Alex Fisher
I had a beautiful stencil with a script version of the French sonnet, “Springtime in Paris” and held onto it for many months until my vision became clear. It was meant to be temporary until we could afford tile, but I’ve grown to love it! I changed the decor and hardware over the years, but so far, the stenciled backsplash has stayed in place.
I remodeled this room one small project at a time to bring it to it’s current state. Before you buy any materials…my first suggestion is to visualize your entire kitchen in it’s finished state. Now is also the time to start window shopping online for the stencil pattern you’d like.
If a scripty French poem isn’t your first choice, we can also work with the many beautiful Moroccan tile patterns on the market as well. Then I experimented with different sponge and cross-brushed techniques applying a metallic patina on both). I made my decision to settle on the dark paint with a textured patina. I am the culprit — this was my weak attempt to glue my wallpaper that I had for years, and it was falling down.
Once the wallpaper was removed, the textured wall was helpful in covering up my mistake. My technique as I applied the Homax wall texture was to create a criss cross pattern all over the entire backsplash.
The fact that it doesn’t dry quickly is actually a bonus — it gives you time to work with the product and create the texture you want. This approach conveniently covered up the glue disaster, bumps and and imperfections. I chose an interior latex paint in a high gloss.
I decided I didn’t love the solid black backsplash. I dry brushed a lighter patina overtop of the black before applying my stencil. You can blend, wipe off the excess brush marks as needed until you get the desired effect.
If any bleed occurs I try to wipe it off but in this case I liked the rustic, imperfect look. Each time I lined up a verse, I would then use a level to ensure my letters didn’t go up or downhill, then apply tape…then roll on the paint!
Wipe down gently with a soft cloth (microfiber works well) to keep clean!
