How to Paint Interior Walls With Different Color Accents

Adding an accent color can impress your company with the stylish look of your walls. But you must plan the project carefully to achieve stellar results. You can save considerable time if you follow a logical process for adding color accents to your walls. Whether you are just painting the trim a different color or actually painting a decorative or other element directly on the wall, work with the base color first, then move on to painting the accent color areas.

Things You'll Need

• Painter's blue tape
• Roller, tray and sleeve
• Drop cloths
• Paint
• 2-inch paintbrush
• Level
• Rag

Instructions

1. Move the furniture to the middle of the room you are painting. Leave at least a few feet near the walls clear.

2. Place drop cloths on the floor. Cover the furniture in the center of the room.

3. Use a brush to paint the joints and corners in your base color. This process, called cutting in, will efficiently cover all of the areas you can't easily reach with a roller. Use flat paint for the base color.

4. Roll the base color on walls.

5. Repeat the base coat paint process if one coat does not provide sufficient coverage.

6. Tape around accent and trim areas. Put the tape on the walls, leaving the trim showing. For a full accent wall, tape the walls adjacent to it and the ceiling. For accent areas in the middle of the wall, apply the tape to the wall. For stripes or other rectilinear accents, use a level to ensure good vertical (or horizontal lines). Tape stencils directly on the wall if you are using stencils.

7. Paint your accent or trim areas in your accent color. Use semigloss on trim. Use the flat paint for a full wall painted in the accent color.

References

• "This Old House"; How to Paint a Room: Harry Sawyers
• "Interaction of Color"; Josef Albers; 1975