Saturday, July 31, 2010

Orange You Glad I Painted that Wall

Even before we moved in to this house and long before (well, maybe only a couple of weeks before) we made an offer for this house I knew I wanted to do something spectacular to the TV wall in the living room. All I knew for sure was that I wanted to paint the living room orange. I don't know how many times I must have googled wall design, wall pattern, wall geometric pattern, wall... you get the point... until I finally found this little blog post. I just <3 her foyer!

I used the instructions in that post as a reference, but given that I live with my very own engineer I just let him do all the dirty work (I consider math to be very dirty). Once he had taken measurements, planned everything out on graph paper, and shown me how to use the laser level I set to work on taping off the wall.


Eric had me tape an entire grid and then go back with a box cutter (I didn't own an Xacto knife at the time) to cut out the squares to make the pattern. He said it would be easier this way... yeah, I'm sure it was easier because I was the one doing all the leveling and taping and un-taping and re-taping and marking and cutting and peeling and painting and re-painting and touching-up.

After all the cutting, this is what was left. I actually really liked how the tape looked, but alas I don't think painter's tape matches with the rest of the decor.

After 2 coats of paint I removed the tape and found this little surprise.... EVERYWHERE!!!

The psychotic Virgo in me was determined to take a tiny brush and touch up each and every line on that wall. After a couple of weeks and many paintstaking painstaking hours with the smallest paintbrush on Earth in hand we only managed to touch up about 1/8 of the wall. At that point, we both agreed it would be easier to just keep our guests about two feet away from the wall at all times. We've so far been very successful at preventing wandering eyes from getting to close :)

This is what the wall looked like right after we moved in. Don't mind all the junk everywhere, this was literally the day after we moved in.


And this is what the living room looks like now. I've been scouring Craigslist and thrift stores looking for a relatively short and rather long credenza/sideboard to go along the wall, but so far I haven't found anything worth while that's within my budget. Once we do find one then we'll mount the TV on the wall.

The color used for the accent wall is called Really Russet by Olympic Paints and the color on the rest of the walls is called Golden Sunset from Valspar Signature Colors. In total I probably only used about 1/4 of paint for the accent wall, so I'm sure a quart would have sufficed.

 Cost Breakdown:
2 rolls of painters tape = $18
1 gallon of paint = $14
Total Cost = $32

PARTY, PARTY, PARTY


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21 comments:

  1. if you decide to do this again in another room. paint the wall your base color (in your case - white. let cure for a couple of days. apply your tape. using a small roller apply a thin coat of your base paint over the edges of the tape. let dry, then paint your design color (in your case - orange). great job laying out your design. looks good.

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  2. That's actually exactly what I did. But my boyfriend got inpatient watching me use a teeny tiny roller and grabbed a huge roller and started going at it. It's the last time I agree with one of his crazy ideas!

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  3. Gaby! This looks incredible! I'm so glad you found some inspiration from my foyer wall. And I'm so jealous that your boyfriend did the dirty work. I measured, taped, re-measured and re-taped a lot!

    And I definitely got some bleeding paint that I was able to touch up with a flat, straight-edge artist's brush (though it took me a few months to get around to it!)

    I'm going to feature this on Urban Nest next week, if you're okay with that!

    Great, great job. The wall looks stunning.

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  4. Oh, don't worry. I started taping off the wall after he gave me all the measurements and instructions. About an hour later he came downstairs, took one look at the wall and said "You're doing it all wrong." Apparently I didn't take into account the width of the tape when I measured my boxes (oops). I had to take all the tape down and start over again.

    I heard that if you dab a small amount of paintable caulk over the edges of the tape that it should seal your edges and prevent the bleeding. But of course, I only found that out AFTER I painted the wall.

    I would *LOVE* to be featured! In fact, you just made my day! :)

    Thank you again for the inspiration!

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  5. Love it! I may try the same pattern on my bedroom wall. I've painted stripes in a few rooms in the past and have fallen in LOVE with Frog Tape (the "green" tape). It's the best thing ever; no bleeding paint! Seriously life changing. Great job!!

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  6. I just saw you on better after- LOVE IT! You are so brave and it totally paid off! We painted our bedroom wall orange, and I totally wish we would've done something like this! I love it! AWESOME job:)

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  7. That room looks really bold, Gaby! WTG! I've seen that frog tape stuff on a commercial, so psyched to hear it really works, Megan.
    Shannon
    www.akadesign.ca

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  8. I have a burnt orange wall but nothing as exciting as your orange wall. When I looked at the picture I said "Wow". I guess that is what HGTV said about the wow factor. lol

    Frog tape? lol That's good to know.

    Katharine @ Kat's Almost Purrfect World
    http://katspurrfectboutique.blogspot.com

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  9. The wall is amazing....I'm digging orange everywhere I look lately!
    I also like the Frog Tape but have also used a thin film of caulk after taping off. Just tape as needed then put a small bead of calk on your finger and spread over the seam....some onto the tape and some onto the wall where the "perfect edge" is desired. the calk seals the tape line and doesn't allow ANY bleeding! After painting, remove the tape as usual and VOILĂ .

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  10. I saw this project on Better After and had to hop on over here to read the details. This is absolutely amazingly gorgeous! I love the color, love the design. You are one brave woman to take on this project, but it really paid off.

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  11. AUGH!!! I LOVE IT!!! I've so been wanting to do something like this to a wall in my family room. I was thinking stencils but had no idea how to go about making one big enough for the wall. Tape is a wonderful alternative! I'v heard this stuff called Frog--oh, wait, just read the comment above mine. Nevermind! You know the goods now! I love your wall! And...from where I sit, I can't see any bleeding at all. It looks, in fact, PERFECT.

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  12. I LOVE your accent wall! Now tell me, did the tape suck all the moisture out of your finger tips? :)

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  13. This looks amazing! And I"m second-ing the previous comment relating to "frog" tape. It will change your life! Apparently the adhesive has a "paint repellent" in it.

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  14. Wow love that, love everything about it, the colors, the design, everything. What a fun bold statement. Good job!!!

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  15. Thanks for all the great comments!

    This was my first bold undertaking in the house, and because we loved the results of this wall we went bold all over the house. I dread thinking about all the painting we'll have to do when we try to sell the house.

    I didn't know about the wonders of frog tape when I started this project, but now I know for future projects!

    For those who can't find frog tape or find it too expensive, hammeneggs suggestion of using a dab of chaulk to seal the edges of the tape works too!

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  16. This is so much fun! I can't believe the patience you must have to spend the time calculating and taping it all. It turned out great! I'm going to include it in an upcoming DIY post and link back, if that's okay.

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  17. Hi Gaby, I read that you're busy with school. But I wanted to let you know that your tv wall project was one of a couple that inspired our most recent project! Check it out http://akadesign.ca/index.php/2010/09/graphic-statement-wall/
    Shannon
    www.akadesign.ca

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  18. WOW!! Your wall looks incredible!! I'm so glad I was able to inspire you!

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  19. that is awesome!!!! i love the color and pattern, and your bio cracks me up.

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  20. @ Cassie - Thank you! I love your blog!

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  21. Thank you for sharing this interesting and informative article, painting with airless spray gun will be faster and more interesting!


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