How to Prep Walls Before Stenciling

Stenciling a wallpaper pattern onto walls has become a popular way to decorate a space. In order to achieve good results, it is highly important that the walls are properly prepped and painted with a base coat prior to beginning. By spending extra time on prep work now, you increase the chance that your hard work stenciling will yield the results you desire.

Step 1: Fill any holes with joint compound using a putty knife. Remove any fasteners or nails from the walls and fill those holes as well. Let the joint compound dry completely, then sand the surface with a fine grit sandpaper until it is completely smooth.

Step 2: Sand away any bumps on the wall using a fine grit sandpaper. If the wall is textured, the wall must be resurfaced. Resurfacing the wall involves covering the wall with a thin layer of joint compound that is perfectly smooth and sanding away any remaining texture.

TIP: If there is only a very slight texture, you can still stencil without resurfacing the wall. Instead of using a regular latex or acrylic paint, use a cream paint that will navigate small changes in texture well.

Step 3: Use painter's tape to cover baseboards and other decorative trim adjacent to the walls that you will stencil.

Step 4: Cut in around the walls and into the corners with a high quality primer and paintbrush. Once the detail work is finished, cover the rest of the wall with primer using a paint roller. Allow the primer to dry before continuing.

Step 5: Apply a coat of flat latex paint over the primer. This paint should be the color of your base coat for your stencil. Allow it to dry completely.

TIP: Avoid using a semi-gloss or gloss paint on the wall: it will be harder to stencil over.

Step 6: Apply a second coat of the latex paint. Allow the paint to dry completely before attempting to stencil. Keep the tape over the baseboards and other areas in place until the stenciling is complete, then remove them.