Lines Across

Lets Make a Mess

How to Paint an Ombre Accent Wall

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(find the dandelion stencil here)

As many of you know, we just moved back into the townhouse where Grant and I first lived after we got married, and where we were living when Benjamin and Lyla were born. When Lyla was only 2 months old, we loaded up a little truck with a little bit of our stuff and moved across town to live with and help take care of my Grandmother. We thought we would only be there for a couple of months, but as these things go a couple of months turned into over a year.

I’m really not a big pink person, but there is something sweet about a newborn little girl and light pink. So we painted Lyla’s nursery a really light shade of pink (Behr’s Poetic Princess). I chose this color because I wanted it to be subtle and not overwhelmingly pink. The strange thing is, when the whole room was that pale pink color, it felt a little bit like someone was trying to smother you with cotton candy. So I decided that what the room needed was a more dramatic accent wall.

The theme of the room is a garden… flowers, bugs, butterflies, birds, etc… Plus, I LOVE dandelions! We used dandelions in our wedding invitations, plus I stitched this embroidery hoop for Lyla a long time ago. I had seen this dandelion stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils months ago, and I knew I wanted to use it when I made over Lyla’s room. I also already had the 3D butterflies that look great in person (like either of these from Amazon: Umbra Mariposa Butterfly Wall Art or Umbra Monarchy Wall Décor).

Let me tell you a little more about the stencil before moving onto the tutorial. Cutting Edge Stencils are really awesome and easy to use. There are so many wonderful choices for stencils that it’s hard to choose which one to do. Some of the complex allover stencils (which I love) are a little bit harder to do and definitely take more time. The dandelion stencil is one of the simplest and easiest stencils. It hardly took any time at all, especially since I only ended out doing one dandelion. Make sure that you read the directions and watch some of the helpful tutorial videos from Cutting Edge Stencils before you start your stenciling project. I used a roller to paint the dandelion, but in retrospect, because of all of the little details, I think that it would have been better to use a stenciling brush.

HOW TO PAINT AN OMBRE ACCENT WALL

This is actually a complicated project. There are a lot of different colors and measurements to keep track of, so it is very important to plan the project well before you start, write everything down, and label everything. Since I’m really a math person at heart, I enjoyed planning this a lot. The project itself worked out perfectly and turned out better than I had expected.
First, measure the height of your wall and decide how many stripes you want (plus what colors they will be). I wanted to make it so that the stripes got increasingly larger (this is where the math came in), but you could also make all of the stripes the same size. For the colors, I ended out getting the paint chip that her original wall color was on, and getting sample sizes of the other colors. I only had to use one paint sample per stripe, but you might need more paint for a larger wall. Make sure that you label these!
Here is the pattern I followed. If your wall is between 92 and 100 inches, you can use the same pattern. The stripe at the very bottom can be a little bigger than the rest.
STEP 1 – Measure where each of the lines will be and mark them with small pieces of painter’s tape. (I drew arrows on the tape to help me remember which side was marking the edge of the stripe.

STEP 2 – Paint the odd numbered stripes. Use two coats of paint (or more if needed). Make sure that you paint over the lines into the even numbered stripes.

STEP 3 – Let the paint dry and then carefully tape off the outside of the even stripes. Use a level and make sure that your lines are straight.

STEP 4 – Now paint the even numbered stripes. This time, make sure to stay inside of the lines. Paint 2 (or more) coats.

STEP 5 – Peel off the tape, touch up any places that might need it, and you’re done.

I’m sharing this at Not Just a Housewife’s Best of 2012 Contest.

Comments

  18. stumbled in from craft gawker. LOVE this look. Especially with the dandilion blowing through. Checked out a few of your other posts and I dig your style. I'm happy to call myself your newest follower. Cheers!

    Reply

  19. I'm not a math person, so I enjoyed seeing you accomplish the tricky task all the more. I'm always in awe of math people. It really turned out beautifully. Love the dramatic results.
    Liz

    Reply

  24. You did a great job! The wall looks awesome. I'd love to try something similar too so thanks a lot for sharing your how-to!

    Reply

  25. I absolutely LOVE this!! I'm also obsessed with the whole dandelion theme. I have a dandelion wall decal from etsy that is pretty similar to the one you have.
    Thanks so much!

    Reply

  30. Looks so great! Just wondering how long this took you to do? I'm hoping to do this for my friend's nursery but it's a surprise and I only have Friday evening and Saturday to complete the task….is this do-able???

    Reply

    • Thanks! I think so. I can't remember but I think it took me about 6 hours… If you paint the odd stripes then even stripes it saves time. Also, if you could get the measurements and supplies in advance that could save time too. You could also save time (but not money) by using a different roller for each color so you don't have to stop and wash it each time you change colors. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

      Reply

  31. When I saw this picture the first thing that came to my mind was the paint strip samples. So, it was no surprise that they were part of the inspiration. Looks amazing and is very well done.

    Reply

  32. Hi,

    I just wanted to say thank you for this awesome post! I pinned this well over a year ago and well in advance of being pregnant. When I found out I was having a girl, I KNEW this was what I wanted to do in her nursery. Over the last couple weeks my mom and sister came over and helped me achieve "my vision" and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I used the exact same color palette, but my 3 remaining walls are light grey. I don't have a blog (that's why I can't sign in!) or I'd show you how it turned out 🙂

    Thanks for such clear instructions and taking the time to write it all up! I literally studied it and was ready when they came over to paint. Just wanted to make sure you knew that your hard work certainly didn't go unnoticed and made me a very happy mommy-to-be!

    Thanks,
    Carrie

    Reply

    • Carrie,
      Thanks! This comment made my day. I'm so glad to hear that the tutorial worked well for you. I put a lot of time into giving all of the details, and I never know if people ever actually do this or just pin it 🙂 It's funny you should say that you painted the rest of the room grey. Ever since I painted this accent wall, I've wanted to paint the rest of the room a light grey. I would love to see a picture if you have one handy. You could email me – linesacross@gmail.com. Thanks for the thoughtful comment!

      Reply

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