How to Decorate a Sloped Wall

Sloped walls can cut into a space and make it feel small.

Decorating a room can be a challenge all its own, but decorating a room with sloped walls presents another challenge. A sloped wall can make a room feel closed in and tiny. The key to opening the space is choosing paint and furniture that works with the walls instead of against them. All furniture should be short and proportionate to the room, and any storage should be shorter than the slope. Slanted walls create an architecturally attractive feature in a room that should be embraced.

Things You'll Need

• Plastic sheeting
• Paint
• Paint supplies
• Removable wall stickers

Instructions

1. Remove all furniture from the room.

2. Lay plastic sheeting on the floor to protect it from paint.

3. Choose a paint color for the ceiling and walls. Light shades of blue, purple and green are considered cool colors, and they recede to make the room feel bigger. To make the room feel even bigger, choose a ceiling color two to three shades lighter than the wall in the same hue.

4. Paint the ceiling and allow enough time for drying before applying a second coat.

5. Paint the walls and allow enough time for drying before painting another coat. Depending on the color, you may need a third.

6. Paint a mural in a color that complements the room or apply removable vinyl wall stickers to draw the attention to the wall. There are a wide range of removable stickers available from quotes to shapes that will compliment any decor. Small rooms benefit from horizontal stripes painted on the sloped wall. After the ceiling dries, apply painter’s tape to the wall where you want the stripes. A laser level can help with this. Wait until the paint dries to remove the tape. The stripes will make the room feel much longer than it is.

7. Move the furniture back into the room. Keep the furniture low to the ground to make the room feel taller. Bookshelves or dressers should be no taller than the straight walls. The average height is about 3 feet before the wall slants.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider painting the furniture the same color as the wall to allow it to fade into the background.

References

• Easy-House-Painting-Tips.com: Painted Ceilings
• House Painting Tutorials: Warm and Cool Room Color
• Apartment Therapy; Design Ideas for Any Room with Sloped Ceilings; Kim Rinehimer; June 10, 2011