Rustic Lodge Stenciling Ideas

Kitchens

• Kitchens are a room people naturally gravitate to, and a rustic lodge is no exception. The aroma of fresh brewed coffee and fresh muffins in the morning make the kitchen a place to go when you or your guests first wake up. Use stencils on cabinets or your floor. If you have a lodge in the northeast hardwoods, use stencils of loons, black bear, moose or deer, going one per cabinet center. If you want to add contrast to wood walls, use white cabinets and stencil black-and-white checkerboards along the edges.

Living Room

• A living room often includes a large fireplace with a mantel, bookshelves and comfortable furniture centered around coffee tables or entertainment centers. Take advantage of the flow of the fireplace and use modest stencils along the edge or on the firebricks. Often, it is best to allow the fireplace to be the main focus of the room, so keep stencils more as accents rather than the main focus. One appropriate stencil accent is a stencil that mimics wood bark. Use these on the firebrick to simulate a wood framing of the fireplace masonry.

Hallways

• Hallways do more than get your from one room to another. Hallways often become default art galleries. Use the wall space along lodge hallways to hang wall art, shadow-boxes with rustic decor and antiques and stencils that reflect the region of the lodge. Examples include stencils of beaver for the northwest, elk or mountain sheep in the Rocky Mountains, or loons and seals for coastal New England.

Porches and Sun Rooms

• These rooms are open, bright and airy. Splashes of extra color in a Sun room or porch gives an open feel to normally muted colors in the lodge. These areas are where you should get creative with the stencils. If you have anglers in your household, stencil brightly colored trout along the window panes and hang old fishing rods, reels and tackle next to the stencils. Hikers and kayakers may appreciate sports-themed stencils where they store hiking shoes or paddles on the porch. Bird watchers can try to identify various bird species stencils along shelves or walls where binoculars and bird books are stored.