Learn How to Stencil the Brick Allover Pattern

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Cutting Edge Stencils’ Brick Allover pattern  ~ Clip-on stencil level  ~ Latex or Acrylic Paints, including some basecoat ~ Large Sponge or Sea Sponge ~ Paint Tray or Large Styrofoam Plates ~Paper towels ~ Stencil brush  ~ Blue Painters tape ~ Tarp ~ Step Ladder

Here’s What You’ll Do:

Position the stencil on the wall and be sure to use our Clip-on stencil level.  It’s a time saver and will ensure that your stencil is straight. Use a small piece of blue painters tape on each corner to adhere it to the wall.  We love using Scotch Blue 2″ painters tape. Do not use regular white masking tape because it’s way too sticky for most painted surfaces and will likely pull off the base paint when you remove your stencil. Although it’s not necessary, you can use a spray adhesive.  When using spray adhesives, be sure to spray very lightly on the back side of your stencil. A fine mist is all you need.  Allow the glue to dry a bit before directly applying the stencil to the wall. This will help you avoid left over glue residue on the wall.

Pour your paint, about 2-3 tablespoons, onto the foam plate and load your dense foam roller. For this project, we used Benjamin Moore’s georgian brick HC-50 but you can do several shades of orange, reds and browns, even grey if you like. Let your imagination take the wheel!

Then offload the paint onto a paper towel by rolling it back and forth until the roller seems almost dry and the paint is evenly distributed. Too much paint can create leakage under the stencil.  There should be no visible paint on a roller surface, it should look almost dry. Remember, it’s better to have less paint on your roller than too much paint.

Start stenciling your wall using light to medium pressure on your dense foam roller. Pressing too hard will lead to bleeding and smudging. You can easily check how you’re doing by carefully un-taping and lifting one corner of the stencil and taking a peek. Do you like what you see? If it’s too pale, just put the stencil back and paint it a couple more times back and forth, slightly adding more. Let the 1st coat dry for a couple of minutes and then paint the stencil again.

To create more depth and interest, we’ve decided to use a sponge.  If you don’t have a natural sea sponge, you can use a house hold sponge but pick out some pieces to make it uneven.

Randomly brush your second color (we have chosen brown) on the sponge.

Then move sporadically over the brick stencil. Make sure to change the position of your hand so that there is no distinct repeat pattern in your design.

Gently remove the stencil and reposition the stencil to move down the wall.  Simply line up your stencil with the previously painted parts, check your level, and continue.

Don’t worry if it doesn’t line up perfectly, and try not to roll over the previously painted areas.

There’s no need to clean the stencil in between repeats. Each stencil is good for many repeats before it will need to be cleaned. It’s time to clean the stencil when your paint build-up starts to compromise the design. Continue to reposition your stencil until your entire wall is complete.

Once the wall is complete, remove the stencil.  Then dilute a small amount of dark brown or black paint with a touch of water in a cup or foam plate. For this, we used Benjamin Moore’s brown horse 2108-30.  Dip the edges of your toothbrush or stencil brush and “flick” the bristles so that the color sprays off the brush and onto the wall.  Spatter the painted brick randomly. 

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Thanks for reading, and happy stenciling!
Michelle and the Cutting Edge Stencils Crew