Stenciled Wall

Our family room is beginning to come together.  I stuck with a very neutral palette... brown sofa, brown and black tables, gray and tan stone fireplace, tan walls, cream curtains, wood floors, etc.  I've tried to add a little green and orange in the pillows and accessories.  

And in fact, if you look around our main floor, it's mostly neutrals:

{looking from family room into kitchen w/no breakfast room furniture}

{bookroom/frontroom}

{dining room}

So to add a little splash of color without going too bold, I decided to paint one of the walls you can see from the family room.  It's about 6 steps down the staircase as you make your way down to the basement.  

First I painted it Behr "Pear Cider".

Then I created a stencil out of an old cereal box.  I personally love the "Moroccan trellis" sort of design.  Originally I wanted curtains with this, but ended up with cheaper "henna" design from Target instead.

Then I began tracing the stencil all over the wall.

I just used a pencil, but that sort of dictated a darker color then.  (Originally I was thinking of painting with a creamy tan.)

I found some leftover charcoal gray paint from our little office nook.

I used a very thin paintbrush from one of those $4.99 packs at Hobby Lobby.

And I began following the pencil lines carefully.  As you can see above, they are not "perfect".  But wait till you see the final product.

And I kept on going....

And going....

And six hours later (yes, six long hours with a few snack and water breaks)....

I now have my punchy orangey patterned wall.  

If you don't want to spend 6 hours doing a 6'x6' wall, then I suggest making a larger pattern.  :)

As you can see, those variations in painting are not noticeable at all after backing up a bit.  

I love it....

Hmmmm..... now to decide WHAT to put on this pattern!!??  

A mirror?

Solid plaques (aka charger-style?)

An empty frame with a simple wreath?

Any ideas?