Young House Love

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How To Stencil A Pillow Or Curtain Panel

When Dana sent us her super simple and wallet-friendly stencil project we just had to share it. Here’s her letter:

I just wanted to pass along a quick and inexpensive project that you inspired! A while back you featured the knot stencil from Sunny’s Goodtime Paints in a mood board and I immediately fell in love with it. My lovely husband gave it to me for Christmas and I recently used it to stencil a pillow cover and laundry curtains (that hide my laundry room water valves and electrical cords) with fabric paint. It was really easy and I’m lovin’ the results. I’m thinking of using it on my foyer wall now that I’ve tackled these smaller stenciling projects. For all the details, you can check my blog. Oh and I just spent $30 on the stencil, $6 on fabric paint, and $3 to make the laundry curtains from on-clearance linen (the pillow cover was free since I already had it around). So my total cost came to $39 for one stenciled pillow and two custom linen curtains. Thanks again for all that you create and inspire! – Dana (& Steve)

Dana RR Pic1

Dana RR Pic2

Dana RR Knot Stencil 3

Dana RR Sunny Stencil4

Dana RR Stenciled Pic5

Isn’t that a fun way to add a dash of posh personality to a pillow or a curtain panel? We can picture a number of knot stencils applied to long floor length curtains for a super spendy result (much like this). Thanks so much for sharing the eye-candy Dana! And definitely send us those photos of your foyer wall if you ever take that project on. What do you guys think? Anyone out there chomping at the bit to stencil something now? We’ve always loved that knot design…

Psst- Check out another one of Sunny’s gorgeous stencils in action on the sunroom floor of this amazing house that we crashed a while back. The possibilities are endless!

Comments

  6. Alexis C. says

    Such a timely post! I am itching to take a plain white duvet cover and add a little personality to it in one corner with a simple stencil and some fabric paint.

    Reply

  8. Andie says

    I love the pillow, but you could do this even cheaper by printing the stencil image that you like and then cutting your own stencil into plastic. Then the cost would have only been $9-10 for the pillow and curtains!

    Reply

  9. Laura says

    How did Dana attach the curtain to the underside of her cabinets? I have a similar issue in my laundry room and need a solution to cover the ugly!

    Reply

  11. Samantha Carter says

    I love the stenciled look! Makes for a very cute laundry room.

    I’m still unsure what to do with my laundry room. There are these rather ugly white shelves, similar to what ya’ll have at YHL, but the washer and dryer are in a recessed nook inside the laundry room, similar to this picture: http://www.luxuryhousingtrends.com/archive/2009/06/turn-a-closet-into-a-laundry-room/

    We took off the bifold doors, but I’d love a way to hide the ugly shelves. I thought about doing something similar with the bamboo blinds, but since it’s recessed, I’m not sure if it would look as good. Any ideas?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Samantha,

      we would definitely go the bamboo blind route (or the linen shade approach like Dana) since our own shelves were recessed just like yours. It looks do much better to hide them! Anyone else have other ideas for Samantha?

      xo,
      s

  14. CasaCullen says

    INSANITY! love love love this!
    oh my gosh, she did a great job on both the pillow and curtains!
    ok, and i thought our new laundry room looked good…hers totally puts ours to SHAME! hahaha! and i also like the flooring in your house crashers too!
    lovely, lovely! – CC

    Reply

  16. The Virginia House says

    This is so cute and easy! Thanks so much for sharing another great idea. I’ve recently started doing fabric stamping and I’m loving the look (and price since it’s super easy to make your own stamps!).

    Reply

  17. Wehaf says

    That’s lovely, but $30 for a stencil seems ridiculous! You can use Andie’s solution, or get pre-cut stencils from a craft store or from Dover Publications for much, much less than that.

    Reply

  20. Samantha says

    Thanks, Sherry! After looking at your before and after pictures again in your laundry room, I think I’ll give the bamboo blinds a shot! Hiding those shelves and storage is going to be infinitely better than what we have now :)

    Dana, how difficult was the curtain making? I love the idea and would love to steal it, but I’m still a novice seamstress.

    Reply

  22. Dana @ House*Tweaking says

    Just got home from a looong day at work to discover I was featured on YHL today! Yippee! To address a few questions…

    Laura and Samantha – I simply cut my fabric, finished the edges and left a pocket (kind of like a tunnel) at the top wide enough for a tension rod to slip through. The tension rod just grips to each wall on either side of my washer and dryer right below the cabinets. Nothing permanent! I am no sewing expert and made up my own ‘pattern’. Pretty easy if you can just thread a sewing machine and do a straight stitch. For more details, check this blog post:

    http://www.housetweaking.com/2010/02/11/a-laundry-room-makeover-making-it-pretty/

    Beth – I agree!!!! $30 is a lot to me too for a stencil… that’s why my Handy Hubby gifted it to me for Christmas. He knew I’d been eyeing it for a while and would have never bought it myself. Gotta love him. Still, I have plans to REUSE the stencil on a wall and a rug so that would be 4 projects total I end up using the stencil for – now that’s not too bad.

    Once again, John & Sherry, thanks for all you inspire. Don’t know what I’d do without YHL!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks so much for stopping in with that info Dana! We totally agree that when someone gifts you something you probably never would have bought for yourself it’s such a treat. And since you plan to use it again and again it’ll totally pay off in the end anyway. We’re so excited that everyone’s digging your fabulous stencil project as much as we are!

      xo,
      s

  23. Katie says

    What a super cute idea! I want her laundry room! I checked out Sunny’s website too and they have some other great stencils…I’m eying the starfish one to make a pillow sort of like the ones West Elm has out right now!

    Reply

  25. Jennae @ Green Your Decor says

    I am definitely going to try my hand at making this stencil myself before buying it, but my past stencil-making experience has been sloppy. It can be tough to get the cuts nice and clean, so if I can’t manage, the stencil would SO be worth $30 to me.

    Reply

  26. krstn says

    Art work is the only thing missing from the baby-to-be’s room. But I don’t know what I want to put in there. Your stuff is cute, but have any other general baby room art suggestions?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Krstn,

      Click the How To tab under our blog header and scroll down to the section called “Artsy Ideas” to find tons of low cost or no cost art projects that could add some kick to your baby to be’s room. Good luck!

      xo,
      s

  30. JoDi says

    Wow, those look awesome Dana! I love your creative solution to hide the pipes and cords!

    $30 may sound like a lot to pay for a stencil, but it really depends on what you are using it for. Those stenciled floor length curtains Sherry linked in the post would cost $160 for the 96″ length. You could make them yourself with the $30 stencil, some paint you probably already have, and these Ikea panels for a total of $55.
    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30090117

    I actually bought those panels for $15 at our Ikea on sale so my total cost would only be $45! Defintiely worth $30 for the stencil, especially if you use it on several things like Dana did!

    Reply

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