Stenciling a Long Narrow Hallway

Paint the hallway walls in the base color of your choice, using latex interior paint. Allow the paint to dry overnight.

Measure and mark the center point of the wall near the ceiling to guide placement of your first stencil image. With a tape measure, locate the center point of the wall close to the floor. Measure up vertically from that point halfway between the floor and the ceiling. Lightly mark the point with a pencil. Measure and mark points vertically above and below the first point, equal to half the vertical length of the stencil. Repeat with points horizontal from the first mark. Measure and mark the center point of each outer edge on the stencil material.

Spray the reverse side of the stencil lightly with spray adhesive and allow to dry two minutes or until the adhesive becomes tacky. Place the stencil on the wall so the marked halfway points of the edges coincide with the respective points marked on the wall. Smooth the stencil in place, taking care to seal the edges of the stencil cut-outs. Place pieces of masking tape at the corners to further secure the stencil, if necessary.

Pour a thin layer of the contrasting paint color onto a foam plate. Dip a stencil brush or sea sponge into the paint and blot the excess with newspapers or paper towels. Pounce the sponge or brush into the stencil cutouts, using a dabbing motion to fill in all the cutouts. Reload and blot the brush or sponge as needed. Mark the corners of the stencil, remove the masking tape and carefully peel the stencil away from the wall.

Place the stencil to the right of the first motif, matching corners and center mark. Tape the corners to the wall with masking tape and repeat the process for filling in the stencil cut-outs with paint. Mark the corners and centers of the edges and remove the stencil. Repeat to create the next stencil motif, and continue until the wall is filled with stencil motifs. Use a spirit level when placing every third repeat to ensure that your designs are aligned horizontally and vertically. Erase the pencil marks with an art gum eraser as you finish each section of the wall.