Dramatic Walls Are Easy With Plaster Tree Stencils

Victoria Larsen Stencils
by Victoria Larsen Stencils
There are reasons to have plain walls, but they certainly don't apply to my own home. I love "artsy", I love "lush" and my walls are the perfect canvas for creativity.
After installing my new wood stove, I just had to do something "woodsy" on this wall.
I decided to use a Raised Plaster Aspen Tree Stencil as the general theme to the decorating in my own home. I love the forest, I love trees, I love nature. What better way to incorporate those passions in to my home?


So I began by giving my trees a lovely, soft faux finish as a background. I simply sponge painted warm brown paint over the top of cream colored paint to create that soft look. Blending well is the key to softness.
I started the trees with the two trunk stencils. One wide and one skinny. Using the stencils with joint compound instead of paint will give me "dimensional" trees rather than flat ones on my walls.


To make the project go faster, you can simply plaster every other repeat of the trunk stencil. Once they are dry, you can then go back and fill in the missing repeats all at once.
Side branches are fun to add here and there as your mind sees fit. Get as crazy as you want!


Then simply begin adding leafy branches.
I decided to create raised trees across the whole wall which really began to add interest to this long wall. It also served to "frame" the wood stove.
Joint compound can be pre-tinted with any water based paint or colorant. So I decided to save myself tons of time by adding green paint to the compound when I did the leaves.


I also tinted just a bit of the compound with black and after the trunks were completely dry, adding bits of that black to the trunks to mimic real aspen/birch tree bark.
Now this wall has become an awesome "focal" wall in my living room and I love it! I've considered using just the leafy branch as a medallion around the light fixture. All I would need to do is repeat it in to a large circle to coordinate with the wall design.
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  • Sarah Coblentz Sarah Coblentz on Dec 15, 2014
    Really neat! I love tree walls. I've wanted to do a navy background in my entry with aspen trees for awhile now. This is great inspiration for that!
    • Victoria Larsen Victoria Larsen on Dec 15, 2014
      @Sarah Coblentz Thank you Sarah. One of my customers actually did the Aspen Trees on a cobalt blue wall and just left them white. They were stunning!
  • Hannah V Hannah V on Dec 15, 2014
    WOW!
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