Have you ever wanted to try painting a chevron pattern but just didn’t know where to start? Have you started but then got quickly overwhelmed with the process? Well, let me tell you that is exactly what happened to us. My husband, Josh, and I were expecting a baby and wanted something special in the nursery – a chevron-patterned wall. So naturally we started looking for wallpaper but couldn’t find anything in the right colours or at the right scale. It was then that Josh and I decided we needed to come up with and create our own pattern.

Here is everything you need to know so that you don’t go though the same overwhelming feelings we did. And you can create your completely custom chevron pattern using Co-op’s Private Estate collection by General Paint for optimal quality and coverage.

Required tools

• Painting supplies
• High-quality painters’ tape
• Pencil
• Tape measure
• 2’ level
• Triangle or template with the desired angle for pattern
• Sharp knife
• Ladder

1. Preparation

Choose which wall in the room you want to be your accent wall. Usually the best wall is the first wall you see as you walk into the space. Select a minimum of two colours for the chevron pattern. For best results, prepare the walls for paint by priming, removing electrical plates and patching any existing holes.

2. Paint first colour

Paint the entire accent wall with one of your chosen colours. It does not matter which colour. Let dry completely.

3. Pattern height

To decide what height you want for your chevron pattern: determine how many bands of each colour you want on the wall, divide by the room’s height, minus the height of the baseboard.

Example: Room height (108”) – baseboard (5.5”) = 102.5 ÷ 10 (five bands of two colours) = 10.25” band height

4. Pattern width

Determine your pattern repeat. How many up and down segments you want to see (8) divided by the wall width (10’8”).  This gives you a pattern repeat of 16”.

5. Pattern angle

Finalize the angle you want the chevron pattern to follow. We used a 45° angle.

6. Draw pattern on wall

Find the centre of the wall both vertically and horizontally. Draw the pattern from the centre of the wall out so the pattern remains equal on both sides of the wall. From the centre point measure 10.25” (band height) up to determine the first band’s width. From the two points you have found, draw 45° down in both directions.  Since your pattern repeat is 16”, you will need to change direction of your angle every horizontal 8” (half the pattern repeat). Continue to connect the dots and ensure to keep checking your points remain level.

7. Tape time

Using a high-quality painters’ tape, (we recommend FrogTape for the job), tape off your chevron pattern, always remembering to place the tape on the side of the line that is already painted. A good tip is to just expose the pencil line, so as you paint, the pencil line will get covered.  Press all the tape down, particularly in the intersections. Now you will need to trim the tape at all the interior intersections to provide a clean, crisp corner.

8. Let’s get painting

I would recommend brushing all the tape edges with a good coat of paint first to seal the edge and then quickly follow with a small roller.  Paint every other band your second colour choice.

9. Peel off tape

After the paint has sat for a short time, start to slowly remove all the tape and reveal your end result.

10. Touch-ups

You may have a few touch-ups to do with a small brush afterwards.

So there your have it, a simple, step-by-step way to alleviate the overwhelming task of painting a chevron accent wall.
 

Adrienne Fedorowich is Director of Design at Studio 2.0 Interior Design + Photography in Saskatoon, Sask. She’s looking forward to sharing her knowledge of projects, design tips and products that will make your life more enjoyable and provide inspiration for that next project.

Photos provided by Josh Fedorowich, Director of Media at Studio 2.0 Interior Design + Photography