Using Varnish on Your Walls

Posted by Kristin Abraham Sep 19, 2007

Today I'll be stenciling seashells and a couple seahorses onto a bathroom wall, but instead of using traditional stencil paints I'm going to use varnish. At first this might seem a little hard to picture but when done right it is a really beautiful technique which adds depth to your painted surface.

Varnished stencils obviously don't give you the color variations or depth and realism that regular stencil paints do but it will create an outline of an item. And this is where a little vision is necessary. Simple shapes are best when using this technique as an intricate stencil simply gets lost and becomes a shiny blob. I actually create my own stencils and cut the shapes out of that craft foam paper that is sold in the kid's section of most craft stores. This way I get the shape I want and its very inexpensive.

If you're going to use a varnish technique you need to paint the walls with flat paint. Using a rubberized paint with a flat finish will give you the durability and washability you want and the non-reflective surface essential for this technique. By using varnish on top of a flat paint you get a highly glossed finish which really makes stencils stand out, it also deepens and enriches the original color making it even more vibrant. This is more visible with dark paints than light ones.

If stencils aren't really your thing but this technique intrigues you, try doing simple stripes, the result is a very classy look that's actually pretty easy to accomplish.