How to Paint a Diamond Accent Wall using ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape

I had told you that this spring was going to bring a LOT of painting in our home!   Our whole house needs to be repainted (minus a few rooms like our dining room, guest bathroom, and half bathroom that have already been painted).  It has been 10 years since the main areas have been painted, the paint has faded and doesn’t match to just touch up anymore, and honestly I am ready for a slight color change too.  My main agenda is going to be lighten, lighten, lighten!  

Here’s the before picture of my living room…

You can see I had already painted several paint swatches to find the perfect color (more on how to find your perfect paint color later).

I painted this dark brown wall with a free quart of paint I got 6 or 7 years ago.  I do like the idea of using this floating wall in the living room as an accent wall, but I was over the dark color.  I debated about adding molding, painting a lighter color, stenciling a design, but when ScotchBlue ™ Painter’s Tape challenged me to come up with a painted wall design using tape, I found the perfect design and knew it would be perfect for this wall.

First prep.  I spackled all the nail holes, sanded, and removed the vent and outlet covers.

Then I painted the entire wall with Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint & primer in one in semi-gloss enamel in pure white. 

It took 2 coats to cover up the dark brown.  Already looked so much better!

Then came the fun part.  For this you will you need a tape measure, pencil, and 1-2 rolls of ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape .  I picked up the ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape for Multi-Surface with Edge-Lock™ Paint Line Protector at The Home Depot.     

Then the measuring and taping began.  I wanted my diamonds to be 24 inches high and 12 inches across.   I think the general rule is to have your diamonds be twice as high as they are wide.  I found the middle of the wall and started measuring from there.  I measured over every 12 inches and made a mark – then measured down 12 inches and made a mark along that line every 12 inches (the “X” part of the diamond).   I did this across the entire wall and down to the floor.   I ended up grabbing a level too which helped as I used it to measure and make sure my marks were keeping level too.

I had to pull off and adjust quite a few of the tape lines – but even after that the tape still made sharp lines.  

I used ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape for Multi-Surface with Advanced Edge-Lock(TM) Paint Line Protector #2093EL (green core) and am happy with my results. ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Advanced Multi-Surface is ideal for baseboards, trim, metal and glass.

You can get even better results painting wall designs, accent walls and stripes by using ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape for Delicate Surfaces with Advanced Edge-Lock™ Paint Line Protector #2080EL (orange core). ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Advanced Delicate Surfaces is designed to provide super sharp paint lines on smooth, delicate surfaces like walls, cabinets, wood floors and freshly painted surfaces (24 hours old).

Here’s the wall completely taped off and ready for my main color to go over it, which would create glossy white lines where the tape is.

After 1 coat of my main color – Behr Premium Plus Eggshell Enamel in Wheat Bread – a perfect greige color.

And then I painted a second coat.  I waited about 10-15 minutes before I pulled the tape off since the tape was overlapping and it was hard to wrangle it all without getting wet paint everywhere.  If you are doing just straight lines, you will want to pull the tape off right away.

Look at that beautiful wall!!  I love it!

Here it is with the furniture and everything all put back in place.  It adds so much interest, but yet it is subtle, and it completely lightens the room up!

I haven’t completely decided what I will hang on the wall.  I find this wall hard to decorate because I either have to choose to center the objects on the wall or over the couch since the couch isn’t centered on the wall.

I do love a big, center object on that wall especially now that there is a design on the wall.  You can find the tutorial for the DIY sunburst mirror here.  If I was to leave this sunburst mirror here, I would probably paint it white.

Look at those crisp clean lines!

And just for fun here’s the before…

And here’s the after…

Using ScotchBlue™  Painter’s Tape is an easy way to create an accent wall very inexpensively!  And look at the impact that it made. 

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Have a project you need to tackle in your home this spring?  How about a $50 Home Depot card to help with that?

 Perfect to grab a can of paint, some tape, and supplies.  You can enter to win the $50 Home Depot gift card in the Rafflecopter widget below.  

In order to enter to win, sign up for The Home Depot Fan program here and leave a comment below.

 

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I am proud to be a 3M- sponsored blogger, and, as part of my responsibilities, I get the opportunity to evaluate new products from ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape. Opinions are my own and additional product used in the project were selected by me.