Thank you ALL for the very sweet comments on my move in day! I love reading your comments, they make my day. Thank you SO much for being supportive and kind and just plain happy for me with my new house. I can’t wait to get all those boxes unpacked and everything in place. This week is still busy, as I’m down at the children’s home working on those rooms. I did get some more unpacking done over the weekend.
When I toured the Southern Living idea house down in Senoia, GA earlier this year, I fell in love with the gingham paint treatment in one of the rooms and filed it away for reference. And as plans began to unfold in my master bedroom, I decided this paint treatment might be just the thing to give my room some pizazz and add a bold look to the headboard wall.
I decided to use the same paint I already had used in the guest bath and my vanity area, Sherwin Williams Windsor Greige. It’s a bit deeper color than the color that the Southern Living house used and mine is bolder, but I do love how it turned out and it should be a nice backdrop to my blues and greens.
I used these instructions from the Southern Living site for my project. It was very detailed and worked perfectly for me.
Here’s my headboard wall, walking into the master bedroom. The base color is the same as the main areas of my house, Moderate White, by Sherwin Williams.
Tools of the Project: long level, plus laser level, Frogtape, and measuring tape and pencil.
Begin by measuring your walls. I used the same spacing as the Southern Living house and they did 12” wide stripes both vertical and horizontal. My ceilings are 8’ tall. I began by using my laser level to shoot a level line and then used a long level to draw my lines horizontally across the walls. I had a friend come over and hold the laser level for me. Thanks, Tammy!
Drawing lines across the room, keeping them level.
After drawing all the lines, I then went back and used my fab Frogtape to tape off the lines for painting. You can see some lines are the whole 12” deep and some are shallower. That’s because you want to tape inside and outside the lines depending on where you will be painting. I’ll be painting INSIDE those 12” spaced lines. The top will be kept white, then I’ll start painting my stripes on the 2nd row. If you count every other stripe, I’ll be painting 4 stripes with my darker color, with the bottom row being painted too. Be sure and press down the Frogtape very well to avoid bleeding. The tape works great!
I used Windsor Greige, a pretty gray/beige (a nice Khaki color) and mixed it with glaze. The directions say mix 1 part paint with 2 parts glaze and that’s what I did, just eyeballing it.
Mixing it in a paint tray, I used a paint stick to mix it all together. The glaze gives the paint a more translucent look when dry and it keeps the paint open longer.
All mixed together. Using a paintbrush to cut in near the ceiling and corners of the wall, and a small foam roller for the stripes, I began the treatment.
Rolling all 4 stripes across the wall, painting right over the Frogtape.
I immediately peeled off the Frogtape to reveal a nice crisp line.
See!
And the horizontal stripes are done!
With a big pile of Frogtape left behind.
Next, I did the same exact method and taped off the vertical stripes. There were more of these to tape.
Mixing the glaze and paint, I painted these too. Where the 2 blocks intersect, the color is darker, creating a gingham look.
And here it is with the tape removed.
I love it! It’s a bit of a bold statement, but wait until I get all my stuff in here and my drapery panels in place. I have 3 pairs of Ritva panels from Ikea that I’m going to stencil and hang in here along with my blues and greens on the bed and rug.
I can’t wait for it all to come together!
Thanks to Frogtape for sponsoring this post. I’m blogging projects for Frogtape for the next year and will be sharing all sorts of ideas on using this versatile tape. I was planning to do this project anyway and it’s a great one to demonstrate Frogtape!
Linking to Traci’s Best of Nov. DIY party!
Claire says
I love your gingham wall treatment- the color looks great when you painted the vertical over horizontal- patience is a virtue and you have it- I’ve enjoyed watching you transform your house into a home with your precious parents!
Rebecca says
I like this idea for an accent wall. Knowing that I would only have to tape off one wall would be a huge incentive. Can’t wait to see the accents you’ll add to this room. Great job!
Barbara from 21 Rosemary Lane says
Rhoda I love this idea! What a wonderful paint treatment. Thank you so much for posting your concise tutorial. Very easy for me to understand. Love your wall and the room. Have a super week!
nancy says
It looks beautiful and the colors are perfection.
Christine says
This looks amazing! Great minds think alike. I just spoke about “Gingham Style” yesterday in a blog post. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope you don’t mind if I redirect my audience to you for your great tutorial.
Lori says
Oh Rhoda, I love that wall treatment!! Big, Bold, and absolutely beautiful!! What a fun way to make a statement!! ~ Lori
Janette@the2seasons says
I love it. Gingham has been my thing since I was a little girl. I am so doing this. We had to give up our headboard when we got a new bed, and this would be a great way to take its place.
Connie McCallum says
Rhoda, Great Job! Its interesting how the stripes are the same color but they look different on the walls. Your house is really coming together beautifully. Always enjoy your blogs.
Rhoda says
Ha! Connie, I think I was a bit heavy handed rolling on the first set of stripes & the 2nd went lighter. More glaze would help with that too, to make them more translucent. I do love it though!
Dorothy F. says
Do you ever rest?? Your home is really going together great. I really have enjoyed your blog. I love this look for your bedroom, doing just one wall was a great idea. God Bless.
Martina says
Rhoda that looks fabulous!! I can’t wait to see the room put together, I know it’s going to look beautiful!!
Amy@eatsleepdecorate says
Rhoda…it looks fabulous! What a neat idea. I would have never thought of doing something like this to the walls. It fits perfect with your decor and really makes a statement when you walk in the room. Love it!
Colleen says
Looks fantastic! Did you have any problems where your pencil lines are? I had heard that using a watercolor pencil, close in color to one of your paint colors would be better because it would blend in where pencil sometimes gets a little “muddy”. Yours looks so wonderful! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Rhoda says
There are some pencil lines & I tried to cover them, but you can still see them some. But I won’t stress over that!
Leen says
Rhoda, it is gorgeous! At the conference when we were talking about it, I kept picturing buffalo check with red and black. I like this so much better than what I was picturing 🙂
Glad you are “home” 🙂
Mandyb says
How long did you have to wait before taping the vertical lines? I am always nervous about pulling off the paint on the tape.
Eva says
Rhoda,
I love it!
Eva
Arlene Grimm@Nanaland says
Definitely a labor of love Rhoda!!! That was a job. Looks wonderful.
Barb @ The Everyday Home says
Rhoda,
I too fell in love with this wall treatment when I first saw it. I can’t remember if I saw it from you or on Pinterest but either way, it was love at first sight. I have been wanting to add this to my foyer wall as you walk in. Yes, it would be a bold welcoming statement but I think it is one of the prettiest paint treatments I have seen in a very long time. BTW, many years ago when I was doing faux painting professionally I did something similiar under a chair rail in a nursery, smaller stripes and pastel colors. It was simply beautiful. Thanks for sharing your directions with us. I noticed outside it went from morning to night, so I know this was a long day/project. That measuring/taping is intense. LOL Have a great week! xxoo
Elaine in Laguna says
Wow…I didn’t expect you’d post this how-to so quickly! You’re just an energizer bunny! I love this treatment and it looks so great! I’m seriously considering this for my guest bedroom as a spring project. Can’t wait to see your drapes and blues and greens added to this! Thank you for the great tutorial.
Cynthia says
I love gingham paint treaments. Yours turned out fantastic you did such a great job. Looks like a professional job. I really like the colors.
Cynthia
Lori says
Looks amazing Rhoda! I know how time consuming it is to measure and tape all those lines so I can appreciate how much went into this. Your hard work definitely paid off!