Accent Wall Art

When you want to add a little added touch to your space, the most cost effective and influential way is paint. Painting an accent wall can be very efficient and rewarding. All you need is a little ScotchBlue's painters tape and 3-4 paint colors and you are ready to go. These 4 simple steps are a great way to create an art piece simply by painting a wall.

Step 1: Project or hand draw your geometric design onto the wall with the tape. I normally projecting a few different degrees to get a variety of angles. This will create a unique pattern to the space. I ALWAYS use a name brand painter's tape. It really will benefit you come time to remove the tape, trust me. I was able to use my architectural design software (Revit) to create the pattern to scale but you can easily use Powerpoint to create a design basis with lines and angles. I used a handheld projector from BestBuy and projected it on the wall to get my pattern started. I also recommend turning off the lights, this will create a better visual. (TIP - depending on the size of the wall, not all of the angles will be shown against the wall so I used it as a template to carry the angle straight off the wall edge). If you are adventurist and not OCD like me, this would be perfect to create free hand angles and shapes. I love to create shapes within the angles and it is also pleasing to the eye to form visual shapes. Make sure to tape off all baseboards, outlets and architectural features while creating the design in tape. This will allow for straight, cleaner lines when painting.

Step 2: As you begin laying on the tape, firmly press all edges to the wall where no gapes or corners are slightly raised. I suggest having multiple sizes and angles creating the design unless the aspect of the design is to be symmetric then I suggest level the angles with a carpenter's level, T-square and speed square). In this case I was going for the abstract angle design so I used the projector above. This allows you to make certain colors prominent and create a three dimensional effect, see my template above. I then decided on which shapes I wanted to create a higher visual aspect and pulled hues from existing fabrics and finishes. I really wanted to make this wall a focal point and this is one of your best options. Bring paint samples to your house and lay them out in the light and against existing furniture, they need to pull the correct tones to compliment these features.

Step 3: Deciding which paint color you want can be overwhelming so I always recommend buying small samples to prep on a small portion bottom of the wall. Next you will need to choose which colors need to be adjacent to each other. Also look into the angles and make sure none of the colors will be right next to each other, (TIP - keep in mind they will not coincidentally touch since there will be the tape size in between, I recommend 2" tape, which will be the existing wall paint) but it will create better drastic contrast to have the similar colors farther apart from each other. I always recommend Sherwin Williams latex paint, their quality of paint blows the competition away and the colors are far in between architectural paint. Make sure you also grab paint stirrers along with thin rollers and a small paint brush for touch ups at the paint store. Paint each shape a different color. Always make sure that the few colors selected look goo against each other, they can look very different in the store than painted right up against each other. When finished let paint dry 4-8 hours.

Step 4: Once the paint is dry, peel off each strip of tape carefully. Pull tape at a 45 degree angle to make sure you don't bring wall paint with it. If you are having trouble with the tape coming off use a razor blade against the line of tape to cute tape from paint. (TIP - try not to leave paint and tape on the wall to dry for more than days). Once all the tape is pulled off, use your small paint brush or q-tips to clean up any lines that might have been blurred. Dab a very small amount of paint so that the shape does not get disfigured. Step back when looking for final approval, you will never get every single detail perfect! Check back for more DIY projects to update your space, also take a look at my remodeling projects.