Watercolor Wallpaper Hack Using Floral Stencils

We always recommend using spray adhesive during stenciling projects because it reduces your chances of paint seepage underneath your wall stencils. For this specific stencil project, we insist you use repositionable spray adhesive after every repeat because we are adding a gel-like substance (Floating Medium) to our paint which will increase our chances of paint seepage under the stencil.

Let’s get to the secret ingredient to our famous watercolor stenciled accent wall… Floating Medium! Folk Art’s Floating Medium is a special gel formula that helps the paint flow more smoothly. All you have to do is combine 1 part Floating Medium to 3 parts paint! If you want the stencil pattern to be a little darker, you can adjust the Floating Medium and paint ratio to your liking!

A little bit of your paint color and floating medium should be you’re on a paper plate. Take a ½” Professional Stencil Brush and dip the tip of the stencil brush (only about 1/8th) into the paint. Now, swirl it on the plate really working the paint into the professional stencil brush bristles. We want very little paint on our stencil brush so if you feel there’s too much paint on your stencil brush, offload it onto a paper towel.

Next, dip the tip of your stencil brush into the floating medium and mix it together on your plate. When you swirl it around on your plate you should start to see a watercolor effect forming right before your eyes!

Lightly swirl or pounce your grey color over the wall stencil. Remember, don’t press too hard or you’ll get paint seepage under the floral wall stencil. 

Now, pounce your black color in desired areas around the wall stencil.

To combine both colors and still achieve that stenciled watercolor look, take a completely dry ¾” Professional Stencil Brush and gently swirl over where the colors meet. Pro Tip: you barely want the brush to touch the wall/stencil at all when you are swirling it over the colors. The light dry brushing technique is the best way to blend the colors for watercolor flowers.

Floating Medium gel has the tendency to denote some of the darker stenciled areas when blended with the gray and cause those extra contrast areas to disappear. Before you peel off the wall stencil, take a step back and see if you want to add some extra dark details in your stencil pattern.

 Because we added Floating Medium to our paint, we have to wait a little longer to realign the  . After 2-3 minutes (check is it’s completely dry) realign the wall stencil with the previously paint registration marks and repeat!

 Wall stencils are a better alternative to wallpaper not only because you can replicate a wall pattern you love. Wall stencils are affordable, reusable, and customizable! The best part is you don’t even have to worry about the tedious wallpaper removal when you’re ready to chase the next big accent wall trend! Just buy another wall stencil and paint over your wall in no time!