Our colorful, diagonal grid dining room mural + my urge to paint more!

Confession: I have this thing with color! And I have a theory that paint is cheap and ALLLLL walls should be painted. SOOOOOOO! Combine this truth in my life with Ingrid Fetell Lee’s new book “Joyful” and I have the urge to paint EVERYTHING. Like ALL THE THINGS in our house. I am arguing that this can’t possibly be a bad thing!

I got the idea to paint the little wall in our dining room awhile back. It’s a small space that isn’t seen unless you are in the kitchen or dining room, so it felt kind of like a hidden gem that you had to look for (I mean, it is out in the open but you get the idea). I settled on a diagonal, gridded, rectangle pattern that sort of flows from blues and greens into oranges, pinks and yellows. I love it. And today I am sharing with you the colors I used, the techniques I tried and the final results for this colorful dining room mural that has quickly become a favorite spot in our house! 🙂 

First up, these were the colors I used (all from Home Depot). ANNNNND I got away with using the tiny “sample” sizes which were under $3 a piece (we chose Behr Marquee in all the colors. I have found this is a thicker paint that requires less coats, and maintains the color intensities)! 🙂 Total cost for paint was $22 I believe. #win

• Behr Teal Motif
• Glidden Teal Lagoon
• Glidden Capri Teal 
• Glidden Washed Teal
• Behr Chameleon (the color that our wall already was) 
• Glidden Buttery Willow
• Behr Saffron Strands
• Behr Ferrous
• Behr Coral Fountain
• Behr Noble Blush

1. Sketched it out
   Nothing fancy. Just with some of Zeke’s markers and some ideas of colors. Then off to Home Depot to snag 9 bazillion paint samples so that I could look at them in our “at home” light.

2. I measured + marked
I then took my giant level and made my first line with pencil. I wanted it to be about 45 degrees so I did have to do it 2 times before it was perfect. I have found when doing stripes or lines on a wall it is WAYYYYYYY easier if I mark the lines off with pencil so that the tape line can follow the pencil lines for the cleanest and most level lines! 🙂 
Each subsequent line was made off of a measurement from the previous line. Ie, I made my first line diagonal and then marked off 12” with hashmarks from the first line made. I place my level, drew the line and then re-measured to make sure that it was 12”. Again, let me remind you that I am a “thats about right” kind of measurer. SOOOOO my lines are *NOT* perfect and they do waver about 1/4” up down and left and right, but overall I think that you don’t notice with all the color and movement happening. 

NOW! I was SUPPPPPPER careful to be sure that if I was off, I was *consistently* off. I figured it was more important for the lines to be parallel than to be measured in inches perfectly. 

3. I laid out the colors
I cut up each color sample and taped them to the wall inside the marked off rectangles. I wanted to be sure that each color was placed where I wanted it before taping and painting (you know how tricky it can be to TRULY see how the color looks with the 3M royal blue tape next to your color)! 🙂 
I moved some around and rearranged a bit.

4. I taped
I chose every other diagonal “row” of rectangles and taped them off. I began with the long portions. Then added in the smaller sides. This was the easy and fun part because I could see it coming together! 🙂 

5.  I painted + taped + painted + taped again
I painted each rectangle with 2 coats. Let it dry, then moved the tape to the other rectangles (same row). 
I let it sit overnight to let the paint fully cure. 
Then taped off the opposite rows and rectangles. 

NOTE: I tend to believe that if you tear off the tape while the paint is drying (not sure wet, not fully dry) that it tears off easier and with straighter lines. I’m sure a house painter would laugh at me, but I feel like it doesn’t take off excess paint when pulling while still drying. 

6. I touched up + poured a glass of wine!
There were only 2 spots that I needed to use a paintbrush to touchup. Otherwise, I poured myself a glass of wine and scooped a *BIG* bowl of ice cream to sit and enjoy! 🙂 

I am loving this wall! Like I said, it’s EASILY becoming one of my favorite spots in the house……but now I’m onto the painting bug and have ideas brewing for other areas of our house (bathrooms, Esther’s room, hallways……..the choices are ENDLESS)! 🙂

*HAPPY PAINTING*