How to Stencil Ombre Chevron Stripes

by Royal Design Studios

This stencil tutorial combines two hot trends - chevron stripes and an ombré paint finish - to create a gradated shades of gorgeous teal for a one-of-a-kind stenciled feature wall. Using a large Chevron Stripe wall stencil makes easy work of creating a zig-zag chevron pattern. We also have some tips to make your roller stenciling clean and crispy (as opposed to messy and drippy) so read on and let's get stencilling!

For this Stencil Project You Will Need:

Chevron Stencil from Royal Design Studio
6" Flocked Foam Stencil Roller HIGHLY recommended for roller stenciling on smooth walls
Stencil Spray Adhesive (we love 3M Super 77 or Delta Repositionable Stencil Adhesive)
Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan in Provence and Old White
Paint Roller Tray
Paint Roller Frame
Paper Towels

Paint Picking Tip:

We've found that Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan works exceptionally well with stencilling. Why? It adheres to surfaces without priming or sanding, has excellent opacity, coverage, dries quickly, and is a heavier bodied paint-which all helps add up to roller stencilling success.

Stencil Color Palette:

Ombré is a French word meaning "to shade". We love to mix our favourite colour of Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan into 4 shades using the colour Old White to keep the same colour vibe, but with enough difference to really matter. If you want a more subdued ombré chevron wall treatment, use neutral colors and choose side-by-side colors. You could even start with a version of that same shade as your background color.

Courtesy: Ciruelo Interiors

Step 1: The Chevron Wall Stencil has quite large openings of pattern cut from it, so this stencil is one we definitely recommend using a repositionable spray adhesive with. 3M Super 77 is our favorite and here are our top stencil adhesive tips:

Use with good ventilation
Be sure to protect surrounding areas from over spray
Hold the can about 10" away from the stencil and just give it a light, even misting.
Allow the adhesive to "set up" on the stencil for a minute or two before affixing to the wall.
It's difficult to remove all spray adhesive from the stencil after using, BUT if you soak the stencil in a Simple Green "bath" for a day or two, it will just slide off-along with the paint.

Step 2: Place the stencil on the wall and check that it's level and lining up with any previous stencil repeats. Because of the amount of mylar removed with pattern, this stencil has a lot of "flex" to it, so be patient when aligning it to get it nice and smooth and flat on the wall.

Step 3: Load the Flocked Foam Stencil Roller evenly with paint in a proper paint tray and remove excess paint by rolling over a stack of paper towels or absorbent paper. It's important to have the paint evenly loaded on the roller and not have too much paint-which will naturally seep under the stencil. The Flocked Foam Stencil Roller is covered with a thin velour fabric coating-which helps resist those paint run unders, but if you have TOO much paint.....well, you'll see....seriously-practice!

Step 4: Use an even, steady, not-to-heavy pressure on the roller as you roll over the stencil surface. This paint DOES cover very well-and quickly, but take some time to go slow at first to get used to how much paint and pressure you need to get a great stencil print.

Step 5: The Chevron Wall Stencil has built in registration that is a little different from our other wall stencils. The stencil comes with illustrated instructions, but basically, the zig zag stripes on each end overlap a little bit. As you are stenciling-stop short and fade out the paint towards the end.....

Step 6: After you move the stencil to the right (or left) you will overlap the stencil on the previous area and pick up the pattern again. The reason to fade out and fade in with the paint, is so you don't build up a noticeable line of paint down your zigzags stripes at the stopping and starting point. NOTE: IF you are offloading your stencil roller correctly, the paint from your last repeat will be dry enough that there is no issue in laying the stencil over it.

Step 7: Admire the beauty of your practice and patience when you lift the stencil and see a perfect, crisp stenciled pattern. And no! We did NOT touch up this photo. *smile*

Step 8: For our 8' high wall, we found that doing three stripes of each of the 4 colors fit perfectly and created just the right amount of ombré! When moving the stencil pattern vertically, you will find it easy to line up by simply matching up the cut out triangles right over your previous zigzags.

We think that this Chevron pattern is an IDEAL treatment for a stenciled feature wall. You can pick out one of the ombré color shades to paint a coordinating color on the other walls. If you DO want to continue the pattern around the room, we recommend that you use the stencil simply as a tracing pattern at the corners, and then use tape in the corner to define the zigzag stripes there.

Dress up your wall with some fun accents. Royal Design Studio found this cute Mid Century Modern table/sewing chest for free on the sidewalk and snazzed it up with a couple of coat of Barcelona Orange Chalk Paint™ from Annie Sloan.

We also have a Chevron furniture stencil pattern perfectly sized for furniture, fabric, rug, and craft stencil project. ALL would look great with an ombré paint treatment. Have fun stenciling, and please share your projects with us! Just send them in to info@appleboxboutique.com and you will be entered for a chance to win our monthly Reimagined Monday contest!

* Please note that the images above depict painting with Behr paint in 4 shades for creating the Ombre effect.
**All images courtesy of Royal Design Studio

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