Chevron Wall Tutorial.
7:44 PMI did it! Finally, after a full week and a half, I finished Genevieve's chevron and chalkboard wall. The inspiration room for Genevieve's toddler room had an entire chalk wall. I loved that idea but I also had seen a few chevron walls that I loved. I only wanted to do one accent wall- I knew I couldn't handle a bunch of chalk scribble everywhere (let's be honest here) and wasn't sure if a chalk wall and a chevron wall would be too much. Well add to that the cost of chalk paint and the effort of a chevron wall and you have Genevieve's wall- 2/3 chevron and 1/3 chalkboard. I was a tiny bit scared after all my hard work it would look weird- or silly. I'm sure a similar wall exists but I haven't seen one with chevron, chalk paint, and chair rail. But when I pulled that last piece of tape off...and stepped back, I LOVED it. It was perfect. OK, not really, but to the naked eye it was perfect! ;)
So before I get into the step by step of how to paint a chevron wall, here's a photo of the wall.
And now for the chevron wall tutorial. I don't usually write tutorials because I'm not great at it. I typically use someone else's and the thought of writing it out step by step is kind of nauseating (oh is that wrong to say?). However, since I googled and searched many chevron wall tutorials and used a few, I figured one more in the blogosphere wouldn't hurt--and just might help someone. And I'm obsessed with her wall. As in, when I finished it, it was about 4 pm. The house was a mess. I was supposed to be making dinner. I was still in my pajamas and it was T minus 1.5 hours till Joe walked in the door. And I'm literally lying down on the floor in her room (with my head on this softness) staring at it. What can I say? I'm hopeless.
So here goes.
What you will Need:
A level
A yard stick is helpful
Tape (I used a roll and a half). Make sure it's the same size if you're using multiple rolls)
A pencil
Paint (obviously).
Step by Step Instructions:
First, measure the wall. Mine was 122.5 inches. Now other tutorials say "I knew I wanted [X] chevrons/points"- and I read that and think "how did you know?!" So here are some tips to figure out how many chevrons you want (by chevrons, I don't mean the total number of stripes, I mean how many points; think the point of the zigzag or triangles).
- First, think of how wide you want it to look. The fewer chevrons the wider the pattern. The more chevrons, the more zigzag-y it will look.
- Secondly, think of the work involved. The more chevrons, the more taping!
- Lastly-if you can't decide or visualize how many chevrons you want, try taping off a couple in different sizes. I did that and it was so helpful in seeing exactly how wide I wanted them (as a side note, you could create it on paper instead of taping the wall).
Lastly- trim your points. I couldn't find husband's exacto knife so I used a Martha Stewart Craft knife. And yes I have a few holes in my fingers to prove it. ;) This tutorial has a good "what if" photo of points left untrimmed.
I found lots of tutorials. You can see a handful on my "how to" pinterest board. The two I found the most simple and helpful were The Tall Chick: Jumping on the Chevron Bandwagon (LOVE the title!) and Olivia Grayson Interiors: How to Paint a Chevron Wall. Thanks Tall Chick and Olivia Grayson for the inspiration and instructions!
[UPDATE May 2013]: I received the following comment and wanted to share:
12 comments
Beautiful... thanks for giving credit to my tutorial. Now both of our girls have fabulous chevron walls, and I'm also thinking of jumping on the chalk wall bandwagon. I don't care if everyone else is doing it... There's a reason for that... they're cool! :)
ReplyDeletelove your logic tall chick! ;) you're so right! btw, I'm a tall chick too! 6 feet. ;)
Deletei can't believe you tackled this, tiffany. it looks AWESOME. either i am copying you when i have kids one day . . . or i am going to attempt to hire you! ;)
ReplyDeleteabby if i'm being honest- i kinda can't believe i tackled it either! but i love it! i'm sure you'll create adorable kid spaces for your future children!!
DeleteLove this so much!!! You did an amazing job! Your elephant is adorable too!!!
ReplyDeletethanks so much Steph!! :) I am going to use elephants to decorate her toddler room so I figured I'd start with some 'free' elephant art. ;) Thanks for visiting the blog.
DeleteFrom Dawn in Illinois: I love this! So awesome that you were able to work out a chevron pattern so perfectly.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dawn!! It was a little tricky at first but got easier and easier with each taped line!
DeleteTiffany, Thank you so much for this post. I must have read every chevron wall tutorial out there and yours is the one that made the most sense to me. It helped give me the confidence to create my own wall. I just started my own blog and one of my first post was on my wall. I linked up to your site so everyone else could be encouraged to make their own wall just like I did.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you found value in this post! I felt a bit silly putting yet another post out there but I figured another option couldn't hurt! ;) I'm perusing your blog now! :) Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI just did a chevron project and read this as well as other blogs to figure it all out. I'm thrilled with the results! I did 2 walls and just want to mention, if doing 2 walls you MUST make the corner a "point" in the chevron. This realization is the result of doing it wrong the first time which I realized after taping an entire wall. Soooo Important information if doing more than 1 wall!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your advice! I'm totally impressed that you did TWO walls in the first place! ha! I will update the post to include a note about your experience!
Delete