Robert Hayes
So maybe they don’t lie on their beds and twist the phone cord around their fingers while listening to the New Kids on the Block like I did, but they do find their own ways to unwind and escape into their world, far away from their dorky parents and bothersome little brothers. Elena picked out her room in our new house right away based on the fact that it had a “secret” hideout in the closet (really just an alcove for attic access).
We set out pretty quickly after unpacking boxes to getting her room ready.
My co-worker, Thomas, had posted a link to ombré walls on Facebook. Now, a smarter mom would probably have done some research about how one exactly paints ombré walls and what all it will entail, but in a classic, rookie-mom move, I squealed and immediately showed it to Elena. She squealed even louder, and with that, the decision was made to paint her room in this style.
Let me just say, now that we’ve finished and been able to enjoy it for a couple of months, I’m all for the ombré walls. So Mike and I stood there, with over $100 of paint sitting before us, not sure exactly what to do and sick with the thought of messing up.
If painting an entire room seems too daunting, an accent wall would be just as cool and easier to manage.
3 gallons of paint in 3 similar shades/color family (We used Benjamin Moore Spectra Blue 2049-50, Forget Me Not 2049-60 and Icing on the Cake 2049-70) We lightly drew the dividing lines on the wall in pencil to help us keep the different color sections straight. Cut in and trim the top section (nearest to the ceiling) with your lightest shade.
Fill in the area with the lightest shade using a roller, but leave 3-4 inches above your penciled line unpainted. Fill in the area with the middle shade using a roller, but leave 3-4 inches below the top penciled line unpainted.
(I realize in these photos we did not cut in, trim and fill in the two sections before blending the colors. Return to the top section and fill in the unpainted area up to the line with the lightest shade. At this point you can fill in all the way to both the upper and lower pencil line. Working quickly, blend the two shades together using the color washing brush as you did in Step 5.
Working quickly, blend the two shades together using the color washing brush as you did in Steps 5 and 7. The colors are very similar, and in a frenzy you will get confused and wonder if you just accidentally switched shades.
Most of the problems other people had stemmed from the paint drying out before they could blend the colors.
If you’re at all interested in seeing the rest of Elena’s room, along with sources, I’d be more than happy to do so in a follow-up post.
