Outdoor Playhouse Makeover featuring Royal Design Studio Stencil

Attending the SNAP conference earlier this year was an amazing experience.  I knew well in advance I would be attending the workshop “Get Your Stencil On!” presented by Royal Design Studio.  Their stencils are absolutely amazing and I’ve seen so many gorgeous projects from talented bloggers.  Prior to SNAP I was extremely intimidated by the idea of stenciling anything in my home.  I had a horrible experience previously and I vowed to either 1) never stencil again, or 2) learn how to do it correctly.  I am so grateful for the wonderful hands on presentation at SNAP because it bolstered my confidence and put me back to thinking I was capable of using a stencil.  Royal Design Studio generously gave every conference attendee a stencil to keep.  They had so many great options (see their extensive collection here) and I was very excited to bring home the Granada Border stencil.  I had literally hundreds of ideas for my new stencil.  I finally made the decision to use it on my daughter’s outdoor playhouse.

Several Arizona summers caused the playhouse to be in desperate need of restoration.  The sun had completely faded the original color.

Before using a water seal stain on the house I pulled out my stencil to add some pretty details.  I referenced my notes from the conference and looked at a few of the Royal Design Studio online tutorials before I started working with the stencil.  Once I actually started painting, the project went very quickly with no problems.

Supplies:
-Stencil
-Painters Tape
-Paint (Valspar exterior paint used on this project)
-Brush (I used a Shur-Line Classic Paint Edger)

I began by taping the stencil directly onto the playhouse.

I gently placed my edger into the paint and then dabbed off all excess paint with a paper towel.

Applying the paint was easy!

 I used the stencil to paint three sides of the house.

The paint took less than one hour to completely dry.  Next I used Thompson’s Waterproofing Stain to cover the entire playhouse.

The painting was done but the playhouse still needed a few changes.  The wooden door knob needed to be replaced so I took my daughter to Hobby Lobby and let her pick out a fun drawer pull.  She picked a big blue flower for the door.

The benches on the front of the house also needed a splash of color so I covered the seats with outdoor fabric.  The fabric is simply stapled to the benches and can be easily changed later if necessary.

My daughter was most excited about the hummingbird feeder I added to the front.

The window on the back of the house had a perfect space for flowers.

Lastly, I went out to find perfect stepping stones for the house.  Instead of real stones I found rubber stepping stones at Lowe’s.  They were very inexpensive and I love that they are made from recycled tires!

We started with a weathered shack and ended up with a cute playhouse! 

I’m so happy I finally conquered my fear of stencils.  If you’ve been dreaming of a using a stencil in your home, now is the perfect time to start your project! 

I’m so excited to share that Royal Design Studio will be giving away a stencil to one of you very soon.  Be sure to follow along so you don’t miss the giveaway!

I’m linking this post here.