I have been fantasizing about a new design for my bathroom for the past month, because that is what I do – fantasize about bathrooms. I mean rooms. When Will & I bought the house I knew it was perfect because the previous owners had left everything neutral – white walls, hardwoods, grey tiles and grey rugs. A virtual canvas. The first thing I did was paint everything in my dining room between the white wainscoting and the white crown molding avocado green (Valspar Greentree to be exact). Sound hideous? It is actually glorious. (I got the idea from my fabulous Wedgewood china in Oberon).
But anyway I digress. While I was daydreaming about my blank white bathroom walls with ugly white porcelain drawer pulls – the ladies snuck into my daydream. The bathroom has this neat hexagonal (okay its octagonal – but who’s counting) window that reminds me of honeycomb. This then reminded me of the fabulous soap that my aunt gave my mom from C’est la bee (her friend’s shop – also a beekeeper). I scoured the internet for wallpaper patterns with the Napoleonic bee until I realized wallpaper is ridiculously expensive. Eventually I stumbled upon an article on pinterest showing this neat bee themed table setting – with a stencil from Royal Design Studio. They had not one, but two bee designs to choose from.
Let me rave about these stencils for a minute. I have never stenciled before, but it was incredibly easy. I used a 2″ brush, 4 oz of bright gold stencil paint and “The Buzz” stencil, all purchased from Royal Design Studio. The stencils are made to cover large areas of wall and look like wallpaper. You have to be a bit particular to get the designs to match up and measure out correctly but it is worth it. Several people have asked if it is wallpaper. And the stencil is indestructible. At first I was gentle with it, but by the end I was slapping it on the wall, bending it at odd angles and there is not a hint of wear on the plastic.
So after I convinced my husband to help me paint the bathroom Fairmont Lobby Cream (he is the best). I spent a ridiculous amount of quality time with that stencil, painting the bathroom with bees. It took me 8 hours in total. Not in one sitting that would be crazy. Well, it was still a bit crazy. But it was totally worth it – pictures below.
Using the dry brush method to apply paint
Action shot of me lining up the stencil
Hexagonal… err… octagonal window
Vanity
So many bees
Close up of the bee motif.
Love the stencil!!!