5 coats of paint. 2 rolls of Frog Tape. More than a few hours of work over several days. Totally worth it. I finished the herringbone accent wall in the dining room and I LOVE it. Guys, dream big and make things happen! Especially if it’s involving paint. You can always paint over something you hate, but it’s worth a try!

As mentioned in my previous post, I started by prepping the wall with 2 coats of white paint as a base. I used my favorite white; Snowy Mount in Olympic One, semi-gloss.

Next came the taping. As I did with the stripes in the guest room, I used Frog Tape to create my pattern and sealed the tape with a coat of the base color. If there was any chance that paint was going to leak under the tape, the paint would match the wall underneath and further seal the tape to the wall.

My process for lining up the tape lines was a bit trial and error. I started with the vertical tape lines, measuring equal spaces between each line. Next I made sample horizontal lines until I found a size I liked. I measured the sample from the peak of the top line to the bottom edge of the lower tape, and used that measurement to determine the placement of the tape all the way down the wall. I’m sorry if that’s confusing… I’m terrible at documenting my DIY processes. I really should take pictures as I go! Lesson learned.

Next came more painting. I used this beautiful navy blue by Olympic called Blue Cloud. In all honesty, I was terrified at this point. I spent hours carefully taping the pattern and then covered the entire thing in dark blue paint. 2 coats of it no less! I really did love the color, though so I comforted myself with the thought that if the paint leaked under the tape terribly, I could just paint the whole wall blue and be happy with that! I was thrilled when I pealed the tape off to reveal perfect, crisp paint lines. I’m telling you, sealing your tape lines REALLY WORKS!

Here’s the reveal in fast motion:

Daniel rigged his phone up to take this video while I worked and it slowly slid down, which is why the video loses the  top of the wall as the end. Whoops!

I’m so happy with this wall, I’ve decided against shelves around the window. I’m concerned the shelves and decor will be too busy on the bold wall and I really don’t want to cover it up anyway! Daniel has started brainstorming some plans for the bench seat and I can’t wait to get started on it! This was a time-consuming project, but I am thrilled with the look.