September 4th, 2012

Epic Room Makeover Returns!

Last year, the fabulously talented Mandi Gubler of Vintage Revivals invited Royal Design Studio Stencils to be part of an inspiring project called the Epic Room Makeover 2011.  Haven’t heard of it yet? The Epic Room Makeover concept invites bloggers to submit a very “needy” room in their home with the hope (and hope includes all manner of creative begging and pleading) that they will be in the running to win the prize of a very merry whirlwind Mandi makeover.

Epic Room Makeover with stencil

Moroccan wall stencil Mandi Gubler

Last year’s winner received an amazing makeover filled with clever projects, including this wall stenciling with our Endless Moorish Circles Stencil.

And guess what? The contest is back and continuing to raise the design-blogging bar. Royal Design Studio and our designer stencils are in wonderful company again, THIS time with Lowe’s, HomeGoods, 3M, and Krylon in sponsoring this makeover that will be given away to one lucky reader with a room in major need of a facelift.

Mandi Gubler Vintage Revivals Epic Room Makeover

Do you have a room that could use a Cinderella treatment? There’s still time to enter. Head over to the Epic Room Makeover Giveaway Contest 2012 page to read all the deets and submit your entry. Deadline for submissions is September 6! Even if you don’t enter, you can still have fun perusing the room entries with titles such as “Master Disaster” and “Not Smitten with My Kitchen“. Then follow along with the contest to vote for the finalists and see the results of Mandi’s Magic! We can’t wait to see what this year’s EPIC-ness entails!

February 19th, 2012

All in the Family (Circle)

Growing up, we always had Family Circle magazines around the house. In fact, my Mom still has a subscription. Now, I’ll admit, it is no longer a “must read” magazine for me the way that Elle Decor, Veranda, and House Beautiful are, but this month’s issue is one I HAD to pick up!

You see, there is a lovely little furniture stencil project in there written by the talented (and welcome NEW discovery for me) Suzonne Sterling of the wonderful Urban Comfort blog.

furniture stencil-Easter Lattice

Suzonne used our Small Eastern Lattice stencil on a metal coffee table. Because this particular stencil requires you to paint in the negative spaces around the trellis pattern, Suzonne basecoated the table in a gold metallic paint first. She then did the stenciling in the brown color, so that the actual trellis pattern shines through. Suzonne posted about this project on her own blog here and you can find more detailed instructions also on the Family Circle website.

You will probably want to set aside some time to peruse Urban Comfort. It’s full of inspiring DIY ideas. I particularly liked this idea of creating a Winter Butterfly Garden and think this would be so, so pretty on a mantle of as a dining table centerpiece!

She also recently did a wonderful post on the upcoming Annie Sloan U.S. tour. As a stockist for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I gotta love that one too!!

February 1st, 2012

Pier One Does Stencils!

One of my favorite stores to drop in for color and current trend inspiration is Pier One. And I’ll also admit to an occasional purchase or two.

Casablanca wall trellis stencil from Royal Design Studio

So exciting then when blogging friend Beth Hunter from Home Stories A to Z pointed out that our Casablanca Trellis wall stencil was used in one of the room beauty shots in their latest catalog! Beth spotted it right away because she had used the same design on her stenciled curtain project. You can see it there on the yellow/green accent wall. Nice choice!

Chain link modern wall stencil from Royal Design Studio

And then a few more pages in I spied our Chain Link modern wall stencil used in yet another shot. The tone-on-tone gold treatment is one of my long time favorite classic  colorways to use with stencils and I love how fresh and updated it looks with the brighter blue and green! Pier One-you rock!  I am now an even BIGger fan! You can see the catalog online here.

November 15th, 2011

Look Ma! Another Cover!

I received a pretty little gift in the mail the other day…a copy of the newest Do it Yourself magazine from Better Homes and Gardens. My first thought: Gee, that’s a very bright, happy cover. Second thought: Gee, the pattern on that wall looks very familiar. Third thought: (lightbulb moment) Awesome! That’s our very own Berry Romantic Wall stencil.

Royal Design Stencil-Do it Yourself

We had sent the stencil out by request from a project editor sometime last spring, which, of course, I completely forgot about so it was a great surprise! You may remember this post about our Moroccan stencils making the cover of Better Homes and Gardens-equally thrilling!

Floral Damask Wall Stencil

I noticed one cool feature where they had sent old, ratty furniture pieces out to various DIY bloggers for some rehab, including one of my favs-the cute couple from Young House Love, John and Sherry.

That, in turn, reminded me that I should mention the fabulous wall stencil project they did with our Large Feathered Damask stencil. It looks super elegant in cream and yellow on soft gray. Just a LITTLE more understated than the cover above. That’s the awesomeness of stencils-you can have it your way!

Anyhoo, The whole Do it Yourself  magazine is full of fun projects-with tons and tons of patterns thrown in, so check it out in the check out line! Their website is pretty cool too!

April 13th, 2011

High Style, High Gloss

Are you loving all the digital design magazines that are popping up everywhere these days?? Personally, I prefer the feel of paper over plastic keyboards, but I find it exciting that so much design inspiration is coming through amongst the email clutter I receive daily. I was SUPER excited last week, when I got the email announcing the latest edition of High Gloss magazine. This is the second issue of this magazine, which is the brainchild of Paloma Contrares of the blog, La Dolce Vita.

RDS-Stencil-in-High-Gloss-Magazine-cover

While quickly scrolling the current issue and guzzling coffee, I nearly choked when I saw one of my original stencil designs, Chez Sheik, featured on a page spread called “Get the Look” of  Martyn Lawrence Bullard.

RDS-Stencil-in-High-Gloss-Magazine

Now, I had previously not heard of Mr. Lawrence-Bullard (though I have probably seen his work multiple times!), and I dare say it’s quite possible he has still never heard of me, but I am certainly happy for the association-however small. He will be one of the design stars on the upcoming Bravo show, Million Dollar Decorators (which looks like wicked fun!)  Besides designing rooms for celebs such as Elton John and Cher, he has designed a seriously awesome furniture line, as well as fabrics, rugs, and candles. I had a grand old time looking through his company website at projects like these…

Martyn Lawrence Bullard stencil

Yes, that’s a pink and white stenciled ceiling with a red rug. I especially loved seeing this as I am planning on doing a deep pink ceiling in my home office that already has an alcove done in deep metallic red tones. More favs….

Martyn Lawrence Bullard 8

I had wanted to do big sliding doors in my work studio, but didn’t. Something like this “would have” been nice!

Martyn Lawrence Bullard 7

I’m not sure if this is wallpaper or stenciling, but it’s divine and Cheryl Tiegs agrees!

Martyn Lawrence Bullard 6

Amazing embroidery and the hanging tapestry reminds me of the black and gold mural we did in Marrakech.

Martyn Lawrence Bullard 5

Simply put. I want that arched carving and mirrored wall!

Martyn Lawrence Bullard 4

This is the same wall pattern from above. Check out the chest here.

Martyn Lawrence Bullard 2

I could TOTALLY curl up with a book on this couch-and I love nuts!

Martyn Lawrence Bullard 1

Not many people would enjoy this much pattern in a room-but I’m not one of THOSE people. Hope you enjoyed! Do you have a favorite?

February 12th, 2011

Stencil Giveaway/MadebyGirl

WooHoo!! Royal Design Studio is sponsoring a stencil giveaway over on the lovely Made by Girl Blog!

MadebyGirl

Head on over there and get all the details and follow the directions for the chance to win a FREE stencil of YOUR choice, valued up to $50. The drawing will be held February 18, so leave your entry comment SOON! Jen has featured some of our latest stencil designs, such as…..

wall-stencil-moroccan

Our new Large Marrakech Trellis stencil,

wall-stencil-modern-stencil

our modern, graphic Endless Circle Lattice stencil,

wall-stencil-moroccan-stenc

and our new Uzbek Suzani allover stencil. You may recognize this last design, as it was first done here on my first painting adventure to Marrakesh at Peacock Pavilions. For that project, we used very large Modello masking stencils. My friend Debbie Hayes later used the same design in an elegant brown and gold bathroom shown here. This new mylar stencil is a bit scaled down from that but it’s still quite a grand size and makes a fabulous bold statement, I think!

madebygirl-2

Besides running the very popular Made by Girl blog, Jen also has an online Made by Girl store where she sells her original (and very clever) artwork on posters, canvases, and cards.

madebygirl-1

I particularly love the typography posters where she highlights letters to spell names and sayings. I would just like to say thank you to Jen for hooking us, and YOU, up with this fun giveaway. Good luck everyone!!!

January 22nd, 2011

Martha and Me

Martha-Stewart-Living_Feb-2011_Stencils

It’s always Martha, Martha, Martha!! She’s a purveyor of gracious living that has helped to shape the psyche of multiple generations of woman, a cultural icon, an accomplished, creative woman with business nerves of steel. She’s served time (very graciously, I might add), and served perfect desserts. Oh, and she also has this magazine…..Martha Stewart Living…and the February 2011 issue features a lovely furniture application of my original Ribbon Damask Stencil, available in two sizes through Royal Design Studio. How cool is that?!

Stencil-Martha-Stewart-Livi

The Small Ribbon Damask stencil was used very “smartly” on the furniture piece above for the magazine shoot.

Ribbon-Damask-Stencil

This easy, breezy stencil pattern looks good repeated formally, as on the chest of drawers, or just scattered in creative random abandon across a wall. Mix in some different colors for fun layered effects, as shown here with our version of the Large Ribbon Damask stencil .

So, what do you think of the vignette the stylist created above? I like it. It’s different, but I feel like I want to change something about it. Maybe the drawer knobs?? Not sure….either way, thank you Martha Stewart Living!!