Stencil Shadows and The Superiority of Wall Decals

Posted by Walls Need Love on 1/14/2012

My friend Carolyn had tried so hard. Trying hard doesn't always equate to success, however . . . Like when my husband and I had our first child and tried everything we could to soothe our colicky baby for four months straight. Anyways, back to Carolyn. As I waited for dinner to be served, I looked over at the wall adjacent to her dining room table and noticed a new coat of red satin paint on the wall. Underneath the paint I could barely make out a wall quote. This quote had been stenciled on the wall using a dark paint.

Obviously something had gone wrong with this do-it-yourself project. Carolyn and her husband were do-it-yourselfers to the core. Usually their attempts at home renovations and decor turned out well. Not this time, though. I could see why Carolyn had chosen to paint over her handiwork. The quote slanted downward at a slight angle and some paint smudges were still visible even through the red top coat. Just above the failed wall quote attempt was another stenciled quote. This one had turned out much better, but was still far from perfect.

When Carolyn came back into the dining room and saw me glancing at the quote, she got quite excited and bragged on herself about her new work of art. Carolyn halted and almost apologetically, said she had gotten the idea for the "give thanks" wall quote from my website. She confessed that she had saved $7 by buying the stencils and paint herself as opposed to opting to purchase a vinyl wall decal featuring the same inspirational words. She had even used a paintbrush left over from a previous project--convenient and cheap as she described. I reminded her that I never wanted any friends or family members to feel pressure to buy wall quotes or any other type of wall decals from my store and that I completely understood her frugality. (What I kept to myself was that in no way could I understand how saving $7 was worth it when you account for the wasted time and overall appearance of the end result).

Carolyn, in fact, was so thrilled about her stenciled dining room quote that she planned on attempting another project in the near future: some wall quotes for the master bedroom. All I could wonder was whether or not those ones would have lurking shadows underneath revealing stencil jobs gone bad. I kept my thoughts to myself.

With Christmas coming, I knew exactly what I would give Carolyn and her husband. I selected the "A True Love Story Never Ends" quote and crafted it in a rich chocolate brown vinyl to accent their bedding. Carolyn seemed happy about the gift, but he husband was ecstatic. He smiled at me and said, "crisis averted." Carolyn looked puzzled and went to apply the new vinyl wall art to the wall above her and Steve's bed.