I am currently doing up my 5 year old daughter, Mia's bedroom for The One Room challenge and on Thursday I showed you all how it's progressing, but could not fit in this tutorial on how I created the graphic feature wall.
When we were gathering our inspirations and putting together the concept board for the new design in her room, Mia really liked this wallpaper from Ferm Living. But as it was a out of our budget, I decided to DIY a similar pattern straight onto the wall, and as I promised in Thursday's Progress report post, today I am sharing the tutorial on how I did it...For less than £8!!
I used the blackboard paint that I had leftover from making her blackboard wall and some POTATOES to create the print!
Yes you heard: Potato printing on the wall!!
The only thing I spent money on, was some frogtape. And although it could be tempting to buy a cheaper masking tape, I suggest that if you want to recreate this pattern on a wall in your own home DO NOT SKIMP ON THIS!! A good quality painters tape will give you the best result!
You will also need:
Black paint (Or any other colour you fancy....it doesn't have to be Chalkboard paint)
Potatoes
Paint tray
Sponge (I simply cut mine in half so it was slimmer)
Ruler
Pencil
Spirit level
First of all I drew up a straight line at the bottom of the wall, using my spirit level.
Although it could be tempting to use the skirting board as a guide, most houses (at least here in the UK) are not strictly straight....and it will look better if your pattern is level!
Then I applied the masking tape on the level pencil line all along the wall...
Repeat this process up the wall, making sure your tape is level throughout!
Leave a gap of about 2"/ 5cm between each line of masking tape.
The potato printing will happen between the two lines of masking tape, and the wideness of the tape (mine was approx 2,5 cm wide) will make up the gap between each row of print
Keep going until you've covered the wall.
This can be quite time consuming, but spending the time doing this right will give the best result!
Before you get ready to start potato printing, use your hands to smooth down the tape properly onto the wall...you don't want to risk the paint bleeding in under the tape...
Cover and protect any areas you don't want any paint on with masking tape , like window frames and adjoining walls etc.
Cut about 3-4 different shaped/sized potatoes in half. You want to have a variety of sizes for your print, and enough of the same potato shapes to last you for the entire wall for a consistent look.
TIP:
Make sure there is enough potato for you to grip onto, or stick a fork in the potato halves for a better grip....they will get slippery as they get covered in paint!
Place the sponge in the paint tray and pour over the paint.
Press the potato half into the paint soaked sponge and get printing...
Simply press the potato, loaded with paint, with a rolling motion onto the wall, on the upside of the masking tape.
Sometimes you may find that the print comes out a bit uneven....I didn't mind a bit of unevenness, but if I thought it was a bit much, I used the edge of the potato to drag the paint to cover, like in the video, above. Same goes for any smudged edges!
TIP:
Maybe do a practice run on a piece of wood or cardboard first to perfect the technique.
I would also suggest that you start printing in an inconspicuous area first.
I started under the window, as I know that Mia's bed will be covering this area!
It will look quite messy as you go, but when you peel off the tape you will see that it's actually OK...
See....I had to have a look, above, to make sure!! ;D
When it comes to creating a pattern with the different shapes and sizes of potato, I found it quite productive to work on 3-4 rows at the same time, using the different potato shapes in a staggered manner!
You will get quite messy, and I would like to suggest that you regularly clean your hands to avoid smudging on the wall. You may also want to rinse your potatoes in cold water ever so often, as they get slippery and difficult to hold when they're covered in paint!
And WHATEVER you do- DO NOT try to catch a potato should it slip out of your hand: Chances are you'll catch it up against your wall, thus creating a big paint smudge!!
When the paint has fully dried, just peel off the masking tape, and use a rubber to erase your pencil marks.
Should you have a paint smudge or two, just touch up with your base colour!
I'm not going to lie to you: This is quite time consuming work, and gripping onto those potatoes was quite tiresome...but stick some music on and take your time....I love how Mia's Half moon print wall came out!
It is not quite as uniform as the wallpaper inspiration, but I think the odd shapes makes the pattern even more fun....don't you??
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