Geometric Pattern Accent Wall

For this instructable you will need:

- Paint in two colours, one for basecoat which will cover the entire room, and one accent colour
- Good quality painters tape. In Canada, we used FrogTape.
- Drop sheets to protect your floors and furniture
- a putty scraper or credit card type card (a loyalty card or gift card will do)

This is a super easy project that does not require any special skill or design aesthetic, but looks super fun once complete. This example is from a nursery/playroom to bedroom makeover we did for our youngest son.

Using your painter's tape, tape off baseboards, trim and anything else you don't want to get paint on. If you need to, lay on a couple of coats of primer. We also had to sand down our walls before priming, as this room originally had a mural of jungle animals. If you have plain paint, you don't need to do any sanding.

Tape off the line of the ceiling and paint on your base coat. We chose a light blue. Your basecoat will be the colour that shows as geometric stripes on the final product. The kids had fun helping with this part. :)

Once the basecoat is dry remove the tape. Ideally from all surfaces, but at the very least from any freshly painted ones.

Wait at least 48 hours before moving on to the next step.

After your base coat is on, wait at least 48 hours before moving on to this step.

Taping the Pattern:

Before you do anything else, you'll want to tape off the edges of your accent wall with good quality painter's tape. It comes in varying widths. We chose the widest one because we knew we were making large, chunky shapes.

I sadly forgot to take a picture of the taping process, but basically you take your painter's tape and start taping large lines on the wall. Try to keep your tape lines running at various angles and avoid exactly horizontal or vertical lines. Begin with a couple of larger ones, starting at one wall and going all the way across to another, and then fill in the spaces with angles as you go. Don't think too hard about it. If you don't like a stripe, pull it off and start again.

Tip for getting straight lines: Let the tape guide you. Don't pull on it to try and force straight lines. Keep it a bit loose and just smooth it down lightly with your hand as you go.

Once you are happy with your design, use the plastic putty scraper or credit card (or other, less valuable loyalty card) and run it over every one of your tape lines to press the tape down firmly. This is KEY to getting crisp lines and avoiding paint seepage. You want your tape as flat and firmly down as possible.

Then go ahead and paint on your top coat. Two coats should do it. Let it dry for at least 4 hours between coats, and after the final coat.

After you've let the paint dry for at least four hours, find a tape edge and start pulling it off.

Go slowly, pulling the tape straight back on itself for best results.

After you've removed all the tape, you're done! Invite your friends over and let them ooh and ahh and think you're extremely clever. Because you are.

Variations: Try painting the shapes a couple of different colours, or varying shades of your basecoat. If you have a larger or minimalistic space, try using contrasting colours for shapes that really pop!