photo NavIG_zps7563fd85.png photo NavPin_zpsd777ef70.png photo NavYT_zpsbdfa2471.png photo NavBL_zps47aef9ce.png


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

DIY Chevron Wall

How about a big round of applause for my patient, engineering brained husband who so graciously helped me create my dream of a chevron wall in our dining room! 


Light color is Behr Granite Boulder, darker is Behr Squirrel
-------------------------------------------------------
Hello all!  Feels like it's been forever since my last post -- hope you didn't miss me too much.  Ruthie has been itching to get me back on here to talk about our soon-to-be famous chevron wall, so here I am.  For those of you who have been out of the loop, one of our first and most important projects after moving into our new house, but before shooting our final round of House Hunters, was to tackle the ever-daunting chevron wall.  It was mostly daunting to me because I knew I was going to spend forever on it.  I have a tendency to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to certain things, so there was no question I was going to end up spending much longer on this thing than I had to.  The outcome, however, was sure to be one rockstar of a chevron wall.  What I learned throughout the process was that it's really not as hard as you might think, and once you get started, you can make fairly quick work of it.  

STEP 1:  What kind of chevron will complete me?  
Not being a chevron expert when I started this process, it hadn't really occurred to me that there were different ways to make a chevron wall.  Ruthie started asking me which type of chevron wall I preferred, and at that point, I realized I was going to have to consider all our options before weighing in on what I liked the most.  We looked at some different designs and talked about what we liked and what we didn't.  Thin or thick stripes?  Taller or wider pattern?  Subtle or bold color contrast?  Some simple Pinterest'ing helped us figure out how our ideal wall would look, and we hit the ground running.


STEP 2:  How on earth do I get started?
The good news is that there are a lot of how-to posts out there to help you get started on your wall, and I did read through a few of them to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything obvious.  I gathered my level, my pencil, painter's tape, and an exact-o knife.  By the way, the level I used was a life-saver.  For a project like this especially, it really paid off to have an all-in-one level and 24" rule.  In terms of starting your pattern, some recommended starting from the ceiling, some from the floor, some from the side of your wall -- I ultimately decided to start from the center of the wall.  I figured it would make the wall look the most natural, allowing your chevron pattern to meet boundaries in "not so perfect" ways.  I picked a spot in the middle of the wall and made my first dot in pencil.  

STEP 3:  Measure, dot, measure, dot... *breathe*...
Be prepared to spend your next few hours carefully measuring and dotting your wall.  I would recommend making your chevron pattern using nice, round numbers so it will be easier to measure out.  Why not simplify this whole process in any way you can?  Since we liked the 45-degree angled chevrons, I eye-balled the approximate size of the first chevron and I decided on 12".  I measured 12" at a 45-degree angle up from my original dot to create dot #2.  I then measured down from there 12" at a 45-degree angle to create dot #3.  At this point, I've now created my first chevron.  Please hold your applause.  You've only just begun.  Instead of continuing that process across the wall, I realized over time that I could speed things up by measuring out parallel chevrons vertically instead of working my way across the wall horizontally.  In other words, once you've carefully mapped out those first 3 dots, you can now start measuring up and down from there.  I had decided on 8 inch stripes, so using my 24" level, I could make 3 new dots vertically from a single measurement (at 8", 16", and 24").  3 measurements and 9 dots later, I now had 4 parallel chevrons on my wall.  That's a heck of a lot more productive than going dot by dot across your wall.  Do that over and over again until your wall is completely mapped out




STEP 4:  Holy tape
I actually preferred the taping over the measuring/dotting.  It seemed to go faster and feel more fulfilling as you can visualize the chevron coming together before your eyes.  As you're taping, keep in mind that you must tape "inside" the unpainted portions of your wall.  In other words, I needed to leave a full 8" of real estate open for the sections I was painting, and the sections I wasn't painting, they basically had 2" of tape and 6" of protected territory.  If you have a helper, one person can be taping and the other person can be following them with the exact-o knife to clean up the tape intersections.  Take your time to make nice, clean cuts and your finished product will be worth the extra effort.  As you cut, you can put the excess tape pieces inside your no-paint-zone as a reminder.  








STEP 5:  Get your paint on
The easiest part of the whole process -- paint it.  Just make sure you're painting in the sections you're supposed to.  Hopefully the pieces of no-paint-zone-tape will help you remember where you should and shouldn't paint.  Try to not use too much paint on your brush, as it can bleed under your tape and create some unclean lines.  







STEP 6:  Unveil your masterpiece
Easily the most rewarding step is when it comes time to peel all the tape off and bask in your wall's new chevron glory.  All your hard work has hopefully paid off in what is an exquisite, perfectly-measured, perfectly-painted chevron work of art.  Alas, if you're not quite the perfectionist I am and maybe some aspects of your measurements or taping weren't quite as exact as they should have been, the good news here is that the chevron pattern does a pretty amazing job of hiding things.  



Light color is Behr Granite Boulder
Chevrons are Behr Squirrell





Well there you have it.  I hope some of you brave souls will tackle a chevron wall in your own home and let us know how it turns out.  Or if some of you have already done so, tell us how it went.  Happy painting!

-------------------------------------------------------

Thank you Jonny Hart!! We all know that my chevron wall would have been a sloppy mess (patience is a virtue I can't seem to grasp). I am so obsessed with the wall and will be forever indebted to you with back rubs and tickle scratches :-). I love you babe!

& don't forget about the business card giveaway!!








Photobucket

62 comments:

jessica dukes said...

wow! this is amazing! i am speechless. your husband rocks!

Ashley said...

that looks AMAZING!!!

Amanda said...

Maybe I'll just book Jon and you a flight here to do a chevron wall for us? Just a thought ;)

GingerPeachT said...

ok seriously, you all did an amazing job on that wall! It looks so professional! I love it!
And with my hubby being an engineer and perfectionist as well, i'd be so stressed even asking him to do this for me haha

Ashley said...

Love it!!! He did such a great job!!! It looks fantastic!!

Joeylee said...

I love it!! When we buy our house I want a chevron wall too

Cara said...

So cool! I love it

Anonymous said...

y'all did a great job! it looks awesome!

Leilani said...

LOVE, love, LOVE it! Your hubby did an amazing job. I love your style!

Anonymous said...

It looks unbelievably good. I love the gray and it's such a unique aspect of your new house! LOVE it!

Lani Derrick said...

Its amazing!!! Wanna come to South Austin and make one for my house?!

Sarah said...

Ruthie, can you tell us what color greys you used on the wall?

Anonymous said...

this looks so great! that Jon Hart must have a lot of patience. :)

Wendy said...

Great tutorial Jon! It turned out fantastic!! :)

Unknown said...

I'm so in love with that wall! I wish I was allowed to paint! *curse being a college student in rental houses...*
I'll keep the idea on my "someday..." list, though!
Morgan
Toughlaces.blospot.com

Jane {In The Pink & Green} said...

Ruthie, that wall looks amazing! I just love it...and also, so sweet that your hubby did a guest post about it! (It's funny, the other day Cam was like so, when do I get to guest post on your blog again? LOL)

Makaila said...

Wow. I am UBER impressed! It turned out great, I love it with your dining set. Massive applause from Oregon!!

Mrs Independent said...

First, excellent job on the post! Second, I loved this wall so much I sent a link to my Mom today. She loved the wall and then proceeded to gush about how much she loves your dining chairs and how cute you two are. Congrats, you have the "CAROL" seal of approval. Oh yeah, and mine too!

Unknown said...

Wow it looks great but so much work! I love it though :)When we get our own house I will be back to this post.

Carolyn said...

It looks so good! :) Love it!!

Nichole said...

Oh my gosh! Love it! Any idea when the show will air?

Unknown said...

He did such a great job, it looks fab! And he sounds JUST like Dave in this post! He's a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like this too...I mean the man spends the whole day cleaning the car when he does it.

Lindsay said...

Wow. That wall looks beautiful! Talk about a lot of work though, geez. All of that careful measuring and taping sure paid off!

Bree said...

Love the finished product! Looks amazing!

Danielle said...

Looks amazing!!! Oh, I'm itching to do this in our new home now!!!!

Danielle said...

Totally pinning this!

Mackenzie Byersdorf said...

That looks awesome! He is definitely a patient guy, I'm sure that took quite some time. Beautiful!

Kristin said...

It really did come out amazing guys. Such a nice statement wall - and the extra "perfectionism" really paid off :-)

Caitlin C. said...

oh my lordy, this is AMAZING!! Your husband is so patient to do this! It turned out so well!!!

Alana said...

I'm very impressed! That is one awesome chevron wall. Way better than the Pinterest examples! Ruthie is one lucky lady. ;)

Girls Love Fried Pickles said...

Sounds like you need biz cards for Johnny Rockets and all the new people that are going to have him come do their walls. I say charge at least $400 bucks and give me $100 for referral fees of course.

Anonymous said...

Love the wall! So creative!

jaimie michelle said...

The wall looks amazing! You did a great job!

Jaimie
www.jaimiehart.blogspot.com

Heather @ Finding Beauty in the Ordinary said...

i can't get over how amazing it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good job, jon!!!!!!!!! love it!!!!!!!!! and i can't believe how much light the granite boulder is in your house... i think our house is dark!

Nicole @ the style hatch said...

Love it Love it!! I love you dining chairs also! :)

Julie Keller said...

I'll be honest, I didn't read most of Jon's information. It's way too over my head, and really I'd just have blanked out over it anyways (if I had of read it). But - I'm in love with the wall. It's absolutely perfect!

Unknown said...

This looks so awesome! I would have never been able to do something like that either.

Shiron @ https://decormostly.blogspot.com/ said...

Looove this! And definitely doing this in our master....I have to tell you, I watched you on house hunters tonite, never saw your blog before but I SAW that wall on the show, then heard you say on camera you have a blog and googled house hunters and your name and bam! Anyway, it's beautiful, I can't wait to try it!

Kimberlyhorton said...

Thanks so much for doing this tutorial. I just finished doing a chevron wall in my entryway and it turned out amazing!!! By the way, I loved ya'lls house hunters episode and especially love all the decorating you've done in your home! I hope to do a gallery wall up my staircase soon as well.

Sarah said...

Hi Ruthie! If you don't mind me asking, how long did this take your husband? Mine's going to tackle this (yay!!) but wants to know if he should dedicate a day, a weekend, a week, or what. Thanks!! :)

Kip said...

I love your new wall! It looks awesome! I've been seeing chevron print, everywhere! You name it: walls, tables, pillowcases, and etc. and I still can’t get enough of it! The print looks so vintage that's why I like it so much! It's pretty awesome how you made those lines pretty straight! I think, you need to measure everything correctly so you won't mess-up the whole design.

Kip Whitehead

Tonya said...

I saw this wall on your house hunters episode last night and had to look you up! I'm not far away in San Antonio :) I want to do a chevron wall in the future for baby #4, also with grey chevrons!

Esther said...

This is SO beautiful!! It is absolutely perefect! I love it! :) You have a great testimony on your blog too - thank you for that!
I just made a paci clip using your tutorial on my blog, here

Anonymous said...

We just finished the Chevron wall in the babies nursery, thank you for posting your tutorial, I am in love with the wall as are all of my friends and family. My sister-in-law helped me, there was no way my husband would have the patience!! Well worth it!!

Anonymous said...

This is really an excellent blog as well as its content.floral wallpaper borders

Angela said...

Nice wall art decoration you have done. I am impressed with the concept as it is simple yet beautiful.

Ruhi said...

You can buy from our large and diverse collection of salwar kameez, party wear suits, bollywood collection, cotton kurtis, Anarrkali suits,Bollywood saree and many other products.....
We Have Some For You In Your Budget
For more…
Designer Salwar Suit

Rimita Power said...

I am ecstatic after seeing your design concept. Personally myself is a fashion designer and closely follow Indian fashion online and I know what it takes to decorate your walls in this way. Great work mate.

salma khan said...

superb design work on the wall. we would like to do similar design to our shop location

disha said...

Wall looks amazing. Creative work done by the man. Light colors enhance the look. Living room Home decoration with creative colors ideas make more beautiful.

Unknown said...

Your furniture styling, design and concepts looks great, but it becomes even more sweeter when you are able to reach out to your local business prospects in a much more effective way by having a dynamic website, and being the leading website design Houston company, we can certainly help you in this endeavor.

Faye Wright said...

IOM Partners of Houston, TX is the foremost Houston web development company that has attained huge expertise in developing custom WordPress websites on the best open source framework. It is also one of the leading mobile application development companies in Houston that specializes in designing smart mobile apps for businesses and enterprises.

Jenny Swartz said...

Octal Digital Houston Texas is a leading web desgin agency houston provding web development houston at affordable rates. Octal Digital provides android app development, wordpress development, magento website design, drupal development and SEO services.

Unknown said...

Such a nice blog and i appreciate your all efforts about your thoughts. it's really good work. well done.

web design

Unknown said...

I've experienced these feelings in regards to the African appearing prints also. My daughter who is mixed-race clarified after I had been about to purchase a cool looking tunic using an African appearing design that I couldn't make use of this since I'm really white. Idon't think you can find really no clothing which can be unwearable for some men and women. That is clearly a ridiculous basic theory. Strategies are made to be broken up.
lawn suit stitching design

Bagtesh Fashion said...

This is absolutely gorgeous…such beautiful photos! Nehru jacket

dhilin said...

Great design.
Thanks for sharing!

Akanksha Sen said...

Your real-life images make this blog read more interesting. And no words to say for your handwork. It's amazing. The detailing work you've done meticulously to give this room more shine. Thanks for sharing..



[Dhakai sarees]

Swarnali Kanjilal said...

Your wall looks mindblowing. Frankly speaking, I became a fan of you. Your artwork tells a lot about your creativity. Thanks for sharing!


[Designer chiffon sarees]

clay said...

Twitter Tweet Generator You can make fake twitter tweets in any creative way you like. Upload profile picture, select username, write message, change date and many more cool settings. Build your own fake twitter tweet now. Create Tweet.

mobileappdevelopment said...

nice post and it is really looking awesome

Mobile App Development Company in Texas

Node.js Development Company

Angular.Js Development Company

Artificial Intelligence Development Company

Get in Hours said...

Thanks a lot Sharing this great & useful Information. Keep sharing more..
3D Wallpaper online


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...