Browsing through Pinterest for inspiration on how to paint our walls, I came across various pictures featuring a statement/accent wall and I thought by myself: I want this... and I can do this! Since we're going for a white-and-grey-neutral color scheme on our walls with colorful decorations throughout the entire apartment, a statement wall is the perfect way to spice things up and give our interior a modern Pinterest-ready look. And the best part of all: painting a (triangle) statement wall is actually easier than I thought it would be. You will need a couple of days to finish this project but it is so worth it!
Make a plan
First thing on your to do list when you want to paint a statement wall is to make a plan. You could just go ahead and start painting but chances are you won't like it and repainting a wall white just to start over is not very efficient. Like Benjamin Franklin said: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
· Start by taking a picture of the wall you want to paint.
· Change the wall color to the base color you're going to use (if you're wall isn't already painted).
· Add in interior elements that will break your wall. It doesn't need to look perfect but it will give you a general idea of how the room will look. In our design I added in a bed and a nightstand to get it as close to the finished room as possible.
· Finish your design by trial and error.
Making our design took me almost a week. The first design (on the left) was the fourth or fifth I made but the first one that felt right. But looking at it again and again, Ruben suggested we add in more triangles to balance the colors and the white of the wall. So we worked on it some more and finished the second and final design (on the right) together.
Tools you'll need for this project
· painter's tape specifically made for taping over already painted surfaces
· 1 small round paintbrush (you can wash it in between colors)
· 1 small paint roller (5cm) for every color family (these are not so easy to clean perfectly)
· paint in colors of your choice
Divide, tape and conquer
Once you are satisfied with your design, figure out which triangles (or other shapes in your design) you can paint at the same time. What? Let me explain. Triangles that are very close to each other are impossible to paint at the same time. Why? The painter's tape you use to outline and shape your triangles on the wall will overlap if they're too close together. So as you can see in the picture below, only half of our triangles were taped on the wall for the first painting round. We managed to paint the entire design in two rounds, two coats each, but if you have a design where the triangles are closer together, two rounds of painting probably won't be enough.
Taping the triangles on the wall is the fun part. If you make a mistake you can easily go back and re-try. I recommend you use painter's tape specifically made for taping over already painted surfaces. With this kind of tape you're less likely to rip off any base paint when removing it.
Fear not - paint away!
After the taping comes the painting and this might be a somewhat stressful moment. Once you start painting there's no way back to that perfect white wall other than .. painting it white all over again. But there's no reason to fear. If you're prepared, your wall will turn out exactly the way you want it to.
The only thing you really need to know before painting is how to paint straight lines using painter's tape. Always paint from the outside to the inside like shown in the picture below. Do not paint along the length of the painter's tape because if you do, paint will seep underneath the tape and your straight line won't be so straight anymore.
Step by step
· paint the first coat of round 1 with your small round paintbrush (outside to inside on the edges!)
· wait for it to dry completely (5 - 8 hours, this information will be on the packaging of your paint)
· do not remove the painter's tape in between coats
· paint the second coat of round 1 with your small paint roller (outside to inside on the edges but all final strokes in the same direction for the best result)
· remove the tape right after you finish painting the second coat: don't wait to remove the tape until the paint is dry, if you do, there's a chance you'll rip off patches of paint
· wait for the second coat to dry completely and then start over for another round of painting
I made a mistake, help!
Even though you're painting calmly and slowly, sometimes your brush goes a little too far over the painter's tape onto the white wall on the other side. Don't worry. Stop painting for a second, take an old (but clean!) kitchen towel and wet one corner of the towel thoroughly. With this corner, wash your mistake from the wall. You might need to go back over it a few times but you should be able to clean it all up.
My line isn't straight but wobbly, help?
You never know whether or not you did a good paint job until you remove the painter's tape. And even though you tried your very best, it's possible some pieces of the tape let some paint seep underneath. Because you remove the tape when the paint is still wet, don't panic, you can correct these little errors. Take a utility knife and carefully start scraping off the pieces of paint you want to remove. Be careful not to touch any of the other paint on the wall with the side of your hand. If you do this softly and carefully you can remove the errors you just painted without damaging the white base wall underneath.
Ready, set, done
So here's our finished triangle statement wall in two pictures. The first one of the left side, the second one of the right side of the wall. It was more or less impossible to take a good picture of the entire wall because the room is just not big enough but I think you can put those two together in your mind, right?
Do you like the look of our triangle wall? If you do, share some love in the comments! So, given the chance to paint your home all over again, would you go for a statement wall? If yes, which shapes would you use? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @aheartyhome!
love,
Margot
