Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Stencil classes and tours of The Stencilled Home. September 2019

I'm a bit late with the announcement but we have a tour this Thursday evening and a weekend class at the end of the month,  you could attend one or both days. The information for all the September 2019 events is below. Contact me if you would like more information or to book a place.

STENCIL TECHNIQUES with a tour around our stencilled home. Max 8 students.
Day class 9:45am - 5pm  September 28 2019 £80.00
This class gives a good base to develop stencilling skills along with plenty of inspiration for using them. The day involves practical work, demonstrations and a visit to 12 of the stencilled rooms at Stocksfield Hall. Students will learn to cut a stencil and experiment with different media and surfaces including fabric. Participants gain confidence and skills to tackle larger-scale projects such as walls, floors and soft furnishings. Students should leave with their completed samples and a starter kit worth around £40.00 which includes brushes. Includes lunch and refreshments.

STENCIL TECHNIQUES FOR FABRIC Max 4 students
Half-day 9am-1pm - September 29 2019 £72.00
This class gives you the knowledge, experience and technique to successfully stencil fabrics for home decoration and clothing. Using an elaborate, Moroccan style, square stencil and matching borders we will decorate a length of cloth. During the class you will learn how to apply colour, repeat the patterns, how to measure for symmetry and connect corners in your project. The stencil set is yours to take home along with your project, it is suitable for walls, floors and furniture decoration, not just fabric. Fee includes refreshments

If you are attending both days of the above weekend class, we will give you a £10.00 reduction on the combined price.

TOURS OF THE STENCILLED HOME Max 15 persons.
All of the rooms in Stocksfield Hall are decorated with stencils. The house has been featured on television and in many books and magazines. The tour visits most of the rooms and the decoration of the different surfaces is explained and discussion is encouraged. After light refreshments, a demonstration of basic stencil techniques is given. The event lasts approx 2.5 to 3 hours.

DATES:  September 5 2019 - 7pm. PRICE £12.00 per person.

For more information please follow this link to our Tours and Courses page at stencil-library.com

To book places or discuss the events please contact me.

The Stencil Library, Stocksfield Hall, Stocksfield, Northumberland, NE43 7TN, United Kingdom
Telephone +44 (0) 1661 844 844 - Email: sales@stencil-library.com

Helen

 

 

New Jaipur Panel stencil as seen in Homes & Gardens September 2019 issue

Stylist, designer and general interiors supremo Katrin Cargill has created some beautiful projects with our stencils over the years so it was lovely to design a stencil for her 'Indian Summer' featured in the September issue of Homes & Gardens magazine. So, let me introduce our new Jaipur Panel stencil.

The stencil is offered at 15.3/4 inches high (28cms) but like any of our other stencils can be scaled to fit your decorative scheme. Just email or phone us with the size that you need. The Jaipur Panel is a perfect fit for many cupboard and cabinet fronts. We have quite a few Indian style stencils in our India and China collection and there is a crossover in style with some of our Ottoman range too.

I sent ideas back and forth to Katrin and we decided to re-draw the OTT47 Panel no 1 from our Ottoman stencil collection and frame it with a simple coach-line border. The result can be ordered on this link or at stencil-library.co.uk. The UK site is much smaller than our usual one and houses the special designs that don't fit with the normal collection. Jaipur Panel is one of those. The UK site ships worldwide.

I used Cerulean Blue and Cobalt paint on the samples that I sent to Katrin and she stencilled hers with Arsenic by Farrow & Ball. 

The September issue should be on the shelves any day now...mine was a subscription copy.

Helen

A Stencil of A Flight Of Swallows

We have designed a companion for one of our favourite stencils, the 'Y10 Three Swallows' The Y10 stencil features a swallow motif in different sizes.

They can be stencilled as a swarm, in a row or as single motifs. Stencil Y-10 is versatile and inexpensive. Now, meet the new kid on the flock.

The new stencil helps those that have less time or confidence to create a swarm or 'flight' of stencilled swallows. The beginning of the flight has been created for you on stencil layer 1. The direction of flight depends on which side of the stencil you wish to use.

Creating a stencilled flock, swarm or flight is a handy solution when wonky ceilings, odd placements of doors, niches, windows and other obstacles prevent a more formal style of decoration. The flight could provide an alternative to directional signage, eg. 'Follow the Swallow' whereby a trail of stencilled swallows leads to an exit, or the washrooms or garden.

I have stencilled a long skirt with the swallow flight too, I was told it was 'Just the right side of creepy' which actually was meant as a compliment.

All the small swallows (stencil 1) are applied first. When you are happy with the flow of the 'flight' start to stencil the medium-sized swallows over them (stencil 2). You do not need as many of these as you did with layer one.

Finish with a few motifs from layer 3 The three sizes of swallows gives a sense of perspective to the decoration.

Here are a couple more examples of decoration from our various stencils of swallows.

The new 'Flight of Swallows' stencil is available by contacting us, it is not on our website. I will put details of the new stencil in the comments section below. Links to other swallow stencils are VN300 and Y-10.

Helen.

A farewell and thank you.

Today marks the end of an era. Rachel, my colleague, cousin, manager of The Stencil Library and co-author of this blog starts a new chapter and leaves us. Many of you have met Rachel, spoken to her on the phone or benefitted from her help and expertise by email. Her dedication to our customers over the past twenty-five years has been nothing short of brilliant, so those will be big shoes to fill.

I hope that you, along with Chips and I, will wish her the very best of success with her own business, Madame E Vintage, which was born from her passion for clothing and art from the last century. Madame E sources and sells the most intriguing, unusual and wonderful finds, she specialises in the fashions, art and ephemera of the early to mid 20th century but will stray from the time zone if the piece is interesting enough.  Do visit her online shop. If you are on Instagram you may enjoy following her at @madame.e.vintage, I do, she combines interesting stories and arresting imagery. Rachel will still be popping into The Stencil Library to help us out and do holiday cover, I hope that she may even write a blog entry every so often, she has been responsible for all the Stencil Inspiration' posts of the past year. I shall be taking them over but I can not promise to be as prolific as she.

Once again, a huge thank you for all your time and for your company, Rachel. Starting anew is an exciting but scary place to be, we wish you good luck and great success! 

Helen

Today's Stencil Inspiration: Complex, But Worth It

When I say complex, I mean more laborious than difficult.  But sometimes the effort is worth is.  People look at this picture and ask where the stencil is because the pattern, which is indeed created with a stencil, does not look like most stencils.  This is another design inspired by the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and is a wonderful example of chinoiserie.  It is CV28 Royal Pavilion Fretwork and it is from our New Classic Victorian range of stencils.  It comes in two sizes and the larger is designed so that you can create this design up to chair rail height or thereabouts.  It is a 5 layer stencil.  This is where the laborious comes into it, but it is designed this way to make it simple to use.  This comes with full instructions, each layer is numbered and has registration marks to match them up, and you use a single colour on each layer.  Two colours for the wavy background and three for the 3D fretwork effect.  As it is a single colour per layer, you could apply the paint with a paint roller to speed up the process a bit. But at the end, you will have something that only otherwise, exists in a palace.

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: The Vertical Border

We always think horizontally when a border is mentioned.  But there is such a thing as a vertical border and it is very effective.  It can be used in different ways but I particularly like making stripes with them for an all over repeat pattern as here.  This is CV14 Anglesey Border, one of three vertical borders from our New Classic Victorian range of stencils.  It comes with one set of dots down one side (so that if you wanted to recreate this effect, you could), but you can either not use the dots at all or if you wanted a gap between borders, stencil in the dots only on the other side.  Also, this has a repeat that also works as a motif so you can pull that out and use it in different ways.  Once you start thinking about it, you can do so much with these borders. 

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: You Can't Beat a Bit of Neoclassicism

Classical design from ancient greek and roman times was a bit special.  When you think about it, it has been in use in the design world in some shape or form ever since.  It is reminiscent of a sophisticated time so it is still used to lend an air of gravitas whether it is in architecture, interior design or the decorative arts.  This border is from our new Classical Victorian range of stencils.  It is CV8 Putney Tile Border.  I am no great historian but during Victorian times, Britain was at the height of its game.  The Empire was huge, the Industrial Revolution was in full flow.  It is not surprising therefore that architects and decorators sought to compound that power by referencing classical design within victorian design. Classical elements of style were yet again used thoughout buildings be it public or private.  To this day, if you want to lend an air of formality and sophistication to your home, a neoclassical design is good place to start.  It is a more formal design and therefore will not be to everyone's taste nor would it suit everyone's homes.  Sometimes, it is used in a more formal room like the dining room or rather a room you want to emphasise as formal, where it might not look good in another room of the same house.

Todays Stencil Inspiration: The Large Border

I am sure I have mentioned the concept of a large border before.  Basically it is a way to cover a large portion of your wall space but it works just like a border so is quite straightforward to position and repeat.  This is CV10-L Pavilion Border from the Classic Victorian section of our New British Inspired stencil range.  It is 33 inches (84cm) deep so when used at the bottom of the wall as here, covers all the space below where a chair rail would traditionally lie.  On another note, this design was adapted from designs at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, a chinoiserie gem.

Today's Stencil Inspiration: French Panels

Click HERE and you will see not only the different stencils used to create these panels, but a different configuration using these same stencils.  We have used FR27 Belle Quadrant, FR28 Belle Corner, FR29 Belle Mini Border and FR31 Belle Motif.  Panels are an integral part of historical interior decoration.  I am not sure why...maybe it was simply because it was a way to divide up large wall and ceiling spaces (as historically speaking, elaborate decoration occured mostly in larger homes).  If that is the case, then it was very effective.  Of course most of that panelling was either carved wood or moulded plaster.  Now we can create it with stencils and use them in average homes on normal height and sized walls.  In order to accomodate different sized spaces, we have made these stencils in elements.  So you have cornerpieces, centrepieces, motifs, and borders.  We do a few different styles in our French Inspired range and the Classical Victorian section of our British Inspired range.  What you use and the way you use them is up to you.  You can create square or rectangular panels and to whatever size needed.  Yes, you will need to do some planning and measuring and then will need to lightly mark out the panel size on your surface so you have something to follow, but the results are always worth the effort.  This is certainly an effect that cannot be achieved with paper.  It is classic in style and is a great way to break up wall surfaces.  If you are ambitious, you can create a large panel on your ceiling.  That these stencils are in elements mean you are not working with huge heavy stencils on what is an awkward surface.  You can use panels to frame something important to make more of a feature of them.

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: Kilim For Your Walls

A kilim is a tapestry woven rug or carpet from the ancient Ottoman Empire region.  It is a traditional style of weaving still created today and is usually made up of a combination of colourful geometric shapes. It is also an incredibly popular rug style throughout the world.  Many a home has a kilim or Persian rug (or both).  The colour and pattern work so well with any style of decor even though they are...colourful and patterned.  So we came up with some kilim inspired designs like this one which we have stencilled the walls with.  This is LD2 Kilim Repeat.  It comes in two sizes and this is the smaller.  It is part of our Ottoman and Moroccan ranges (so can be found in two places on our site).  You paint the wall the colour you want the lines to be (in this case golden ochre yellow) and then stencil in the shapes (here in dark grey, light grey and cream).  It is a simple geometric stencil that somehow manages to look neutral regardless of the colours so it, like the rugs, compliment a wide range of room styles.  

Stencil Inspiration for the Day: Contemporary Silver

I do not know why, but as a metallic colour, silver automatically oozes modernity.  If I cast my mind through historical decorating styles, maybe the first time if was really used in any major way, was during the art deco era.  I certainly cannot think of it being in use before then...it always seemed to be gold or copper in the arts and crafts era.  Maybe, and I really am letting my mind run, gold was always used because it was symbolic of higher value (still is).  Silver might not have been used because it was a lesser metal.  By the time the 20s rolled around, that didn't matter so much.  And silver is a cooler (temp wise) colour so suited the paler, more minimalist interiors of the art deco era.  For whatever reason, silver has always had a contemporary edge.  And as such, use it with a historical design and it automatically updates it and makes it seem more modern.  Take this scrolly repeat FR9 Amelie from our new French Inspired range of stencils.  Do it in gold or copper and it will look more rococo or victorian.  Do it in silver and it is crisper and more updated.  We have shown it with pieces that are modern interpretations of older items, smoother, more streamlined and painted black. 

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: Lace Border, Part Two

Given the popularity of our VN302 Lace Border, we designed another, FR18 Lace Border, part of our new French Inspired range.  This one is a stencil with two layers.  You paint layer number one the colour you want the lace to be and then paint the background colour back in.  This is how we can get an authentic lace look.  This beauty is nearly 35 inches (89cm) deep.  It looks good hanging from ceiling height, but can also work well lower down the wall as shown here.  You can go for a light and airy pale colour or a rich and glamorous dark colour or anything in between depending on the look you want.  Lace is classic and timeless and will work with a variety of room schemes.

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: The Simple Stencilled Border

How effective can a border be?  Sometimes a band of decoration is all that is needed to carry a room.  This is FR17 Cameo Border from our new French Inspired range.  Borders do not just have to go around the top of a room.  They can go at whatever height is needed to work best with your furniture and accessories.  To judge, either stencil a section of paper and stick that on the wall at different heights or just cut a piece of paper to the right height so you can see how much space it takes up height-wise on the wall and play around with that.  It is really helpful in working out placement before any painting gets done.

Today's Stencil Inspiration: Revamping a Table

There is nothing more satisfying than taking or finding an old piece of furniture and giving it a new lease of life.  A tables go, round tables are great.  They are good for social reasons and perfect for stencilled decoration.  All you need is a quadrant stencil.  This is a quarter of a circle which you can leave as a cornerpiece or make half circles for walls, but repeated 4 times make a large full circle.  We do several quadrant stencils (just search quadrant on our site).  This is FR22 Honeysuckle Quadrant from our new French Inspired stencil range.  Honeysuckle symbolises happiness, familial harmony and bonds of love so it seems appropriate to put on a round table.  Make sure you clean, sand and prime old pieces of furniture first so you can base coat with matt emulsion (latex) which is the best surface for stencilling.  Stencil as usual and then varnish to protect your surface.  Several coats of acrylic varnish is appropriate for a piece that it going to get a lot of use and handling.

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: Cheap, Easy and Effective Trompe L'Oeil Panels

One of the most interesting features you might see in a historical home is wood panelling.  Get a quote to put some into your own home and you will find that it can be quite pricey.  So we have come up with a very easy and incredibly effective stencil to create the look.  The stencil is LD17 Panels.   It is set up as a repeat so the panel size and layout is as above in the photo.  It does come in two sizes.  The above is the small with a 11" x 8" panel.  We also do a large with a 16.5" x 12" panel.  The stencil includes 4 panels and the motif to put in the centre (if wished.  You can leave it blank or do something else).  The way this stencil works is that you stencil the shadow lines (the highlight and the lowlight).  So the background here is a mid green and then you stencil the pale green lines and the dark green lines and that is all.  That is how you get this incredible effective and 3D panel look.  People will touch your walls as they won't believe you do not have frames on the walls.  Your colour choice will dictate the look.  Want something shabby chic, work with pastel blue or pink; swedish: grey or blue perhaps; tudor: brown or burgundy; arts and crafts: sludgy green, or ochre.  Really, there is nothing you cannot do except pure white and darkest black (you need a background colour you can get a lighter and darker tone onto).

Today's Stencil Inspiration: Elaborate Panels Made Easier

There is something about elaborate panel decoration.  Whenever we see it, either painted or in plaster, we cannot help but be impressed.  We have designed a range of stencils (there are three variations in the French range, and more in the British range) that enable you to create panels in your home.  The most impressive place to put them is on the ceiling.  By creating separate stencils for the different elements, we have hopefully made this a bit easier.  But these also work well on walls, floors and more.  You will still have to plan and make sure you get your measurements right, but hopefully these elements will help you create something stunning.  As they are reusable as any of our stencils, you can create more than one panel with them as well.  This particular set (all stencils available separately so you can do other things with them) is part of our French Inspired stencil range under Panels & Quadrants.  We start with a circular motif in the centre.  In fact this is a quadrant repeated four times (so you don't have to work with a large motif).  We do this in two formats: a plain quadrant (we have used FR32 Rococo Quadrant) and a ceiling rose version which has a small space missing in the centre to go around a light fitting. Then we create a square design around this.  We have a cornerpiece (we used FR33 Rococo Corner) and a border (FR34 Rococo Border) connecting them.  To get the positioning of the cornerpieces and borders right, it would be prudent to get some paper and quickly stencil up one side.  This border has a bow in the centre of the design.  This is lined up with the centre of the circle in the centre and then partly repeated out either side until it connects with the border.  This is a square panel.  You can make this rectangular by extending the number of border repeats on two sides.  You can make a bigger square by adding more border repeats on all 4 sides.  If you spend the time planning, by the time you hit your surface you will know exactly what you are doing.  We have tried to make these elborate panels easier, but I am not going to tell you it is the easiest job.  However, what I can say is that it is worth it.  No matter where your panel is, it will look impressive.

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: The Hounds of The Stencillers

Yes, sometimes I struggle for post titles and yes, this stencil is called dogtooth not houndstooth, but I am allowed a bit of artistic license.  Houndstooth or dogtooth are patterns made up of a broken or abstract check in two tones.  It is most commonly associated with pattern as a type of weave.  But lately it has also appeared in decoration.  It is a nice graphic pattern that when blown up to supersize, looks very modern and contemporary (although houndstooth as a weave pattern is actually centuries old).  Whilst you can do this in traditional black and white, it looks amazing in tonal shades as here.  If the tones are very close together, it really does look like a texture.  What would also be fantastic is if the wall was painted in matte paint (pale or dark) and the stencilling was done in a gloss acrylic varnish.  If done tonally, this is a great background for any style of decor, traditional or modern or anything in between. The stencil is LD4 Large Dogtooth and it is part of of our Lucky Dip range, which is an assortment of stencil designs that defy categorisation.  

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: Shell yeah

OK, I do know it is an anthemion design and as such, not a shell at all but based on honeysuckle.  However, over the years most people just think anthemion is a shell design and I can see how.  It looks more like a shell than honeysuckle....but I digress.  The anthemion is a major classical motif and it has shown up in architecture and design throughout the centuries.  This particular repeat version is part of our new Classical Victorian range, part of our British Inspired stencil collection.  It is CV16 Ballycastle.  In typical Victorian fashion, this is a busy, dense, all over repeat pattern.  Even in tone on tone colour, it is not a shrinking violet.  It makes a perfect backdrop for this bath.  It is set in large painted panels so on each wall the decoration is framed.  This is just an alternative to filling in the whole space with the design (and it saves on stencilling around corners).

Stencil Inspiration of the Day: Ikat-ching

I have been dying to use that phrase for ages.  And I warn you, I will probably use it again.  In fact, now that we have a couple of Ikat stencils, I will probably use it every time I mention anything to do with our them. Ikat is a type of tye-dying and weaving and it has a very distinctive look with sort of blurry edges.  We have designed two repeats: this trellis LD8, and another LD13 which is a chevron.  Both are repeat patterns and in our Ottoman range of stencils.  The blurry edges of the design create a softness to the pattern regardless of the colours you choose.  I think that is why it is so popular as a fabric in interiors.  This trellis ikat is a two layer stencil.  You paint your wall the colour you want the trellis to be (in this case blue) and then you stencil the two diamonds.  The first larger diamond will be a different colour, but with the second layer, the smaller diamond, you can either stencil it a third colour as here or the same as the wall/background colour.  If you click on the link with the code number above, you will see what this second option looks like.

Today's Stencil Inspiration: A Giant Border

Sometimes people are not so much afraid of large pattern as just not sure how to achieve it.  Or there is this idea that larger pattern stencils are more difficult to do.  In fact, aside from possibly a bit more planning or measuring, large pattern is not more difficult to do than small pattern.  It may take you more time, but the method is exactly the same.  Take this stencil here, FR16 Paris Cafe.  It is new from our French Inspired range and it is a border.  Yes, a border.  It just happens to be a 50" tall border.  I love this scale because to me, it looks like a long screen.  Where you place it on the wall is up to you.  You can start from the top and have it hang down, go around the middle or start at the bottom and go up.  Here we have placed it a couple of feet above the floor for maximum impact.  It will take up most of the wall with only a couple of feet of space above.  This stencil is on two layers with registration marks for the two layers and to repeat.  It works like any other border.  But there is more to paint in.  It is worth it.  It takes up a large enough chunk of wall to carry the whole space.  It is a nice alternative to filling the entire wall when you still want your decoration to have impact.  It is just a bit different and noone would wonder if it was wallpaper.   

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: A Well Placed Quote

I love a good quote.  Who doesn't?  It works on a couple of levels.  Of course it is the message.  Whether life affirming or personal, a well chosen saying bears looking at on a daily basis.  Then there is the design element.  We spend so much time looking at letters through the day, in emails, texts, books, work and so on, that we forget how decorative it can be.  Back in the day, skilled artisans would create beautiful titles for book covers and pages.  We marvel at them in museums now and are thrilled if we find something at an antiques fair with beautiful text.  Now, decorative text is firmly in the public domain.  The combination of the message and the look makes for great design in the home.  We have been creating quotes stencils for years and their popularity never wanes.  We have a service called "In Your Own Words" where we can make up your desired quote in a selected style and size.  But did you know as also have a range of Proverbs & Quotations stencils ready made?  We have just added a few new ones and this gardening themed stencil, LD20, is one of them. the quote is by Dorothy Frances Gurney from her poem, "God's Garden". As a person who loves being in her garden, I think this is particularly appropriate.  Stencilling outdoors is a great idea because it will be there all year round.  So when the garden is looking muddy and dormant in the winter, you can still have something nice to look at.  Make sure any stone surface is clean from flaking material, dirt and moss and is completely dry and clean when you stencil.  You can use masonry paint or even acrylic paint. 

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: The Enduring Appeal of Folk Art

Folk Art is a broad term to describe a style that is stylised and naive, usually hand applied, and an early decorative style (although it is also used to describe modern artisan products).  It is a hard style to pin down as there is European folk art and American folk art and one probably influenced the other, but the thing that ties them together is that it was generally art created by laborers, peasants or tradespeople in their own homes, so not, originally, something that was created professionally (hence the naive style).  But that is what makes it so appealing.  It is a humble art.  This was created to make homes and furniture more appealing.  It's wonderful naive style was borne out of lack of training, just pure artistic talent and vision.  Is it any wonder that antiques with original folk art painting from 200-300 years ago command high prices.  It is a style that has heart and warmth and lends itself well to any home.  Traditionally, it would have been painted in primary colours, but of course we have the freedom to get a bit more creative.  We have gone one step further and taken a flower in planter motif and created an allover repeat patter from it.  The square repeat adds a certain abstract quality to stencilling when repeated.  This stencil is AM61 Pennsylvania and it is found in our new Folk Art section of American inspired stencil designs.  The stencil on the floor is VN22-L Tudor (large size) from our Vintage range.

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: Blue Tile

Pattern overall (no pun intended) is good in my mind, but then there are some patterns that are excellent.  This is a case in point.  I love everything about this: the pattern and the combination of cobalt blue, sky blue and gold.  It is rich and opulent and just beautiful.  You have to like pattern and colour to want this, but if you do, this one is a winner.  We have done this stencil, a tile pattern, OTT57 Tile No. 12, on a wall, but it would work on floors and fabrics as well as furniture.  It was just too good not use on the walls.  This is a new Ottoman/Persian/Moroccan tile pattern made up of geometric shapes.  It looks spectacular done in these jewel tones, but it can be done in a single colour and in a more subtle way.  It does not have to cover a whole surface and you can just cover part of the area. Really, I am waffling because this picture says it all. This stencil is part of the tile section of our Ottoman range of stencils (which includes Persian and Moroccan patterns).

Today's Stencil Inspiration: Modern + Traditional = Perfect Mixture

If the purist look is not your thing, then you are person who likes to mix and match styles.  This is usually an intuitive look.  You just know what mixes well and what doesn't.  But one of the keys to successful mixing in decorating is usually a nice contrast.  Too close and it looks like you tried to match but missed.  Better to have a larger difference in looks.  Here we have taken a French style, old country curved chest of drawers, but it clashes nicely with sleek modernist vases.  With the stencilling we have done the same.  Both are from our new French Inspired range of stencils.  We have used FR13 Scroll Repeat on the drawer fronts and FR41 Trellis in the small size on the walls.  There is a pleasing contrast between the angular diamond of the trellis and the soft curves of the scrolls. 

Rachel. 

Stencil Inspiration for the Day: Channelling Josephine

French empire style dating from the 1800s is an enduring neoclassical look in architecture, furniture and the decorative arts.  I couldn't tell you why it remains popular.  It just is.  It is a quite formal style that includes elements of classical greek and roman decorative styles.  Maybe it is just a style that lends itself particularly well to interiors.  Maybe it is a style that we are used to seeing in larger, grander houses (historically speaking), but does translate well to the smaller, more humble home.  For whatever reason, it is certainly a timeless style that works in most homes and with all styles of furniture and accessories.  This particular repeat, FR12 Hugo, is large, but open so is not a heavy or busy design.  We have given it a bit of a rococo or adam treatment by stencilling it in white on a pale coloured background.  It is from our new French Inspired stencil range.  Hopefully, Josephine would approve of this one.

Stencil Inspiration for the Day: Toile for the Walls

Let's just stick with traditional today.  Because sometimes, traditional is quite gorgeous and cannot be bettered. Although you can vary it or modernise it, in some cases, the original treatment is best.  If you want a french country look (always popular, always a great theme for interiors), it doesn't get much better than toile (de jouy).  However, to be correct, what we know as toile de jouy actually originated in Ireland in the mid 18th c), but quickly moved through Britain and into France and it is the French version that we are most familiar with.  Toile ("de jouy" referring to the area it came from) simply means canvas and therefore was the same for this type of fabric and it has stuck.  The premise of toile is simple.  It is usually a cream coloured background with a repeated pastoral scene over the surface in a single colour.  Blue and dark red are the most traditional colours, but other colours have appeared throughout time.  Toile has never gone out of style, it is a design classic.  But its popularity has waxed and waned throughout the past couple of centuries.  Typically it has always been a fabric, but wallpapers have also appeared.  And now there are stencils.  We have a few different toile stencils and in fact have a toile section in our Vintage range of stencils.  But we have added this pattern FR43 Sheep Toile to our new French range of stencils.  It is a simple all over repeat pattern and for the traditional toile look, stencil in one colour on an off white background.

Today's Stencil Inspiration: A Different Kind of Tone on Tone

We often talk about how to make pattern more subtle by using tone on tone.  Well this is a slightly different way to approach tone on tone.  It is an all over repeat pattern with a slight damask style to it.  It is FR10 Grenadine and it is from our new French Inspired range of stencils.  We have painted the wall in a mid tone of our chosen colour, a slightly burnt orange.  Instead of stencilling in a single tone, either darker or lighter on top, we stencilled in two tones, one lighter and one darker on top.  The effect is still subtle.

Stencil Inspiration for the Day: Tone on Tone with a Large Scale Repeat

This is a big repeat.  A BIG repeat.  It is 44 inches (1.1mtr) tall x 27 inches (69cm) wide.  And there is a lot going on in it.  Such a grand repeat deserved a grand name and that is why we called it Versailles.  It is part of our new French Inspired stencil range and the code number is FR6.  This large scale repeat can hold its own in big grand stately homes, but it can also work equally well in your home.  Even in the grandest of homes, this type of pattern would likely have been treated like many damask patterns and been done in a very tone on tone effect.  Also, and this is the clever bit, within the repeat, there are lots of small shapes so that even though the repeat and the stencil is large, it does not look overpowering in a smaller space.