It's Not Luxury If You Don't Use It

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for fascinating ways to use stencils and molds to create a high end looking home on a budget! And watch this blog and the website for updates as to what I do with my home in Northern Idaho!

It's not luxury if you don't use it!

When I was little, I was fascinated with the old black and white movies of the 40's that my Mother would watch. I loved the houses with their decorative plaster, the grand bedrooms, the long flowing gowns the women would wear and the elaborate table settings in these films. I was smitten from an early age!


 I always dreamed of candelabras on my dinner table, linen napkins, fine china and exquisite silver. I dreamed of beautiful dresses in my closet, wonderful and unusual jewelry and fur rugs on my floors.


As I've aged, as I've collected these gorgeous articles of the finer life, (even if they came from thrift stores!), I also them! 


Where most people keep their fine china hidden away on an upper shelf in the cupboard , keep the linens tucked away for use only at Christmas, and the real pearls in the back end of their jewelry boxes, I choose to use mine on a daily basis.


My thinking is: "Why did I buy them if I am not going to enjoy them"?


For years, I went through the "silver" stage, collecting silver serving pieces from thrift stores and I now have a most luscious serving set for my table. And I use them!


There is something to eating from your fine china and digging out the special dishes. It makes you "feel" special! It makes even the simplest dinner, somehow more wonderful. Using those fork rests, pouring your coffee from your lovely coffee decanter, sipping your tea or coffee from those beautiful cups you have tucked away. All of it makes you feel like you are living the high life, even when your budget is for mac and cheese.


So just as I believe in making even the most modest home something elegant and beautiful, I also believe in using the beautiful things I have in my life as a reward for all my hard work, for all toil and worry and sweat and tears. It brings me joy.

Raised Plaster Wall Frames Add Interest and Detail to Any Wall

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for hundreds of Raised Plaster and Painting stencils along with great ideas to use them creatively in your home.

Raised Plaster Wall Frames Add Interest and Detail to Any Wall.

I've long loved plaster frames on the walls to not only create more interest and architectural detail, but to also provide a framed area for paintings or photographs and even simple faux finishes, cast plaster ornament arrangements or small murals.

Any of the straight border or molding stencil designs on my website will accomplish this. 

For instance, my husband's music studio had blank walls and I wanted to do something spectacular to dress them up for him.

I plastered large columns with our Life-sized Column Stencil on the wall and then created raised plaster frames between them, using my Raised Plaster Ornate Frame Stencil set.

I plastered the frames and let them dry.

Inside the frames, I then hand painted sheet music over the top of a faux marble finish and stenciled my Violin stencil and Guitar stencil in the center of different frames. 

Everyone from our house appraiser to the many music clients he's had over the years just raved about the walls, running their hands over the raised designs in amazement.

Consider adding raised plaster frame treatments to large, empty walls, thin frames that run vertically down the sides of your fireplace, over your mantle or on the ceiling. Any of the straight border or molding stencils work well for this application.

Click the links below to see great stencils that work well for frames.

Raised Plaster Border and Molding Stencils

Two of my most favorite for creating wall frames are:

Raised Plaster Ornate Frame Stencil

Classic Border/Molding Stencil

The degree of ornateness is simply dictated by which stencil design you choose.

Creating Life-sized Trees on Your Walls is Easy!

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for lots of tips and tricks to creating a beautiful home along with hundreds of stencil and plaster mold designs to suit your needs.

Large, lovely tree designs inside the home has become quite the rage for the past few years! And I love it!


Where they used to simply be part of a large wall mural, now, tree designs are being used as a single focal point.


Our Raised Plaster Aspen Tree Stencil has been used to create that single focal point, but also to literally cover the walls in a forest of trees! And every time someone sends me a new picture of what they did with that stencil, I'm so amazed at the different variations.


Some people, such as Kitty Ariza (one of my favorite and most creative customers) decided to do an interesting little twist on my Aspen Tree Stencil. Instead of adding the branch of leaves stencil, she opted to glue metal leaves to the tree that she found at a craft store. How cool is that???

The look is fabulous!

The tree actually begins down in the stairwell and climbs all the way up to the upper ceiling!
I also love the beige tone she used on the wall which sets off the gold tone of the leaves perfectly! The slight shading on the right side of the trunk helps to give the raised stencil design even more depth.


So if you have a blank wall space in your home that needs something grand, consider this design option.