Diamonds
Diamonds can be everyone’s best friend. A diamond pattern on
either an accent wall or in the entire room can be fun and
casual or elegant and trés French. While it necessitates careful
taping, this technique can add an incredible “
wow” factor to a
bedroom, hallway, vestibule or dining room. To achieve this
effect, you apply the lighter color base coat, then create a tape
grid of diamonds, filling some in with either a contrasting color
or another finish in the same color as the base.
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| Step 1: Paint Surface with Base Coat | | | After properly cleaning and preparing the surface, apply a base
coat of True Value EasyCare eggshell finish paint in a
color of your
choice. Base coat should be the lighter of the two paint colors
you’ve selected. For a
more subtle look, you can also use the
same color in the eggshell finish that you plan to use in the semigloss
finish (see example above). Allow the area to dry completely. |
| Step 2: Measure Diamonds | | | Measure the width of the wall (or walls) and then divide by the
desired width of your diamonds, usually 6 to 9 inches wide.
Measure the height of your diamonds.
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| Step 3: Mark & Mask Diamonds | |
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Start at the upper left corner and mark off the diamonds, using
a pencil. If the diamonds are 9" wide, place a pencil mark at 41/2"
from the corner along the ceiling. Remember, the point of a complete diamond will have to begin half of the distance out
from the corner. So, continue across and mark the point of the
diamond every 9 inches. Now, using a level, connect the dots
with painter’s tape to form the diamonds. | |
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| Step 4: Determine Colors | | | Determine which diamonds will remain in the base coat color and
which will be painted in the contrasting color. Go horizontally
across the wall and put a pencil “
x” in those diamonds in a row. In
the next row, mark the diamonds that are between those in the
row above. Continue in this manner until the whole row is done. |
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