Repainting With Moroccan Stencil Accent Wall

I'm a big believer in slowly upgrading your house room by room over time.  When we first moved in, one thing I was excited to do right away was paint a scrolling stencil on the dining room wall.  It made the house feel personal and cozy right away, and I loved it for years.

Over time, though, the mustardy colored walls in the front hall and dining room started to get to me, and I decided it was time to go for something more modern.  

Bleh after 4 years.

Now, everyone loves a good before and after setup! Here we have old...

...and pretty new grey!  Gillen Shaved Ice, to be exact.

Dark...

...turned nice and bright!  This pic shows the bit of blue tint to the grey.

And now for the new accent wall.  Ahhh.  Many little tubes of white paint later and this is what I have.

Now, some stencil tips from my many hours of handiwork here.

• When painting over an old stencil, sand the old pattern down with a fine grit sand paper.  You aren't sanding to obliterate the old pattern; just to even out any raised edges or buildup from the old design.  If you skip this step or get lazy with it, you'll see the old pattern when you paint over it.
• You don't need to use spray adhesive on the stencil!  Just use painters tape on each corner of your stencil to hold it nicely in place.
• A small sponge roller is your best friend.  I got mine at home depot years ago, and it worked much better than the Martha Stewart one I got at Michaels.
• Use a light coat of paint on each pass, and paint several coats.
• I used about 16 oz of paint for this pattern on a 9' wall.  Buy a ton of paint up front, instead of making constant Michaels runs because they only had a couple bottles of the specific brand and shade of white I was using at a time.  I used the Folkart 2-oz bottles of Titanium White, and I really did love the paint.  It was a nice consistency, spread smoothly without splattering, and didn't smell bad.  I used Behr paint for the initial stencil, and while it was ok, it didn't have that thick consistency that really helped with the stenciling that the craft paint did.  So yes, I do vote to use the craft paint!