Putting Pattern on a Pine Chest of Drawers - When To Stop?

I have owned this pine chest of drawers for longer than I can remember and it has travelled all over London with me.
I still love it and didn't want to paint it, but felt like it was in need of a bit of reinvention and so I set to work my stencils and a little pot of paint

It wasn't clear to me at the start how much pattern to add, so I just began adding borders and building up the pattern slowly until it looked right.





The stencils were covered with a spray adhesive on the back and then using the smallest amount of paint on a bristle stencil brush, I pushed the paint through the stencils in a small circular motion. Any 'holes' in the corners were filled in using a small motif from the stencil.
It's a good idea to have a damp cloth or baby wipes nearby so that any mistakes can quickly be wiped of the wood.

















These were my tools for the job





It was such a pleasure stenciling this piece that I had to force myself to stop, but I think the balance is right on it now (although to be honest, I can't guarantee that it isn't going to end up completely covered in pattern!)





If you would like to see a more detailed guide on how to achieve this look, take a look a my blog post.
To see the stencils take a look here:-
http://www.nicolettetabram.co.uk/product/rajasthan-border-stencil






Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/14390687/putting-pattern-on-a-pine-chest-of-drawers-when-to-stop site