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Adding Scallop Stencil Details to a Roll-Top Desk

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Tips and Tricks for Adding Stencil Details to Recessed Furniture Panels. A great guide for beginners! And such a simple way to dramatically transform furniture!

Now, everybody knows…

If there’s something strange in your neighborhood
Who you gonna call?  Ghostbusters!

But did you also know that…

If you’re stenciling on your Roll-Top Desk
Who you gonna call?  Royal Design Studio!

And call them I did!  And it’s because I knew their stencils are la crème de la crème.

You see, I’ve had the opportunity to work with Royal Design Studio stencils twice in the past: first at their booth at Haven Blog Conference last summer, and second during the Share the Joy Service Project when my Central Florida blogger Friends and I made-over a local Children’s Home Office.  Here I am working on the accent wall using their large Moroccan Key Stencil.

Stenciling as part of our "Share the Joy" service project at the Central Florida Children's Home Office!

So, when it came to tackling the Roll-Top Desk Makeover last month, I knew we had so much surface area on that beast, it would be the perfect opportunity to add some stencil detail.  And where better than on the recessed side panels?

The Roll-Top Desk "Before" - - it was just begging for a stencil on the recessed side panels!

The hardest part was choosing which of Royal Design Studio’s fantastic stencils to use.  I ultimately opted for the Scallops Allover Stencil because I was diggin’ its beachy vibe.  Also, that’s the style wave Mark and I are riding right now (awful pun intended).

Scallops Allover Stencil by Royal Design Studio...perfect for adding a bit of a beachy vibe to your furniture transformations.

And I opted for the 1.5” Stencil Brush to help me get the job done.

Scallops Allover Stencil by Royal Design Studio...perfect for adding a bit of a beachy vibe to your furniture transformations.

The stencil came with a handy step by step guide for how to make your stenciling dreams come true…but since I’m the sort of person who loves seeing steps in action, I thought I’d share my own play-by-play and tips for working stencils into recessed panels.  Maybe it will spark some inspiration for your next furniture makeover!

How to Stencil on a Recessed Furniture Panel

Step 1.  Use painter’s tape to mask off the panel edges.  I found that if I could even work the 1″ tape around the curved edges if I went slowly.

Tips and Tricks for Adding Stencil Details to Recessed Furniture Panels. A great guide for beginners!

Tips and Tricks for Adding Stencil Details to Recessed Furniture Panels. A great guide for beginners!

Step 2.  Mark the center of your stencil and the center of your panel, line them up, and tape your stencil down.  Now, this was less important since my stencil pattern was so simple and my panel was not symmetrical; however, for the more intricate patterns, this is key for ending up with a finished design that looks even on the edges.

Tips and Tricks for Adding Stencil Details to Recessed Furniture Panels. A great guide for beginners!

Step 3.  Dip your brush in your paint…and then dab most of it off.  Offload most of your paint onto your builder’s paper or a paper towel until your brush is almost dry.  This is counter-intuitive, I know.  But it’s oh so important if you want to avoid bleeding under your stencil.

And I just used the same Behr latex paint in ultra pure white that we used for the drawer fronts.  Royal Design Studio also has their own line of stencil cremes, too, that I look forward to trying out!

It's so important to remove most of the paint from your brush before stenciling to avoid bleeding.

Step 4.  Apply your paint in gentle, small circles.  Start at the edge of the stencil and work your way to the openings.  I tried to be methodical in working my way from the top to the bottom.  That way, by the time I got to the bottom, the top was dry enough to apply a second thin layer of paint.  (Two coats of paint was sufficient for me.)

Tips and Tricks for Adding Stencil Details to Recessed Furniture Panels. A great guide for beginners!

In fact, I would suggest practicing with your technique first on a piece of scrap wood.  The key is really getting a feel for how to roll that brush in circular motions.  Once I got in a rhythm, it went surprisingly fast.

I also recommend removing the stencil from your panel before it fully dries so it doesn’t stick to the furniture.  And I usually waited at least an hour before re-taping the stencil to a new section.

Tips and Tricks for Adding Stencil Details to Recessed Furniture Panels. A great guide for beginners!

Step 5.  When working on the recessed edges, focus on flattening one section at a time.  I rocked the rubber gloves for this part and worked on flattening one scallop section at a time with my fingers to really get into that recessed groove.

It worked like a charm!

How to work a stencil into the recessed panel of a piece of furniture.

TIP: I recommend using Murphy’s Oil Soap when cleaning the paint off of your stencil brush.  Mine looks as good as new now!

How to work a stencil into the recessed panel of a piece of furniture.

Step 6.  Peel away your painter’s tape and prepare to be amazed.

Tips and Tricks for Adding Stencil Details to Recessed Furniture Panels. A great guide for beginners!

Step 7.  Use a small paintbrush to do small touch-ups.  It’s funny, I noticed that while my first side panel had several touch-ups where my white paint bled under the stencil, my second side panel had ZERO.  Why?  Because I really mastered the technique about halfway through – – and like I said before, the key is to really rid your brush of most of the paint.

Tips and Tricks for Adding Stencil Details to Recessed Furniture Panels. A great guide for beginners!

When I first stepped back to take in the finished side panels, I couldn’t have been happier with the results.

Scallop Stencil Details on a Roll-Top Desk Makeover! It really takes things up a notch...or ten!

Scallop Stencil Details on a Roll-Top Desk Makeover! It really takes things up a notch...or ten!

In fact, I was so happy, I decided this desk needed more Allover Scallops!

So, I proceeded to stencil the desk’s cork memo board, too.  I just took a roller to that puppy since I knew the cork was such a porous material anyway – – using the same method of offloading most of the paint first before rolling it on.  And I knocked it out in under an hour.

Scallops Allover Stenciling on a corkboard - - brings a beachy vibe to this Roll-Top Desk Makeover!

Now, looking at the “after” photos, I feel like the stenciled cork memo board really completes the look for the Roll-Top Desk!

In love with this Scallops Allover Stencil by Royal Design Studio and how it adds a pop of interest to the side panels and corkboard on this Roll-Top Desk!

Scallops Allover Stenciling on a corkboard - - brings a beachy vibe to this Roll-Top Desk Makeover!
Roll-Top Desk Makeover

Now, that you’ve seen how do-able and transformative furniture stenciling can be, sing it with me now:

“I ain’t afraid of no ghosts stenciling.”

Where to go next…

If you’re curious to try out one of Royal Design Studio’s stencils for yourself, head to royaldesignstudio.com and start exploring their gorgeous designs.

And be sure to follow Royal Design Studio on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram for more inspirational project ideas!

Lastly, here are my other posts in the Roll-Top Desk Makeover Series to get your gears turning on your next furniture makeover project.  Thanks for stopping by!

Plus, you can see the other dramatic transformations of our Rustic Nautical Master Bedroom Makeover:

Full Disclosure: I received a stencil and brush to facilitate this review and was compensated for my time.  As always, all opinions are 100% my own.  For more policy information, click here.

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22 Comments

  1. This is a wonderful touch to your roll-top desk makeover. I am pinning this, as the scallop stencils would work in OG to enhance our beachy look…maybe you can help me decide where to do it here when you come for a visit! Love that you added the scallops to the cork board, too!

  2. I wish I would have had such wonderful instructions years ago when I was learning to do this… this will be very helpful to those who want to stencil and have never done it… great tips. Your projects look wonderful… the stenciling makes such a difference. Thank you for posting this. 🙂

  3. I use royal design on stencils in my furniture painting business but always struggle with using them on recessed panels or drawer fronts…do you have any tips for that? Like the inside/recessed panel of cabinet doors? I have no problem if the panel is raised and there is no trim around it. Thanks for your help.

  4. Lauren, keep on ridin’ this style wave because it suits you to a tee! I love that you added this pop of detail to the recessed panels on your desk, but also that you carried it over to your cork memo board. You’re right – it totally completes the look! And the white on gray is subtle but oh-so-beautiful! Nice work!!

  5. I’m loving this stencil!! And that you used it on the desk and cork board? Genius girl! I love Royal Design Studios too!
    Hugs,
    Jamie

  6. Its beautiful, Lauren! The perfect amount of stencil for this piece too – I love it on the side and on the cork board – that was a genius move!

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