Cutting Edge Stencils: Feature Walls, Feature You

One of the great qualities about using stencils is that it doesn’t take a lot of time and money to make a big impact in any space. You don’t need to cover every inch of wall space in your room like you would with wallpaper. In fact, a growing trend in wall décor is to do a feature wall, also called focal wall or accent wall. This post shows you a variety of feature walls in various rooms to inspire you to see that a feature wall really makes a huge difference in every room! Generally an ideal feature wall has little to no obstructions (doors, windows, shelves etc.) and has a large focal piece of furniture at its center to balance the pattern on the wall and to make the space a lot cozier in general. A common look is to have a bed in front of your stenciled accent wall in your bedroom. A feature wall also looks great in a living room behind an entertainment unit or behind a couch with a cool mirror in the center of it. You can use your feature wall to incorporate a pop of color in your space without having it take over. Most of all, it is a great way to express your personal style with pattern and color without spending a ton of money or time to get your message across. There are so many fun options when it comes to choosing your feature wall color and stencil: should I go bright and bold? Tone on tone? Allover pattern or perhaps a large wall art stencil? Should I match the tones in the rug, the curtains, the bedspread? This post is to help you make some of those decisions by showing you a variety of feature walls that all are different but beautiful in their own way. Hopefully one of them inspires you to stencil your very own, with your own personal twist! 1. This feature wall was stenciled with Cutting Edge Stencil's Birch Forest Allover stencil. It was done by Four Men and One Lady blog and really shows how to use a stencil as a beautiful backdrop for wall art. The soft blue grey color of the stencil highlights the white background color of the wall and add the perfect amount of contrast for the triptych wall art to pop. Michelle did an excellent job of using the perfect colors and stencil to compliment her focal wall art. The wall makes a statement but yet still blends with the rest of the space in an organic way. To get a similar look, use Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls 2145-70 as your background color (or any nice Benjamin Moore white) and Mt. rainier Gray 2129-60 as your stencil color. You can play with this look as well. Remember, the canvas that you stencil on does not always have to be your wall. Why not pick out your favorite stencil and create your own stenciled wall art to hang on a solid painted background wall? You can stencil fabric and cover outdated paintings with DIY stenciled fabric too!! Whatever you decide to do, this look is so cool and a great option to showcase your family photos in a fresh and unique way. 2. This was done by Crush Worthy Moms blog and it is so cool! Even though this Cutting Edge stencil is called the Vintage Paisley this wall looks far from vintage but rather super hip and modern. This feature wall is a perfect example of how you can use a non-interlocking pattern to create a wallpaper look, but in a lot less time than an allover stencil pattern. A wall like this can be completed within a couple of hours and the stencil only costs $29.95 (you can also use the Small Vintage Paisley stencil $15.95 and Medium Vintage Paisley stencil $19.95). To get this look place your stencil on your wall, roll on your paint with a dense foam roller, lift up your stencil and tape down your next repeat by eye. Keep on filling in your wall with the same spacing and voila! It is really that simple and looks stunning! Using Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace OC-65 as the background color and Blue 2066-10 as the stencil color will complete the look. 3. This incredible feature wall stenciled by Heather is the perfect backdrop to her funky living room furniture! You have got to love this 70's mod look right? The black and white damask pattern chair and foot stool really compliment the yellow and white colors and moroccan stencil pattern on the wall. Heather's space without the Rabat Stencil on the wall was rather colorless and simple. The addition of the stenciled feature wall gave her the chance to add color and pattern to the space without having to add any extra furniture pieces or art. At the end of the day, if Heather decides to go for another designer look down the line, she can paint right over this wall and do it again with a different Cutting Edge Stencil that she likes. She won't have to deal with the fuss and mess of stripping wallpaper, or trying to peel off a wall decal that is pretty much glued to her wall. Who wants to deal with that? I sure don't. The fact of the matter is that these days, people are constantly evolving their home decor and style and stencils can easily evolve with them whereas wallpaper and decals can't. To get a similar look as Heather's 70's twist use Benjamin Moore Sunshine 2021-30 for the background and Pale Straw 2021-70 for your stencil color. 4. Here Ange from the Blooming Hydrangea blog used Cutting Edge Stencils Shipibo Allover stencil on this feature wall in her bedroom. Another one of the really great qualities about using a stencil as opposed to a wall decal or wallpaper is that you can choose from thousands of colors and hundreds of stencil designs to truly match your wall to your bed spread, lamps, night tables etc. The bold red tone of the night stand and pillows balances the intensity of the black stencil color on the wall. I also love how Ange added some more color to the room with that beautiful accent pillow. Here is an example of a feature wall in black and white and how you can use it as a great backdrop to other colorful pieces in your space. You can also do the opposite by having a very colorful stenciled wall with more neutral tones in your room. Or, just go for it with a colorful wall and decor. Whatever is the best expression of you is what matters. I would also add that this setup is one of the more popular "feature wall" looks; a bed in the center of the wall with two matching night stands and matching lamps. Simple, balanced and beautiful. The Blooming Hydrangea created such a perfectly cohesive look by choosing a stencil design and colors that work perfectly with the rest of the room decor. Bravo!! To get this amazing look use Benjamin Moore Black Iron 2120-20 as the background color and Chantilly Lace 2121-70 as the stencil color. If you want to repaint some furniture to match the beautiful coral red of the night stands, use Benjamin Moore Rhubarb 2007-30 in a semi-gloss finish. 5. This feature wall by Lolly Jane blog is such a great example of how a stencil can bring so much life into a dining room space. Kelli & Kristi used Cutting Edge Stencils Julia Allover stencil on their feature wall and it adds the perfect amount of color and pattern to the country style space. The combination of the bright blue cabinet and golden yellow stencil color is spectacular! The Julia Allover flower pattern is perfect for the feminine vintage country look this room has as well. Another great piece of wall decor is the vintage white mirror at the center of the feature wall. As a general tip, if you have rather large feature wall, I would definitely suggest finding a mirror to break up the space a bit. This automatically makes the room feel more cozy and adds some nice color highlights as well. To get a look similar to this feature wall by Lolly Jane, use Benjamin Moore Creme Brulee 2022-70 as the background and Jackson Square by Sherwin-Williams as the stencil color. 6. Why not have your foyer make a big statement? I love how Jill stenciled the entryway of her clients home and think that in general it is important to make the first room that one enters a beautiful and welcoming one. That being said, I love how the Oasis Allover stencil looks for this feature wall. The light grey tone for the stencil is very elegant and has been perfectly matched to the floor tiling and the antique furniture. Again, a stenciled feature wall is the perfect background to a focal piece of furniture like the one in this example. The moroccan shaped mirror compliments the design of the stencil as well. All around beautifully done feature wall! To get a similar look use Benjamine Moore Smoke Gray 2120-40 as the background color and Barren Plain 2111-60 as the stencil color. 7. This bathroom feature wall by Better After blog turned out so beautifully. Lindsey used Cutting Edge Stencils Zamira Allover stencil. The warm gray background and soft white are such elegant and classy colors. A feature wall is perfect for a space like this which is quite small and would be a bit overwhelming if all of the walls were stenciled. The feature wall is just enough to add some detail and design to the room without it taking over. I think stenciling my bathroom would be really fun! Why not add a little bit of glamour to your bathroom, right? Its a place to beautify so why not make it especially beautiful? Of course if you are sharing your bathroom space with a partner there are plenty of colors and stencil designs to keep the room gender neutral as well. Either way, I love this stenciled feature wall and think it adds so much to the room. For this look use Benjamin Moore Stone Harbor 2111-50 for the background and Calm 2111-70 for the stencil color. 8. One of my personal favorite uses of the feature wall look, is to have one a a nursery room! Gabrielle used Cutting Edge Stencils Simple Rhyme stencil as a feature wall in her little girls room and it adds such a nice element of feminine detail. There are so many nursery stencils to choose from so you can really pick an allover stencil or wall art stencil that matches your child's personality and likes. Stenciling your son, daughter, niece, nephew or best friends kids room is a great gift to give! In addition, once the child has grown out of the space, all you have to do is paint over the stencil and voila! This is just another reason why stenciling a kids room is a better option than using wallpaper or decals. To get a similar look as Gabrielle, use Sherwin Williams Drizzle and Modern Masters Silver (look for this at your local Benjamin Moore store). As you can see, you can really incorporate a feature wall into any room you have! You have endless possibilities and so much room for creativity and self-expression. Before you start your feature wall, I would highly recommend watching this stencil tutorial: Thank you for stopping by and stay tuned for more : ) Sincerely, Gabi and the Cutting Edge Stencils Crew