Stenciled shells, stars, waves renew shabby bathroom door

I live in an old house with wavy floors and walls that aren’t straight. I wouldn’t have it any other way. But why I was content to live for more years than I care to say with the back of a bathroom door that looked like it had a terminal case of psoriasis is beyond me.

One day last April when I was beset with more energy than I knew what to do with and spring fever was trilling like peepers within me, I decided the time had come. I was going to operate on that door and give it the rejuvenated surface I deserved to look at.

I knew there was no hope of matching the blue paint that was already on the rest of the woodwork. But a less-than-perfect paint match has never left me faint of decorating heart. A quick trip to my cellarway yielded a sponge paintbrush and a can of blue paint a shade darker than the woodwork. I retrieved a putty knife and paint scraper from my tool drawer in the kitchen, and set to work to remove the scabrous flakes of old paint – dirty white, ghastly gold, icky green, more menacing white. I knew I’d never get it all off, but I removed the paint that was ready to fall off. I didn’t care that I wasn’t doing the job “right.” All I wanted was immediate relief from the eyesore the back of that door presented.

After I’d painted the door the new blue, I stepped back to survey my handiwork. It was a major improvement already. But I wanted the door to make me grin every time I looked at it. I decided to stencil it with seashore motifs. A bit obvious, maybe, but hey, it works for me.

The next night after I got home from work, I retrieved stencils and craft paints from the dark recesses of a cupboard. I had stencil brushes I could have used, but I thought it would be more interesting to use an ordinary cellulose sponge cut into small cubes, one for each color I would use – cream, pale yellow, gold, soft blue and forest green. Using the sponge gave the stenciling a blotted look I liked.

At the top of the door above the central panel, I stenciled a scallop shell in cream. On each side of that I added a pale yellow star and beside that a soft blue wave motif, then another yellow star. I added a cream-colored nautilus shell in each upper corner of the door.

Below the central scallop shell, I made a long row of green horizontal bars in groups of five, leaving a space between each group. In those spaces I stenciled smaller scallop shells.

On the recessed door panels on either side of the central panel, I stenciled stars of various sizes in pale yellow and gold. It made me think of the Milky Way on a clear summer night in June.

Moving to the crosspiece of the door about two-thirds of the way down, I stenciled a sailboat with a green hull, white sails and pale blue wave motifs on either side. And in the two smaller recessed panels at the bottom of the door I stenciled two large, pale yellow stars.

I think the entire project took two hours to do, including scraping and painting the door. It didn’t cost me anything because I already had all of the tools and materials I needed.

That door smiles now, and so do I every time I look at it.

Stencils and other supplies are available at local craft and department stores. How-to books on stenciling techniques are as near as your local library or bookstore. Online, www.walltowallstencils.com offers stenciling tips. Try it. You’ll like it.

Snippets

. A reader from Winterport e-mailed that her friend Rachel Spaulding of Brown University writes a blog at http://www.licketyknit.com/ that knitters will enjoy.

. Adorn, a new magazine for those who stitch and craft, has been launched. Visit local book and fabric stores, or go to www.adornmag.com to learn more.

. Quilter’s World magazine’s October issue features a design, Forest Giant, by quilt designer Connie Rand of Lincoln. Visit www.Quilters-World.com to obtain information.

. September is National Sewing Month. Share your knowledge with someone who wants to learn. Visit www.sew-whats-new.com to read what seamstresses have to say about various aspects of sewing.