Accent walls are a great way to give your room a little bit of your personal style. While the creamy soft whites, neutral grays and transitional greige colors are gorgeous and so in style, sometimes a room needs a little bit more to really pop.
Accent walls
When I hear the word accent wall, I immediately think of my grad school buddy’s white walled apartment that had one bright shiny red wall. It was… hideous.
Because of this, I’ve been hesitant to paint an accent wall. After all, it was a 2000’s trend that died in favor or a more monotone look.
Recently though, I’ve been drawn to accent walls more and more. I want the main colors on my walls to be light and neutral, but something about those rich looking accent walls keeps calling to me.
Are Accent Walls Outdated?
Actually, accent walls are totally back in style! Back in the early 2000s, accents walls were typically one dark painted wall. Now, they can range from a wall accented by shiplap, a wall of faux (or real!) brick, a wallpapered wall, a wall with a wood design, and of course, a painted wall.
If you need a little more inspiration to see what I mean…
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Check Out These Accent Walls
See why I’m totally crushing on an accent wall now?
My Accent Wall
In my home, I recently removed the wallpaper in the first floor powder room with a goal of doing a mini-remodel and giving it a boho look. I found an inspiration picture on Pinterest, and got to work.
Painting the wall was easy. If you need tricks and tips on painting, you can find some here.
But once I got to the corner, I knew that I needed to go the extra measure to make sure my corner was crisp and clean.
How To Paint A Corner Where Two Colors Meet
Painting an accent wall corner and making sure the edge is perfect is easier than you think. It requires a roll of painter’s tape, a good paint brush, and a knowing the exact order to paint the corner in. I’ll explain that to you now.
Making a Perfect Accent Wall Corner
Before you put any tape on the wall, paint the whole corner one color. Get paint on both sides of the corner, because you don’t want to accidentally end up with any part of the wall not painted.
Then, tape the wall right along the edge of the color that you painted on both sides of the corner.
Once that is done, you can paint ANOTHER coat of the first color of paint. You’re thinking that I made a mistake here, right? I didn’t!
Painting the first color on the tape again is going to seal the edge. That means that if any of the paint bleeds through the tape, it will be the first color, which is what you want!
Once that paint dries, you can finally paint the second color of paint on the line (being careful to not go over the other side of the tape).
Before this coat of paint dries, go ahead and pull the tape off. This will ensure that you don’t end up peeling a little bit of that final coat off the wall inadvertently.
And you should have a perfectly clean, crisp paint line right in the corner of your wall!
Doesn’t that look perfect!
Trust me, even if you’re an experienced edger, you won’t get as clean of a line as this unless you use tape.
Now that your accent wall corners are completed, your accent wall is done!
If you want to see how the bathroom turned out, you can find the reveal here!
I hope this tutorial is helpful for you! Drop me a note and let me know how it goes!
Teija Beverly Nelson
10 Mar 2020First, I’m totally confused. Which color did you use first?? Beigh or green ? Also, up close it appears there is a white line between the colors . I’m so not getting it. Can you clarify?
Lauren
10 Mar 2020Hi Teija! Sorry that this was confusing!
In the corner, I painted beige first. Then put tape, and painted beige again. And last, painted green. The first coat of beige gets it on both sides of the corner. The second coat (after the tape is applied) seals the tape with the beige color, so any paint that seeps through the tape line is beige. Then the last coat (green) makes the crisp green line. You will probably actually need two coats of the “green” (or whatever color you’re using) to make sure that none of the previous color shows through.
And you’re right. It does look like there is a white line. The white line is just the beige paint on the actual corner itself. It reflects differently because it is a different angle of the beige paint, but there is no white on those walls. Just beige and green.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Sarah
14 Mar 2020Sealing the edge with the same color was brilliant! I hate that little “ruffle” that seeps under the edge of paint on a wall with imperfections in the plaster or drywall.
Definitely trying it out!!
Thanks for the idea!
Lauren
14 Mar 2020Thanks Sarah! Happy painting!
Michele
2 Jun 2020I am a little confused about how the tape was applied. Did you center the tape in the corner and then push it into the corner leaving the edges loose? Or did you remove the tape after the second coat of beige and then apply new tape with the edge in the corner and the loose side over the beige wall? Not sure if I am making sense! 😀
Lauren
2 Jun 2020Hi Michele! It is a little bit confusing at first! First, I paint the wall on both sides of the corner (about an inch on both sides) with the beige paint. Once it is dry, I put the tape on the side of the corner that is going to be beige. Then I paint the other wall (the green wall) in beige in the corner seam. This seals the tape with the beige color, and ensures that if any color goes through the tape onto the beige wall (where the tape is), it is beige in color. THEN, I paint the corner again with the actual color for that wall (green, in this instance). Does this help?
Karen Gross
28 Mar 2020This is exactly right! I discovered this trick a while ago, and it works really well. Unfortunately, I always have to go through it in my head again, figuring out the order of things, and seem to get it confused sometimes. So thanks for the great write-up!
Lauren
28 Mar 2020Hi Karen! I agree – I’m going to paint an accent wall as well, and will need to think it through a second before I start!
Natalie
5 Apr 2020How long are you letting everything dry for before applying tape, doing your seal coat and then applying for final coat before removing your tape? I’m always terrified of pulling up paint with the tape so I try to freehand as much as I can (but I really like those clean lines!!)
Lauren
6 Apr 2020Hi Natalie! I usually let all of the beginning coats dry for an hour or two. Just until they’re dry to the touch. I’m too impatient to wait much longer than that! On the final coat, you can remove it pretty immediately if you want. I’m a freehand person myself – I don’t tape anything usually, but there is nothing nicer than a really crisp accent wall line!
Pam
25 Apr 2020What if I’m only painting the accent wall and I don’t have the original paint color any more? Any suggestions?
Lauren
25 Apr 2020Hi Pam! I’ve heard that you can put painters tape on the line, smooth a thin bead of caulk over the tape (on the side where the new paint is going) as a sealer, and then paint over the line. Then pull the tape off before the caulk dries. I haven’t tried this, and I don’t quite understand how it works since you’re painting on wet caulk, but I had a friend who worked at a paint store tell me this is how he did it. Good luck!
Rosanne
18 Jun 2020How long do you wait to put tape on wet paint? In past I have had frog paint peel of old paint.
Lauren
18 Jun 2020Hi Rosanne! I wait until the paint is dry (an hour or two) and haven’t had any trouble.
Tina
28 Jun 2020This is amazing, am going to try it!
Lauren
28 Jun 2020Good luck Tina! It’ll look awesome!
Emily
28 Jun 2020Any suggestions for this method on a highly textured wall?
Lauren
28 Jun 2020Hi Emily! So I have heard that you can seal the tape with clear (paintable) caulk. I think that this method would work better on a textured wall since its a little thicker than paint. I haven’t done it before, but I think you just paint both sides of the corner, put your tape on, put paintable caulk on, wait til it dries, and then paint over it. But maybe look it up just to be sure. Good luck!