Getting crafty

We really haven't had to do too many room overhauls in the new house, though we did tackle the dining room about a month ago. After completing that transition I started looking for a sideboard but couldn't find one I liked. Then I came across a blog where someone stenciled the top of a chest and I really liked the combination of the modern pattern with the traditional piece of furniture. I bought a "craft sized" stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils (http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/) in the Rabat pattern. There were so many to choose from I had a heard time deciding. I've never stenciled anything before so I watched the tutorials provided on their website and then braved myself today for the project. I didn't do anything special to prepare the old table we have had in the basement. I figured it was distressed enough to not need sanding, plus I wanted the dark finish to not be marred where the stencil wouldn't cover it. I'll admit I wasn't really sure how to place the stencil the first time...go to the edge and then have to fill in at the end or just put the pattern all the way to the end of the table? I went with the latter, but now I think I was supposed to fill in at the end. The only other snafu I encountered was realizing that I needed to wait for the paint to dry before placing the stencil again, since you have to overlap the stencil in order to continue the pattern. The website said you don't need to wait, which might be true on walls, but since wood doesn't absorb the paint, it is necessary to let the first print dry. Here's the during:

Here's the finished table. I still need to put a clear poly on top to protect it and then find some accessories, but for less than $30, I was able to turn a too-scratched-up-to-use table into a really unique sideboard!

I'm thinking that I'd like to use a wall-sized stencil from Cutting Edge to paint an accent wall in our master bedroom. A tad more intimidating, though!