Sometimes you start a project that you think you are going to finish in a weekend. And that weekend comes and goes and you decide it will be finished the next weekend. And then that weekend comes and goes and you decide it will be finished the next weekend. And then that weekend…okay, you get my point.
I’m a big believer that paint can do wonders for a room. It’s fairly cheap and fairly easy to create big changes, although depending on your particular level of insanity, it can take a fairly long while to finish. About a month ago, we started with this:
And almost a month later, we have this:
The two gray walls (Dark Granite by Behr) and the white ceiling (Powered Snow by Behr) were easy. The chevrons (or zig-zags, as Tom insists we call them) took lasers. And trigonometry. And the use of the word hypotenuse. It probably wouldn’t have taken *you* quite as long to do this as it did us, but that’s what happens when you marry an engineer.
At least I can say that the paint lines are, in a word, perfection (tutorial coming soon). You can’t really tell from the wide shots, but each gray stripe has a small silver metallic stripe underneath. It shines so beautifully in the sunlight, and is a great update to the basic chevron design.
The morning after we finished painting, I honestly felt like I had woken up in the pages of a magazine. I commended myself for my vision and Tom for his ability to follow my instructions, even when he thought that just two stripes on one wall would have been sufficient. 
Obviously, we still have a ton left to do to our master bedroom. The only thing pictured that’s staying is the yellow dresser and the walls. I’m trying to take it slowly and make sure that everything is exactly the way we want it to be. Next up – redoing the other dresser that’s been living in my garage for two months.
What do you think? How have you used paint to completely alter the look of a room?
UPDATE: I put together a tutorial for painting perfect stripes on textured walls. You can find that tutorial here.
{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }
wow, lindsay! that looks amazing! what a huge impact!!!
It is so seriously amazing! You have way more patience than me and my boring all one color walls. Can’t wait to see what else you do with the space – although I would so totally be the one to just call it done now
I love it Lindsay!
I bet it’s gonna look Amazing once your room is completely done!
WOWSERS!!! Love it!!! I detest painting- hubby does it all so I appreciate all the time invested in your chevrons- they look fabulous!
Love love love the way it looks, but truthfully I think it would drive me crazy in any room I was sleeping in. It’s just too energetic!
Yep, that’s definitely a valid point! But just think how alert you’d be when you woke up in the morning.
In all honesty, we watch TV and play on our lap tops in bed every night until we turn out the lights, so the stripes aren’t a big deal to us. I can see how it could drive some people crazy, though.
You are a brave, brave woman! Inspired!
AH.MAY.ZING! That is a very bold, brave print on your wall and I LOVE it! It looks so great and the silver line adds that extra “oomf” – perfect!
way to go sister! soooooo fun and i’m still crushing on that dresser, love the color AND the shape!! xoxo shel
did you get a banner redo too? love it too!
OH WOW!!! That chevron pattern is perfection! Love the close up pictures and I’m sure they don’t do it justice. Can’t wait for the tutorial!
Yay! You got it done
It turned out well!!!! I can’t wait to see the rest of your room. I am LOVING that yellow dresser.
UNBELIEVABLE!!! Then again, I know Tom and I can totally see the perfectionist in him not resting until it was perfect. Love your vision and his execution. What a team!!! : )
Totally awesome!! I love that lasers and trig were involved
looks fantastic! {and I’m LOVING your new header & blog look}
It looks great!! I am not that daring with paint…I am a boring once color person…but that is SO FUN!
FABulous!! It does look like a magazine, and big brownie points to your hubby for trusting your vision and painting all those stripes! My hubby is pretty good at going along with all of my (ahem) “creative” ideas, but I’m not sure he would have been a willing participant in one this bold. The more I look at your pictures though, the more I’m thinking I might need to start working on him! =D
This looks SO GOOD. Brava on your efforts + uber-attention to detail!
wowza, girl! what a statement!
it’s such a different vibe from where you started, so fun! that accent of lighter color on the edges is such a nice touch. well done to BOTH of you!!
cheers!
-h
I love it! It’s bold, and graphic, and wonderful! Your walls looked black at first. Or maybe I just have black on the brain because I just painted my office black. I’m excited to see how you finish out your room! Looks great so far.
holy moly is that ever a big change! it looks amazing! the silver stripe adds so much to the chevron too! well done!
I LOVE it! It is bold and wonderful!
Wow! I LOVE chevron!! Just found your blog, and can’t wait to search around and explore your older posts! Cheers! Rosa
Totally amazing my friend! And I thought you had given up on the chevron dream! It looks fabulous. Oh and BTW I totally get the project deadline creep.
Sarah
Ha! No, it just took so long that it seemed like I gave up!
What a transformation. It DOES look like a room right out of a magazine. You have the vision.
That looks absolutely amazing. I LOVE the dark color and your chevron pattern is really incredible.
You most have married the most patient man in all of existence. The paint looks amazing!
The kid was hovering while I read your post. And I quote, “those black and white zig zags are very cool mama.” I said no, they are gray, white and silver chevrons….he looked at me while I was CRAZY…..awesome zig zags, I mean chevrons….
I’m typically not a huge fan of the chevron, but love the silver in with it. It gives it much more life and dimension.
Beautiful job, but way, way to busy for me to wake up to. I like peaceful calm bedrooms.
This way I don’t have to drink my morning coffee! Kidding.
Love the before pic.
Thank you! We loved that room for several years. I was just ready for a huge change. My aesthetic has really changed in the last 5 years, and I’m finally feeling confident enough in myself to really let it out.
Wow! I’ve never seen anything like that on walls. I got a chuckle out of the line “and the use of the word hypotenuse.”
Your dresser looks really nice, too!
Love it! Our bedroom does need a makeover. This decor is amazing.
Fabulous. We’re just at the tail end of our master re-do and I can not wait to be done.
My jaw is on the floor. It looks amazing.
As the daughter of a painter and someone what has spent countless hours with a roll of masking tape. I know how hard that had to be.
Unbelievable Lindsay!
This is the best project I have seen in quite some time. I would never, never have the stamina to finish anything this huge and I commend you for your crazed determination! lol It’s super-great and I am so glad you love it!
Transformation executed flawlessly. However, would have loved to see the design on one wall only? Too busy for me.
WOW! What a cool project! I like it too, so bold!!
Wow, Lindsay you did a fabulous job! It looks amazing…so dramatic!
OMG Lindsay, this looks amazing! What a transformation. I feel your pain in trying to figure out the “zig zag” pattern. When I was making my chevron rug, I was in math overload ~ I hadn’t done that much calculation since college, lol. Wonderful job and thank you for linking this up to Saturday Spotlight!!
~Jenna, SAS Interiors
Holy cow!! That looks incredible. I cannot imagine the patience that must have taken. I cannot wait to read how you got it to look so great! again, fantastic job!!
I’m very impressed. I recently painted stripes in my entryway and it was a lot of taping, painting, re-taping, painting, etc. so I can’t even imagine how long this project took you! It looks amazing though! I saw your feature on Green Door Designs.
Anna
http://www.akannamoseley.com
Mastering the bedroom with chevron walls. Beautifully painted walls.
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