Wonder Wall

Wall Upgrade

If you are like me, you see the words wonder wall, and start singing that song in your head immediately. 

"And after all, you're my wonderwall!" Looking at the pictures of this project, I couldn't get that song out of my head. So it is now dubbed, forever in mind, as my wonder wall. 

Let's take a look at what we started with:  Small pass through from living room to kitchen, gas wall heater, flat peach walls, and light beige carpet. Oh, no! (If you missed the Kitchen Before and After, go here.)

Then we had this:  Wall opened up to the kitchen, breakfast bar, pendant lights!  Yes!  Moving in the right direction. 

But something was still wrong.  I kept sitting on my couch, gazing into the kitchen, and it still wasn't quite right.  I pondered and thought and pondered some more and considered and deliberated. And then it hit me.  The white wall under the white breakfast bar needed a little something.  It was too bland. At least, too bland for me.

When we first moved into our home, this was the color palette I had in mind for our living areas. I wanted them all to flow together using these colors in each room.  But one room may be dominately green (i.e. living room) and the next room would only have small accents of green.  You get the point.  I love the navy!  I have such a crush on that color right now. It is a great neutral. Pair it with green and teal, and you have a winner! ( I know green walls aren't for everyone, but they make me smile.)

Source: Better Homes and Gardens, March 2012

Armed with a great color palette, I headed to the hardware store for paint to get started on the feature wonder wall under the breakfast bar.  I used Smoke Embers (which is also the color I painted the formal dining room and office), and Hale Navy from the above picture.  The green I painted my walls is about as close to Savannah Moss as we could get it, but I'm not exactly sure what we ended up with.  It just says "custom color" on the can.  Anywho, the pink and red hues we guessed at as well because the colors listed above weren't in the system.  

Here is how it turned out.  I don't have any pictures of taping and painting, but it wasn't very hard. Just time consuming.  I didn't want the traditional chevron so I opted for a mix between chevron and herringbone.  

Here's how:

-Measure wall in inches.  

-Divide those inches by the amount of zig zags you want.   (For example, let's say that my wall was 120 inches.  I knew I wanted six sections, so I divided by six and got 20 inches.)

-Tape vertical lines every 20 inches. 

-Measure wall vertically and divide by the number of stripes you want.  (For example, height of 60 inches divided by six would give you 10 inches)  

-Apply tape (I use Frog Tape) at a slant every 10 inches.  This takes a little "eyeballing" but you can do it!

-Paint and remove tape. 

(If anyone has any questions, leave a blog comment below.)

When I got finished with the wonder wall, I immediately loved it!  It gave the wall some weight that drew the eye down.  But as I continued to add decor elements to my home, I noticed that the pink and red stripes weren't working.  I had originally planned on finding a printed fabric that had all these colors to pull it all together, but I just wasn't coming up with anything.  So I decided to go a different route.  

One of my favorite blogs, Teal and Lime, has amazing mood boards!  I love her work!  Here are a few that I liked.  It helped me to envision an area with blues and greens and greys without it being so in your face.

Source: Teal and Lime

Source: Teal and Lime

Source: Teal and Lime

Of course, since I have green walls above the chair rail, my furniture will need to be neutral.  (We currently have a couch and chair from our previous home, but plan on purchasing another in another year or two. Probably in grey.)

Once I decided that a more neutral approach was the way to go, I painted the pink and red stripes a blue and grey to tone it down.  

It turned out so nicely. And it makes me smile.  So what do you think?  Did you like the first color palette or the second one better?  

Update: This post was featured over at Homecoming as one of the Top Three of the DIY'ers. Check it out. 

*Linking to:

 Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

The DIY'ers at Homecoming

Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse