I bet you’re as anxious as we were to see how the stenciled wall we showed you yesterday turned out! We’re back today to show you how it all went down AND share the final cost (time-wise and money-wise).
Since one wall of our guest bedroom was already painted Valspar’s Marsh Green when we started this makeover, green was an obvious choice to bring a bit of color and interest to our open closet desk area (the “cloffice” if you will). Luckily I had way more leftover Marsh Green paint than this project required, so a little stirring action was all it took to get going.
I chose a round-tipped paintbrush from my collection (size 6, in case you’re wondering) and started to paint. This project definitely took a slow and steady hand, but it didn’t take long for me to get in the painting groove.
I started in the right-hand corner and worked my way up and around the lower half of the closet first. I’m including most of the photos I took of the painting process (which I split up over several days) to really give you a feel for how the project progressed.
Here’s where I started moving up the right-hand wall…
Then progressed to the main wall at the back of the closet…
Slowly but surely, the paint started to cover more and more real estate…
Finally I could see the pattern making its way across the back wall of the closet!
A few hours later and I’d progressed even further…
Pretty soon, almost the entire bottom half of the closet was done.
I needed a step-stool to reach the top half of the closet. Some areas were more difficult than others simply because of the angle required with the brush or the amount of paint that had glopped up (no it’s not a word, but you know what I mean) on the end of the brush. I found it very helpful to wipe the tip of the brush clean every once in awhile and to wash it out completely between painting sessions.
In the photo above, you can see how I painted the pattern up and over the shelf bracket and trim pieces. I think continuing the pattern this way really helped the less attractive features of the closet fade away.
Finally I reached the very top and finished the last few outlines.
After letting all the green paint dry, I went back over the obviously splotchy areas with some touch-up wall paint.
Finally, our DIY stenciled closet was finished! Here’s how it turned out!
One more reminder of how it looked before I signed my life away to a paintbrush…
And here it is today!
I’m sure you’re dying to know how long this monster took to paint and how much we ended up spending, right? The stencil tracing we showed you yesterday took about 3 hours, but the painting? More like 10-12 hours!
The good news is that every single item that went into this project was something we already had on hand. From the stencil cut from a cereal box to the leftover wall paint and mini paintbrush, we didn’t spend a dime! Not sure how I want to factor in the 15 hours of time it took, but we’re so happy with the result that I’m willing to conveniently forget that part. 
So are we crazy, or do you love how it turned out? Are you looking forward to seeing how we turn this fun little nook into a crafty cloffice? So are we!
WOWEE!!!! i love it!!!! i wish the inside of my closet was that cool!
Looks fantastic! I think all of the time and hard work was worth it!
I just love how it turned out!
I absolutely love it! Right up my alley. You are awesome!
I love it! You have a ton of patience to be able to do all that detailed painting! I noticed in your last post that the layout of this room is the exact same as my son’s room… maybe I need to turn his closet into a cute reading nook with a fun stencil too!
Looks amazing!!! Your hard work definitely paid off.
Wow! You win an award in patience. It looks lovely, but I know that I would have bailed after an hour of stenciling. Patience is a virtue, though. And it rewarded you.
Gorgeous! I wish I had your patiences. And your steady hand! I feel like if I were to attempt this, it would not turn out well…
oooo get down with your bad self!
What a commitment. And what an amazing result. Very cool!
A.mazing!! My hubby has a pantry redo on our DIY list and I’m itching to do some kind of stripes or graphic print wall like this…it’s more of a coat closet size so I think we could potential do it before the due date.
This is definitely going on my pinterest ‘pantry inspiration’! 
Lord have mercy! I absolutely love it, but I cannot imagine how you stayed sane while doing this!!!
That looks fantastic! Love the color and well worth the time, you did good!
I can’t believe you did that all by hand!! So worth it though … it looks AMAZING!
Crazy gorgeous. It looks so good. I can’t wait to see what you do with it. I saw some of the closet offices on Pinterest and I’m sure it will look great!
Love it! Hurry and finish your house so we (mostly you) can focus on making mine this cute!
Love it…your design of the stencil is perfect. It really makes the inside of the closet pop with interest. A+ on all of the painting…you did a great job. It’s fantastic.
I love it, not sure I would have the patience to get this done, though. I have a guest room closet that I hope to turn into a craft/office area.
Great job
Wow, wow, wow!! You are amazingly talented! I can’t imagine painting all of that like you did. It is beautiful!
Pam
So Cute! You did a great job!
Whoa, you have some patience! It looks totally and completely AWESOME!!! The hard work definitely paid off – now can you please come to NC and paint a feature wall in my future nursery?? LOL, can’t wait to see the whole project come together
LOOKs fantastic!! Great job Meredith, I think it was well worth the time that it took..
I LOOOOOOOVE it!! It looks gorgeous, way to go! And I’m so not surprised it took that long, that’s some serious detail work.
Oh my gosh, the patience you must have! I am a professional painter and I don’t know if I’d attempt this. It looks beautiful!!!!!
That is FANTASTIC! I hope you had some great music playing or some other great distraction, because wow, what a job! It turned out beautifully!
Ok, I NEED to do this. You did SUCH a great job!!!I especially love the color–green is my favorite!
Love this look! Great colors and a great location for an unexpected pop of pattern too! I finally dove in and tried the painted stencil myself after seeing so much stencil-goodness in blogland, and I love the finished product. Take a look if you’d like: http://evolutionofstyleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/powder-room-reveal.html
Well done!!
Absolutely gorgeous! I love the color and the stencil you chose it just pops!
Great job! Loving that stencil!
I love this!!! I can think of a million applications for this treatment in my own home. Thanks for the tutorial.
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Beautiful! Love the tutorial, and your blog!
This is so so so beautiful! Great work!
Gorgeous!! I am so impressed that you freehanded all of it!
WOW! That is so schmancy! I love it – am inspired!
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I love this so much!! I definitely want to try it!!
I’m doing the exact same type of hand painted wallpaper, but on my office-walls. Taking FOREVER, but totally worth it.