Here’s how to create a DIY graphic paint project in your home. All you need is tape, two colors of paint, and time. This is a fantastic project to do as a couple since it really helps to have two sets of hands to smooth out the tape and two sets of eyes watching the design to make sure it works. The best part is pulling off the tape together and seeing your design emerge.
Steps to DIY Graphic Paint Design:
- Paint the wall the base color, which will be the color of the “lines” of the shape. When you lay out the design with tape, this is the color that the lines will show up as when you pull the tape off. We tend to do primer and two coats of paint, so this first step takes a couple days for all of the coats to dry. Make sure it is completely dry before moving to the next step.
- Use various widths of tape to create your design. We used three widths of yellow frog tape, which is gentler than the blue tape and less likely to pull up the base paint. It works best for one person to hold down the starting point of the tape while the other unrolls the paint and lays out the shape. Then the first person smooths down the tape, so it is flat without any bubbles. Make sure that the lines intersect in crisp lines and don’t have corners of tape poking out ruining your lines.
- Step back to look at your design (often). It is critical to pause and step back and look at your design and make sure it is working. We created our graphic design purely on instinct and kept modifying it as we went along. Trust your gut!
- Paint over the entire wall, including the tape, in what will be the main wall color. We painted the main wall color a dark teal and the tape lines a light blue. You can mix and match dark and light colors for however intense you want the contrast to be. We painted two coats and let it dry for 30 mins to an hour. You don’t want it be totally dry before you take the tape off because that could peel the paint off of the wall.
- Pull the tape off and view your design. The best part! Start with the top pieces of tape, pull up at one corner, and remove the tape. It is soooooooo satisfying seeing the graphic paint design emerge!
- Touch up the paint using a tiny paintbrush. There will be places where the pain bleeds, ruining your crisp lines, so fix the small mistakes with a thin paint brush. It really doesn’t take much time and it looks so good to fix those errors so your graphic design really shines.
Adding a graphic paint design is a cheap and fun way to add a pop of eye-catching modern style to counterbalance the vintage details of #SpeakeasyStyle. It’s also a clever way to add surprise to your home.
We were inspired to add this element to our home after watching Keith Bynum’s incredible paint designs on HGTV’s Bargain Block. It’s such a fun way to add style to any room. Check out our 5 (real) painting tips to prep for your weekend of painting!
English