Rachel and Helen regularly open up their stunning homes and run tours of the house once a month, where visitors can view 13 of the
stencilled rooms.
"Often these patterns are
stencilled in a shade lighter than the background colour.
Their home is a showcase for their designs and the subject of Helen's book The
Stencilled Home (Batsford pounds 19.99).
To finish, Anna painted on some
stencilled squares in a mosaic pattern round the base, using the same smaller design around the top, with an Aztec design cut from mylar stencil paper to fill in the gaps between the squares.
You could update boxes, chests and containers with
stencilled garlands and motifs.
She's also
stencilled a long silk wall hanging, which demonstrates how fabrics can be decorated too.
To make her
stencilled designs stand out against the blue walls, first Anna cut out circles using mylar, a clear plastic stencil paper.
"Obviously, not everyone will be able to afford the plastered wall in their homes ( this is strictly for luxury properties ( but the wall
stencilled with the iridescent paint compares well on price to posh wallpapers.
The problem is that once you've
stencilled or stamped the walls, trying to mix 'n' match fabrics for co-ordinating soft furnishings can create a mishmash of clashing colours and patterns.
All this, best-selling book The
Stencilled Home, a newly released video of the same name, not to mention interviews, teaching, features galore and of course their day job - how have Helen and Michael turned a once humble hobby into a global phenomenon?
By now, the beige and brown bathroom was bubbling with colour, but Anna still had a few more paint tricks up her sleeve, starting with some mosaic tiles which were
stencilled randomly round the walls.
And as Anna explained, if you want to wear your heart on your sleeve - or your T-shirt - by adding fabric medium to the gold, black and Venetian red paints, then ironing over the
stencilled design, cupid will still look cute after a 40 degree machine wash.
