Contemporary Silver Circles

I was so excited to execute this finish and share it with you! My client had seen a similar wallpaper but it had a white background. She wanted a soft grey, consistent with the rest of her home.

At first, we were planning to try a reusable stencil with silver paint. I am the eternal optimist. Upon discussing the design with one of my stencil suppliers, we determined a single use adhesive stencil was going to be best. Also, nothing compares to the look of silver leafing. How many times have you heard me say that?
This was no simple task. I wouldn't recommend this for a beginner. We started with the room painted with two coats of an eggshell paint in the same gray that was throughout the house.

The allover stencil pattern was cut into manageable sizes. I started with the middle row and made sure it was level. I taped the stencil to the wall.  Next, I removed the paper backing that allowed me to stick the blue stencil to the wall.

 

Once the blue was securely stuck, I peeled off the protective top paper. The blue vinyl that was left gives the circle pattern that we will silver leaf. 

Quite the slow moving process. To beak up the monotony and repetitive steps, I alternated by adding leafing adhesive to finished areas.

 When that dried, I was able to add the silver leafing. Looking pretty odd at this point. The final step was to apply a sealer to protect the silver. I used a gloss finish to maximize the sheen of the silver.

 



Once that dried, I was able to pull up the blue stencil. Also know as "weeding". This was a bit slow as well.

While this was a lengthy process, the end result was well worth it. Photos never do justice to a completed finish, but this is a really awesome, current design. Next week, you can enter to win a silver or gold leafing kit! What project will you use it for if you win?