Add a beautiful OM design wall stencil to the Pooja room (prayer room) makeover during the Fall 2021 One Room Challenge

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During the fifth week of the Fall 2021 One Room Challenge, I added a beautiful OM design using a wall stencil to the accent wall.

If you aren’t familiar with what the One Room Challenge (ORC) is, it’s a biannual interior design event hosted by Linda at Calling it Home. There are 20 featured designers and others with a blog or an Instagram account can participate as a guest. Everyone gets 8 weeks to makeover a room of their choice and share their progress weekly.

You can see all the featured designers here and all the guest participants here.

The WALL STENCIL

If you have seen the design for the Pooja Room that I shared in week 1, you know that there is an OM Stencil on the accent wall.

Om is supposed to be the first sound of the universe and it’s sacred in Hindu culture.

What could be more appropriate than this in a Pooja room?

The miracle of technology and the Internet have made it possible for someone like me, who is sitting so far away from home get something so cultural in a matter of days.

I found this beautiful Om stencil online and I immediately knew that It would be a wonderful choice.

I have done an entire stencil wall in my office before and so thankfully, I had the knowledge and experience under my belt, unlike the wallpaper.

That’s not to say I didn’t make mistakes! I made some and will share them in a bit so that you don’t make the same mistakes as me.

Let’s look at the step-by-step process of how to add the beautiful OM Mandala Design using the wall stencil.

THE PREP

I knew from the get-go, that this stencil needed to be painted in gold! Therefore, I decided to use the same paint that I used on the accent wall trim so that they match.

I started by marking where the stencil should go. Since there will be a 5 feet Pooja Mandir in the center, The “Om” design needs to go right above it.

The stencil that I purchased is 35 X 35 inches. So I marked the center of the wall and measured 18 inches on either side.

Then I marked 5 feet of the ground (where the mandir will go) and measured the distance from there to the top of the wall to get the center. Then marked 18 inches on the top and bottom from that point.

I marked all these measurements with painter’s tape so that I can easily position the stencil.

SPRAY THE WALL STENCIL with ADHESIVE

Ideally, this is when you would attach the stencil to the wall using painter’s tape and start painting.

But I am working with a textured wall remember? Adding just painter’s tape to hold the stencil in place won’t cut it.

Therefore, I sprayed the back of the stencil with this adhesive. It’s tacky enough to help the stencil stick to the wall while I am painting, but once the painting is done, the stencil comes right off. There is no residue left behind from the adhesive.

I then stuck the stencil to the wall where the markings were and added painter’s tape as well to hold it in place while I painted.

PAINTING

Here is where I tell you to do as I say and not do as I do! Ideally, these are the steps I should have taken.

• Paint a base coat the same color as the wall and let it dry a bit. This prevents any bleed-through
• Next, add 1-2 coats of yellow as a base for the gold paint
• Paint 2-3 coats of gold till the desired finish is achieved
• Remove the stencil

All of the painting can be done with a roller or a stencil brush since it’s just one color all over.

Instead, I chose to paint the gold directly once the stencil was up. My brain was telling me not to do this, but it was in the middle of the night and I had no patience to work with multiple colors. Big Mistake!

Not only did I have to paint nearly 8-10 coats of gold, but I had to clean up the bleed-through because of the textured wall. The clean-up took a lot more time and effort than if I had done it the right way.

If you decide to do this, please follow all of the steps listed above and make it easy on yourself!

THE RESULT

Although I learned things the hard way, the result was breathtaking! It turned out exactly as I had imagined! In the end, my efforts were worth it, don’t you think?

Here is the result! I am loving this wall with the beautiful stencil on it! Let me know what you think.

There’s more for the coming weeks. I am also building a Pooja Mandir and two small pedestal tables for the Pooja room. I’ll have separate posts for that.

Please do join me on the exciting journey as I transform our prayer room into a beautiful and rich sanctuary!

Follow me on Instagram for more detailed and day-to-day updates on all my projects.