Our Zig Zag Wall

Our statement wall is finished! We are now the proud owners of a zig zag patterned wall. And I must say - it was quite easy! Well once you got past the whole taping bit... Here is how I did it:

 

As I mentioned, the taping part is definitely the most tedious part of this process. To start we measured the width of the wall and then decided how many peaks of the chevrons we wanted to have. We chose 5 and I would always recommend choosing an odd number as odd numbers are more pleasing to the eye. So knowing we wanted 5 peaks we divided the width of our wall into 5 sections and marked it off with a pencil. We then decided we wanted the yellow painted stripes to be 4 inches wide and the white to be 7 inches wide. So starting at the bottom using measuring tape and a level we carefully measured and moved across the wall and then up row after row. Once you have your tape up, clean up the edges on the inside where you will be painting with a straight edge wherever there is overlap. The taping process took maybe 3 hours in total split between a few nights.

 

 

 

Here is the best tip I have ever learned in wall painting - if there is only one thing you ever take away from my blog, it should be this: To prevent paint bleeding under the painters tape, first paint a base coat that matches the wall color. In our case this was a base coat of white where we planned on putting the yellow. Painting the base coat of the wall color insures that if any paint bleeds under the tape, it will match the wall and be unnoticeable. It also makes the top coat at the same level as the tape to again create a very clean line. I used a roller to apply both the white base coat and the top yellow coat. The painting process was much much quicker than the taping!

 

Now the most fun part of the process.... Peeling the tape! Now it is very very hard to wait for the paint to dry all the way (24 hours) because it is so very tempting to see if all of your hard work turned out how you intended. Especially if you are rather impatient like me - but I have learned this the hard way in the past and I can tell you it pays off to wait to peel! Peel the tape slowly to prevent any of the paint coming off with the tape.

 

So that's our zig zag wall! I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. I think it really adds movement and interest to the wall while not being too wild (at least not for our tastes). Painting the base coat of white really made the lines turn out perfectly straight - best painting tip ever!