Done in a Day: Stenciled Window Shade

Do you want to give your windows a dose of color and pattern, but curtains aren’t in the budget? We have a solution―vinyl roller shades. Their stark white color has given them a bad reputation, but add a graphic stenciled design and you have a custom window treatment that’s low on cost and high on style.

Shade: 37¼" x 66" light-filtering vinyl shade in white by Levolor (levolor.com), available through Lowe’s; lowes.com.
Brackets: Inside-Mount Shade Brackets, also by Levolor, also available through Lowe’s.

Stencils have come a long way; today’s options are sophisticated, easy to use, and offer you endless design possibilities. Combine your favorite pattern and paint color for a shade that makes a personal statement in a bedroom, bath, home office, or anywhere you want to add privacy.

Completing your project is easy once you prep your shade and get the hang of applying the paint. Don’t worry about achieving perfection. If you’ve never stenciled before, try a few practice designs on poster board. Hang your finished shade alone for a clean, tailored look, or layer it with simple curtains for softness.

Choose a work surface you can access from all four sides and protect it with heavy paper. Unroll the shade to a length that will cover the full height of your window and tape down the edges with painter’s tape. Find the middle of your shade with a tape measure, and mark it lightly with a pencil. Repeat every few inches up and down the shade, creating guidelines for the stencil.

Place your stencil in the middle of the shade just above the bottom hem. Faintly mark all four edges with a pencil. Remove the stencil, lightly apply spray adhesive to the back, and place the stencil back on the shade at your marks. Pour a small amount of paint in a saucer. Dab a damp sponge in the paint, and then lightly and slowly dapple it over the stencil until covered.

Tip: Start with a little bit of paint. You can always add more.

Peel off the stencil, and repeat Step 2. Work up the middle row first, creating a road map for your design. Then do the next row, centering the stencil between two designs on the adjacent row. Complete all the full designs first, and then fill in open space along the edges with partial designs. Leave unrolled to let dry. Spray-paint the brackets to match your window trim, and install. Keep the installed shade rolled down for three days to let the paint cure.

If you don’t want to take on a painting project, try this handsome monogram decal. It has all of the graphic impact of a stencil without any of the mess. Plus, it’s easy to remove if you get tired of the design. Choose from two styles in 14 colors to customize your own. Available from sunnys-paint.com.