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You are visiting: Home » Decorating/DIY » Create Your Decor » How to Paint a Modern Ombre Wall and Finally Get Moving on a Long Ignorned Project

How to Paint a Modern Ombre Wall and Finally Get Moving on a Long Ignorned Project

by Lindsay Ballard on November 4, 2015 5 Comments

Well over a year ago, I came up with the game plan to transition my then 8-year old son’s room from a little boys room to one more fit for the confident, brilliant, and creative young man that he’s become.

Mid Century Modern boy's room moodboard

He was excited for us to get started on it, but then life got in the way (as it has been doing for the last few years).  And then he turned 9.  And then he was mere months away from turning 10.  And then it was REALLY time to get started, because I was embarrassed at my lack to time management, if nothing else.

So one day last month, I decided that it was time for the massive paint job to begin.  I emptied the room, taped off the trim, laid down the drop cloth, and somehow convinced Tom to help me with the paint sprayer.  We primed all of the walls and ceiling and then painted the ceiling and top half of the walls Lindsay White.  This is what it looked like – pretty and pristine on the top and full on hot mess on the bottom.

How to Paint an Ombre Wall

And Tom was all, “Good luck!”  Ok, thanks.

In an effort to give Zack’s room an ocean feel (without being theme-y), I wanted to paint an ombre wall – starting with dark blue at the bottom and transitioning to white at the top.  Instead of it being a graduated, seamless ombre, I wanted a more modern, choppy feel.

So, I divided the wall into three sections – dark blue, medium blue, and white – and marked them with painters tape.  I left a six inch gap between the two blues so I would have a space to blend the colors.  I was going to blend the white and light blue, but I didn’t need to leave a gap since the white was already painted, if that makes sense.  Probably not.

How to Paint an Ombre Wall

Then, I painted the middle section with Glidden’s Paint + Primer (flat) in Marine Blue.  I (obviously) didn’t worry about painting sharp lines, because I’ll be blending the colors together.  I just used my paint roller to slap the paint on the wall.

How to Paint an Ombre Wall

Then, I painted the bottom section with Glidden’s Paint + Primer (flat) in Deep Pool.  Again, I didn’t concern myself at all with the lines being straight.

How to Paint an Ombre Wall

I mixed 2 cups of Marine Blue with 2 cups of Deep pool in an empty paint can.  I used that new mixture and a paint brush to paint the section I left white.  I only painted a few feet at a time and then used a dry brush to blend the wet paint into the other two painted sections.

And I wasn’t jazzed.  I didn’t really like this look at all.

How to Paint an Ombre Wall

So, I kept working with it.  I used a sponge to apply some of the Deep Pool to the bottom of the middle section and some of the Marine Blue to the top of the middle section.

I liked that result much better.  The lesson here is that it’s just paint, so keep playing around until you get the look you want.

How to Paint an Ombre Wall

Next, I mixed 2 cups of Marine Blue with 2 cups of Lindsay White and painted the top stripe.  I paid a little more attention to what the top line looked like this time since I wanted it to look like a horizon line, but I didn’t want it to be perfectly sharp and straight.  I laugh in the face of perfection.

How to Paint an Ombre Wall

With my sponge, I added some Marine Blue to the bottom of the newest stripe.  Because the big difference in color between the white and medium blue, it didn’t blend as nicely as the other section.  But you know what?  I am totally okay with that.  In fact, I think it looks a little like layered, torn paper, and I’m happy about that.

How to Paint an Ombre Wall

Once I cleaned up the drop cloths and reinstalled my outlet covers, the wall looked like this.

How to Paint an Ombre Wall

How to Paint an Ombre Wall

I painted two of Zack’s adjacent walls with this ombre effect.  The other two walls are painted in Marine Blue.  He is thrilled, and he can’t wait to see how the rest of the room is going to turn out.

Me, too.  I guess I better get working on that.

 

 

About Lindsay Ballard

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.

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Comments

  1. pennyfp says

    November 5, 2015 at 8:23 am

    AWESOME!! He is one lucky kid to be getting that kind of a paint job on his room! I can’t wait to see the rest!!

    B decided that playing comp soccer and being in band pushed OM off the To Do list. Or rather, I drew her a picture of her schedule and said, “If you REALLY want to do OM something else has to go.” Can I just say, I am sooooo relieved we are not in it this year???!!! That gets in the way of a lot of life!!! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Paul @ Eco Stores Direct says

    November 5, 2015 at 11:31 am

    Lucky lad! Better than any paint jobs my kids ever saw, you did great

    Reply
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Trackbacks

  1. How to Create a Piece of Modern Jaws Artwork - Makely says:
    June 17, 2016 at 11:12 am

    […] top part of the piece was going to be Lindsay White (like Zack’s walls), so I went ahead and just painted to top half of the piece in that […]

    Reply

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About Makely

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.


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