Hallway Makeover (DIY Board & Batten and Cutting Edge Stencils) + Giveaway!

I've teased about my hallway makeover on Instagram a few times now. And, I'm so happy to share the (almost) final results with you today! We decided to install DIY Board & Batten and try out one of the fun stencils from Cutting Edge Stencils on the wall above it. I chose the allover Mermaid stencil and I love the look of it!

I'm not giving a tutorial for the board & batten because there are so many great tutorials floating around blogland (I have a Pinterest board dedicated to it, if you're interested). Plus, I didn't have much to do with the installation. That was curtesy of my father-in-law and hubby. (Thanks, fellas!!)

However, I WILL give you some pointers for using the allover stencil from Cutting Edge.

But, first...the before/after shot:

That before shot is embarrassing! I can't believe we lived with that dark, bleh tunnel for 3 years! In truth, the makeover isn't completely done because we still need to change the light fixture and add more light down the length of the hallway. But, the white and gray paint really brightens it up!

Stenciling a Wall

Supplies:
paint in two colors (I used Behr Premium in Falling Snow and Graceful Gray)
dense foam roller brush
clip-on stencil level from Cutting Edge (this is a must, in my opinion!)
painter's tape

Tips:
1) This may be obvious, but paint the light color first and then stencil the darker shade on. That'll give you better coverage in less coats.
2) Start in an inconspicuous spot, so you can get the feel of it before it really matters.
3) Roll the stencil in paint and then roll most of it off onto a paper towel before putting the roller on the wall.
4) Watch one or more of the Cutting Edge tutorial videos before starting. They are really helpful!
5) If you're doing board & batten too, do the wall stencil first so you don't have to cut in on the bottom.
6) If you're doing feature walls, like I did, consider capping the corner edge with a piece of decorative trim. This isn't mandatory, but it does give it a nice, polished look.

As you can see from the above pictures, we wrapped our board & batten around the corners, but stopped the stencil at the end of the hallway. Then we added corner trim on the edge above the b&b. 

I think the stencil was really easy to use and gives a lot of impact for relatively low effort! You can see from the "before" photo that my gallery wall got a little tweak, too. I'll give you the details of that next week!

On a related note, did you see the stenciled rug I shared last Friday? It was a under-an-hour project using a small Cutting Edge Stencil (pssst...they give all customers a small freebie stencil!).

So, would you like to WIN $50 to Cutting Edge Stencils?? I thought you might! Use the rafflecopter below to enter!

*winner receives one stencil of their choice, up to $50 value, plus free shipping. US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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