I mentioned The Painted House here before and I just couldn't resist having a go of their patterned paint rollers. We have wonky cob walls in our house and although they are lovely and characterful, I've always wanted to have at least one room with a bit of pattern on the walls. Cob and wallpaper aren't a great match (plus the papers I like tend to be prohibitively expensive) so I was extra keen to give these rollers a try. I used design no.4 on our pale blue bedroom walls. It is a very simple design with a 1930's-style leaf pattern. I added the design in white, over the existing blue and I am so delighted with the results! It was extremely easy to do; the whole room took just under two hours and now the walls have a subtle vintage pattern that suits the cottage perfectly. I can see that these patterned rollers could become quite addictive. I am already trying to think of other places to paint, and the great thing is that they are reusable so you can use them an unlimited number of times. You could use them to create printed fabrics, wrapping papers and cards. I also think that they would make a great tool for kids craft activities. Patterned cardboard playhouse anyone?
The Painted House
Inspired by Charleston farmhouse, I once spent a considerable amount of time designing a stencil for my bedroom walls. For some reason, I never actually got around to applying the stencil, but it is still a project which I hope to return to one day. I wish I had known about The Painted House back then as if I had, I would almost certainly have patterned walls by now. Claire Bosanquet stumbled across these unusual patterned paint rollers in a market in Romania and was so excited she bought the whole lot. She has now adjusted the traditional rollers for use on both walls and fabric and sells a choice of eleven different designs in her etsy shop. I love this idea and would definitely like to have a go with one. Perhaps those bedroom walls will get done after all.