubby was out practicing with his band, I lit the fire, turned down the lights and jumped in.

photo by Annie Leibowitz for Vogue magazine

Beautiful and achingly sad story aside, the art nouveau and art deco sets by production designer Eve Stewart and set designer Michael Standish stood out.  I felt the colour green was almost totally missing (except for one scene in a gallery - I love all the paintings being framed in black and hung against the dark green wall)

and instead there were greys, sludgy blues, dusky peaches and pinks, golden yellows every so often enhanced by a dash of red.

(I am glad to see they have problems with their rug rucking up too and I have proof, and can tell Mr E, that one can never have too many piano shawls).  The story takes place in the 20's and moves between Copenhagen, Paris and Dresden and was filmed there, and at locations in Brussels and London standing in as well. It is another example of the production and set team using a palette of colours to subconsciously move the story along.  How appropriate as it was about two artists.  As one, Lili, literally finds herself, the colours move away from the blues and greys, as in their original studio in Copenhagen,

into warmer pinks, oranges and yellows.

How wonderful is this department store set (I believe created in a ballroom at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel London).  The art deco details are just gorgeous.

I have mentioned the architect and designer Victor Horta in my previous post on Art Nouveau, specifically his famous house in Brussels.  I was delighted to see the interior of another of his Brussels projects used in the film (although it was supposed to be in Paris).

photo from daniellaondesign.com

I applaud the story for being told and the actors for bringing it so wonderfully to life, but for me, it belongs in my special collection because of the artistry of the fashion, interiors, sets and cinematography.  In this case, both the art deco and art nouveau details can easily be created with stencils which is probably why both are extremely popular ranges here at The Stencil Library.  What are your favourite and most inspiring films for interiors and decor?

Rachel

Restoration Man 'Starring' in Brixham, Devon

Last year Rachel and I enjoyed helping a customer called Neil Worral and his family. We should see the result of his efforts on television this week. Neil needed us to custom size a stencil of stars to decorate the ceiling of an historic church in Brixham, Devon.  Cost and ease of use were two important considerations. Neil had not used a stencil before and a ceiling several metres high is not the first project that I would recommend to a first time stenciller. His endeavour to convert the church to a family dwelling was being followed by Channel 4's Restoration Man television series.

Rachel and I were at the other end of England so the basics of using a stencil were conveyed by phone and email. How did he fare? We don't know. Along with many other people we will watch Restoration Man when it airs on Channel 4 at on Jan 16th in the UK. A glimpse of the stencilled stars feature on the trailer for the series. Even if I don't see much of the stencilled ceiling it will be lovely to see Brixham again. My family used to live close to there.

Helen.

How to stencil wallpaper with a repeating design of dogs

Linda Barker created a study room on ITV1's television programme 60 Minute Makeover which featured hand stencilled wallpaper with our pattern of SIB14-LR Dogs on it. The homeowners appeared to love it and if you are quick then you can catch the programme on line for a few more days. It's the Wallington episode.

Now, I will show you how to stencil wallpaper using a repeating pattern.

The 'Dogs' stencil is one of 20 designs given in the book Stencil It by Helen Morris. The design was enlarged for this project. The book and stencils can be ordered from The Stencil Library.

This is how to make your own version of the dog wallpaper.

Cut several lengths of paper from the roll, make them a little longer than is needed.  The wall was 250 centimetres high so I cut them at 275. My paper came from Tesco...very inexpensive.

I used a foam mushroom and household matt emulsion paint to stencil the wallpaper. Mushrooms are available from The Stencil Library and are useful for stencilling large areas of flat colour.  I could have used a foam roller to stencil, but there are floppy bits on the stencil which may catch on a roller so a mushroom or a large stencil brush is a safer option.

 

I sprayed a slight misting of spray repositioning adhesive on the back of the stencil and aligned the edge of the stencil along the edge of the wallpaper. 

 

Dab the rounded end of the mushroom onto the paint then bounce it onto scrap paper until the paint is just moist and no longer wet. Rock and tap the mushroom through the holes in the stencil until the shape is covered.

 

Before removing the stencil place some low tack tape under the registration diamond and mark the tape.

  

Reposition the stencil for the next repeat by aligning diamond shapes with the marks on the tape.

 
 
As each length of paper is completed join the next one to it with low tack tape. The pattern needs to run concurrently.  Number each length so that they can be easily matched when pasted to the wall. 

 
 
Try to stencil the join evenly.

 
 
like this.

 

After fifteen metres the stencilled imprint was losing clarity so the stencil was soaked in a hot bath, cleaned, then laid flat to dry.

Paste wallpaper into position!

Helen. 

 

60 Minute Makeover

The Dogs Stencil adapted from our book Stencil It had a starring role ITV 1's 60 Minute Makeover this week. There are 28 days left to view the episode.

Linda Barker and her dedicated team transformed three rooms of a Surrey home whilst the unsuspecting occupants where elsewhere. I've not seen the full episode yet so I hope that our stencilled offering was well received. What do you think.. do they look pleased or shocked?

I was unable to join Linda's team that morning because I had been invited to a garden party at Alnwick Castle attended by The Queen and Prince Philip...and that does not happen to me everyday. So, I stencilled the dog design onto several rolls of wallpaper, shipped them south to Linda and went to the party.  I will find the photographs that I took of the dog wallpaper project and post a 'how to' for you.. Meanwhile here's a couple of pictures from the garden party. 

Helen.

Stencilling Kirstie's Home Made Home

Yesterday I suggested that you viewed Kirstie's Home Made Home on Channel 4.  In the program I attempted to teach Kirstie Allsopp and contributors Gerry and Paulette how to stencil. I posed these questions in yesterday's blog post and said that I only knew the answer to one of them. Did they make a success of the project? Did they enjoy it? Were their efforts usable?  Will they ever pick up a stencil again?

Helen Morris and Kirstie Allsopp cutting a stencil. From Kirstie's Home Made Home 

Well, now that I have seen the episode I am thrilled to learn that the blinds looked gorgeous. Gerry said he was more proud of the blinds than any of the other things that they made for their home and YES he would stencil again.  Bless you Gerry I could have kissed you through the TV screen.  It was great to see him, Paulette and Kirstie again, they really made the most fabulous job of stencilling the blinds.  I expected their work to look good because stencilling does if you follow a few rules.... and they did because I was breathing down their necks.  I don't think at the time they could believe how brilliant it looked, all three of them produced fabulous results. No wonder they were so chuffed. They even had a successful go at cutting a stencil with a heatpen.

I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the episode. Rachel and I have decided to visit the antique fair that was featured, not that we need much of an excuse for second hand shopping. I am going to attempt to make a bean bag just as Manda showed us.... mine would be stencilled of course. 

Now that the show has aired I can show you the blinds that we all made and tell you about the stencil. 

We made a special stencil one for the show and it is now available for sale.  The 'Kirstie stencil' was an adaptation of Leaves from our Larger than Life stencil collection. 

Information about everyone on the programe can be found on Kirstie's site on Channel 4.  Look for the 'Surrey' episode. They have listed the stencil library as .co.uk not .com so I hope that can be ammended. Kirstie shows you how to stencil here.  You can see the finished blinds in place. If you enjoyed the program or have any questions for them you can leave a message on their comment page. I'll visit when I have finished this post so that I can learn how to make that bean bag!

Helen.