Create Beauty with Grape Wall Stencils

By Debra That Painter Lady Conrad

Grape and grapevine motifs stenciled onto walls are a feature of the popular Tuscan style in home decor but can also be an attractive complement to other styles that embrace an old world look. Stencils today come in a wide variety of designs and are reusable. A grape or vine leaf motif could be just the thing to finish off your kitchen decor. If you like relaxing with a glass of wine on your patio, grapes and vine leaves might be the perfect image to choose.

Applying Stencil Motifs

Grapevine designs are perfect for borders, which can add the final detail to your Tuscan-style room. A repeated motif that runs around the room can be a subtle and stylish touch. You can stencil borders at floor level, at ceiling or picture rail height or midway up a wall, where a dado rail might be.

Vine and grape imagery can look marvelous around dull features of a room, including alcoves or plain doors and windows. Grapes and vines are particularly well-suited to a wine theme, and are perfect for a wine rack surround.

Border motifs trailing artlessly above and around door and window frames can be a stylish way of adding visual interest to a room, bringing the flavor of the outdoors into your living area. Tuscan homes often used the space over a door to paint an individual motif, such as a bowl of richly colored grapes.

Choosing Your Grape or Vine Stencil

The popularity of the Tuscan look means that you will find a huge variety of grape and vine stencils to choose among. For a more plain finish you might want to go with a simple vine design, instead of branches laden with fat bunches of grapes. For borders that go all around a room, simpler or more stylized designs are recommended.

You can of course have the best of both worlds. You could have a grapevine border around your room and a bowl of grapes stenciled as a stand-alone image above a door or window. Scale is something to bear in mind because - along with color and foreground to background contrast - bigger usually means bolder.

Choosing Colors

Although the Tuscan look utilizes a palette of earthy and natural colors, you don't have to go overboard imitating nature. In particular, borders can use the forms of the grape or vine leaf without adhering slavishly to the colors of nature.

As mentioned, you will need to choose your motif color to complement that of your walls, as excess contrast will spoil the effect. A color wheel can help in choosing complementary colors. The Tuscan style depends on soft, earthy hues and the old world look similarly depends on colors that are muted, smoky and subtle.

To make your stenciled look blend in as subtly as possible, use several different shades of your motif color to help create the impression of age. You can also use various faux painting techniques to further create a distressed or antique effect. - 20607

About the Author:

No comments: