Lion Head Trompe Loeil Stencils Doors

I decided to use a Lion Head Door Knocker Trompe Loeil Stencils to dress them up.

By the way, Trompe Loeil, (French for ‘trick the eye’), is an art technique involving realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the objects appear in three dimensions, instead of actually being a two-dimensional painting.

Back to the Doors:

First, I glued thin strips of molding in rectangles to give the illusion that the doors have inset panels (similar to old fashioned doors) and then painted white.

It’s best to remove the doors, take off all the hardware and work on them lying across a flat surface. I had them stretched across a couple of saw horses. You’ll find when gluing the wood molding down you will have a few areas that want to rise away from the surface. Carefully weigh these areas down with heavy items like tools or old books (whatever you can find that won’t get ruined if it gets a little glue on it).

After the glue dried I painted the doors. I did it this way because the paint fills in the creases and seams between the wood and gives it more of a timeless look. You’ll find that this step alone can bring so much more class to a room, but wait that’s just the start…

I added Lock Plate Trompe Loeil Stencils behind each door knob and a couple of Lion Head Door Knockers for fun using some faux finish stencils. I left the doors lying flat because it’s so much easier to work that way. You don’t have a door swaying back and forth while you’re trying to paint. That could create a mess.

Each of these stencils had three overlays (see below for more information). They came from a book of stencils so I copied them on a copy machine so that the book was kept intact. If you need your image to be a different size you can resize them on the copy machine. This is one of the many advantages to downloadable or paper stencils.

Before cutting out the stencil openings, cover each page with a clear protective coating like clear shelf liner.

Line up your stencils where you want them and start adding the paint. For more on the basic techniques of stenciling visit How To Stencil. There you’ll find out more about the stippling technique and ways to keep paint from smearing under the stencil. You’ll also find information on using multi layer stencils.

When you are finished, hang your doors back up, stand back and admire! Voila!

Trompe Loeil Stencils Lion Head Closeup

Here is a close up of the painted Lock Plate Trompe Loeil Stencils. Again, notice the door molding and the shadows they produce. It’s a great effect that’s inexpensive.

These are two very creative craft patterns that can help you bring a sense of Old World Charm to your room.

If would like to try this project, you can find the Trompe Loeil Stencils in the Antique Door Hardware Book of Stencils as a download (so you can get your project started now) at our Stencil Designs Store or if you don’t mind waiting on the mail man to deliver a book in print go to our Stencil Pattern Books in Print Store Front.

Antique Door Hardware Book Cover

You’ll have fun watching the reactions of visitors and showing off the Trompe Loeil Stencils Doors in your house. I hope you are inspired to create some great works of art with stencils!

Happy Stenciling,

Penny

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