DIY Modern Color Block Wall

As you know, we painted our bedroom recently in a moody black and I am thrilled with that color… the room was cozy but still bright.  However, something was missing for me… I thought about changing the art above the bed, but the white jackalope that sits above our headboard has meaning to us.  I couldn’t put my finger on it until recently. One of my very best friends and I brainstormed on her own bedroom and she ended up creating a beautiful color blocked design in sandy tones with touches of blush.  After seeing her plan come to fruition, I was feeling like my own bedroom was now especially lackluster.  Saturday morning I was staring at our room and Chris asked what I was doing.  I told him, “I am thinking of ways to make our bedroom more exciting.”  Of course, his male response was that he could think of some ways we could do that… Let’s just say his ideas were not at all in line with mine, but the man can make me laugh. After contemplating it all morning, I decided my walls needed some color blocking of their own.  Today I am going to share with you my DIY modern color block wall. (Note: If you are looking for any of the items in our bedroom, you can find most of them in a shoppable gallery at the bottom of this post.  Affiliate links have been used.  Thank you for your support!)

I wanted a color that would still be in the neutral family, fit the vibe of my bedroom as well as the flow of our home, and not look too stark against the black.  To decide on a color, I walked my home and noted that I had hints of rust and chestnut on our main living areas as well as our bedroom.  Our vintage midcentury furniture in our own room as well as the living room, our new leather sectional, and the horse print in our dining room all carry these warm earthen tones.  At my local Sherwin Williams I selected some swatches and settled on “Wheat Penny” which is a nice warm sepia that reads not too brown and not too red… it was perfect!  It actually looks very much like leather, and I love that quality.

The next choice to make was how to design the color block.  As always I peruse pinterest when I have an idea to find images to back up my thinking; that’s just how I work in my own home. I had a design in mind, but I could not find any images anywhere to support it.  As I was discussing all of this with my bestie, she texted me a photo of a Coach Wallet that was exactly the pattern I had been picturing.

Using my iPhone photo editor, I drew a little mock up of my plan, but also drew a mock up of plan B (A circular design behind the bed which I love).  By the way, that iPhone editor feature is fabulous if you’re contemplating color changes or design changes and using your phone images.

Plan A:

Plan B:

In the end Plan A won out because I loved the shape with everything else we had in the bedroom.  It felt a little more dramatic, and drew the eye up nicely.  And, let’s be honest here, it’s so much easier to tape off a triangle than it is to sketch a perfect circle any day.  I did however, decide to make my triangle slightly wider than I sketched.

Now, some people like to be super mathematical about these kinds of things, and some people like to just eyeball and get it done… I fall into the latter category.  Using just below the Jackalope as the center, I taped my first line and went diagonally upward and right, towards the window.  For the other side, I went diagonally upward and left, and just tried to space it out evenly.  I was a little off at first, but this incredible tape came right off and I was able to just adjust it easily.

Full disclosure here: I used Scotch Blue platinum tape for this project, not because it was the best, but because I had it in a goodie bag from the Haven Conference years ago, and because it was in that bag, I was able to find it, as opposed to any other painter’s tape that might have made the move from Maryland.  However, this paint proved to be the absolute best for this job.  It’s flexible, doesn’t tear, and comes off as easily as it goes on without damaging walls.  This is in no way a collaboration with Scotch, but I had to fill you in on this amazing tape.

I painted one coat completely with a brush only because I was feeling a bit lazy about getting the roller out, but I knew the second coat would need to be rolled on to suit the texture of the walls. Here is what one coat looked like…

The second coat was edged in with a brush, and then I removed the tape (I find the best results happen when the paint is still dry).  I was highly impressed with the sharpness of the line this tape helped me create.

After I pulled off the tape, I suckered Chris into rolling the inside of the color block for me.  He just loves me and all of my exciting bedroom ideas. 😉

Once everything was dry, I put the room back together, and hung the jackalope back in his rightful spot on the wall.

Seriously those lines… I am no stranger to painting lines on the wall (a long long long time ago, in a house far away, I painted stripes on my dining room wall). These are the sharpest edges I’ve ever achieved.

Stepping back with this new addition to the room, everything felt right… this was just the thing that had been missing.

I want to pan out a bit and show you how this color and design really ties the room together.

On the wall opposite the bed sits my long low midcentury dresser which has a dark rust wood tone. It’s challenging to photograph those two walls together since they are on opposite sides, so pardon the less than stellar photograph, but I wanted you to really see the balance.

On the right wall that you can’t see here sits Chris’ tall dresser which mirrors the warm wood of my dresser.

You may have also noticed that I have added curtains since the last time I shared this space with you.  I found these gorgeous white curtains with black dotted lines at Ikea for $25/pair and they were the exact right height I needed… no hemming required.  That’s my kind of curtain!

Do you see my slippers there next to the bed?  I had to stick those in, because they kind of match the room which I found coincidental.  I bought these mukluks simply because they were available in my size and at Zulily. Now that I see them with my room, I feel like they subconsciously inspired it.

Still to do in this room are paint the ceiling and change the hideous ceiling fan fixture, but I am so happy with our progress. Now, I lay in bed smiling, knowing that I am sitting underneath my favorite wall.  And Chris smiles, in hopes that his exciting ideas might one day come to fruition, too.