DECORATE: WATERCOLOR Walls PAINT Technique (ORC - Week 3)

One Room Challenge™

It's WEEK 3 of the One Room Challenge™ which means I "should" be halfway done with my "SWEET DREAMS" Bedroom makeover! Eeeeek! I guess I will just keep doing my best and move forward. If you want to know more about the ORC or you missed my previous posts for my DESIGN INSPIRATION and BEFORE Room Photos from WEEK 1 or the PAINTING Progress from WEEK 2, click and go to those WEEK's LINKS above.

ALL of the other ORC "Guest Participants" have also linked up (CLICK to SEE) for WEEK 3 at the 
Calling It Home blog so be sure check up on everyone each week. Lots of progress is being made!

You can also view the 20 Professional "Featured Designers" room transformations here. (CLICK to SEE)

www.CallingItHome.com 

If you want to see pics of previous ORC™ Design Entries from past seasons 

or follow this current season, visit these Instagram links below. 

#oneroomchallenge  •  @callingithome  •  @housebeautiful

PLUS I will be sharing SNEAK PEEKS of my "SWEET DREAMS" Bedroom makeover on Social Media. (@thecreativeorchard)

ORC - WEEK 3:

Technically I could put all the store bought items in Haley's "SWEET DREAMS" Bedroom right now and it would look like a finished room, but where would all the CREATIVITY be in that? So now that I have purchased everything off of my shopping list, cleared out all of her old stuff, spray painted some of the furniture/accessories and painted the room white, I wonder what I was supposed to get DONE this week? Hmmm... Oh yeah! I had to hand PAINT over all those plain WHITE walls with pastel rainbow colors using a special WATERCOLOR technique that I had never done before! Help! This is probably where I should have chosen to do something simple like PAINT the walls a solid color but NOOOOO I had to make it harder for myself. Although I am an ARTIST, I was still a bit intimidated because it was the LARGEST BLANK CANVAS that I have ever worked on!!! So after waiting a few days to build up enough courage to PAINT the walls and also hearing my 4 yr. old daughter ask me a hundred times when we were gonna start PAINTING? I decided to just dive right in.

The design "GOAL" for my WATERCOLOR Walls Paint Technique was to make the walls resemble puffy CLOUDS, COTTON CANDY or rainbow sherbet ICE CREAM in an ABSTRACT way which was INSPIRED by the SWEET DREAMS theme. And of course once I actually started the PAINTING process and began to experience how extremely easy this technique was going to be, I realized that all of that anxiety was completely unnecessary! It was actually a lot of FUN because you kinda learn more as you go along and nothing needs to look perfect. LUCKY for you, now I am a little more experienced so if you do decide to try this WATERCOLOR Walls Paint Technique and you make a couple of mistakes, I have included DIY TIPS to help fix boo boo's (sophisticated MOMMY term). A step-by-step DIY TUTORIAL with photos PLUS an "optional" amateur VIDEO TUTORIAL is available for your viewing pleasure BELOW.

WATERCOLOR Walls Paint Technique

DIY PAINT SUPPLIES:

PAINT Roll/Roller
WHITE Flat/Eggshell Finish Interior Latex PAINT (Valspar Signature Paint + Primer - Ultra White @ Lowes)
Basic PAINT Brush (@ Lowes)
WATER Spray Bottle (All-Purpose Sprayer @ Lowes)
PAINT Hand Mitt -or- Large Soft PAINT Sponge
PAPER TOWELS (Durable Quality Brand @ Bounty)
Multi COLORS of Sample Size Interior Latex PAINT (Devine Color by Valspar Exclusively @ Target) (DEVINE COLOR Samples:  Oar Yellow, Sprig Green, Pond Aqua, Blossom Pink & Petal Coral)

(OPTIONAL) PAINT Sealer (Valspar Clear Satin Acrylic Sealing Wax @ Lowes)

DEVINE                       DEVINE                       DEVINE                    DEVINE                   DEVINE
BLOSSOM                   PETAL                         OAR                           SPRIG                       POND

DIY PHOTO TUTORIAL:

STEP #1:  PREP the room by clearing out all the furniture/accessories/curtains/blinds, carefully remove all outlet covers, fix any holes/scratches, use painter's tape and spread out a drop cloth over flooring.

STEP #2:  PAINT all the walls with WHITE Interior Latex PAINT using a PAINT Roll/Roller. Then let DRY completely. REPEAT STEP #2 until previous color is entirely gone.

STEP #3:  Set up a PAINT STATION area on a small table/cart with all your PAINT SUPPLIES within QUICK arm-length reaching distance. This WATERCOLOR Wall Paint Technique process needs to move very smoothly and QUICKLY so STEP #3 is highly recommended for your convenience.

(NOTE: It is very IMPORTANT to move QUICKLY during STEP #4 & STEP #5.)

STEP #4:  Using a WATER Spray Bottle, SPRAY a small amount of clear WATER onto a small area of the wall. Use a PAPER TOWEL if the WATER starts to DRIP too much.

STEP #5:  Using a Basic PAINT Brush APPLY an imperfect "blob" of PAINT on top of the sprayed WATER. Then QUICKLY using a slightly WET fluffy PAINT Hand Mitt -or- Large Soft PAINT Sponge, gently spread/smear the PAINT out all over into a thin slightly opaque large imperfect abstract shape similar to a cloud. Then let walls DRY completely. REPEAT STEP #4 and STEP #5 if using MULTIPLE PAINT COLORS.

(VIEW PHOTOS or VIDEO BELOW for more Step-by-Step INSTRUCTIONS) 

(READ "DIY TIPS" BELOW for additional advice based on my own experience.)

Valspar SEALING WAX

STEP #6: (OPTIONAL) IF you want "piece of mind" and more durability for the PAINT on your walls, you might TRY applying a PAINT SEALER. I would recommend talking to a PAINT PROFESSIONAL/SPECIALIST at your local home improvement store for advice about the best PAINT SEALER for your project. I personally did NOT use a PAINT SEALER because I did NOT feel it was necessary for our lifestyle but everyone has their own opinion.

DIY TIPS:

•  IF you "accidentally" use too much PAINT, before it starts to DRY, you can still wipe some of it off using a PAPER TOWEL while the PAINT is still WET. Once the PAINT is DRY, it's too late! REMEMBER that less WATER and/or PAINT is BEST because you can always keep adding more PAINT/WATER on top of the previous layers later on but you can't remove DRY PAINT. You can ALSO SPRAY a tiny bit extra WATER while the PAINT is still WET to thin it out even more.

•  Although when I first started this PAINT technique, I used the PAINT Hand Mitt -or- Large Soft PAINT Sponge, which worked out great, but sometimes I felt that it was just easier to use the PAPER TOWEL to thin out the layer of PAINT instead because I preferred the PAINT to appear extremely light. I recommend trying a couple different ways to achieve the results you desire.

•  IF when the walls in your room are DONE and completely DRY and you think that the technique looks way too "bold" for your taste, you can go back and FIX it by SPRAYING a small amount of WATER then APPLYING a teeny tiny amount of WHITE PAINT using a PAINT BRUSH then use a PAPER TOWEL to gently wipe it all over the specific "bold" PAINT areas to lighten them.

DIY VIDEO TUTORIAL:

Below is my very FIRST VIDEO TUTORIAL ever, so keep in mind that I am NOT a pro PAINTER plus I had to hold my phone with one hand while video taping, talking and painting with the other hand at the same time. So please be kind and understanding that I did NOT have a plan on what to say and my video is kinda shaky and not quite centered all the time - WOOPS! THANK YOU in advance for your cooperation. Lol.

(HOW TO APPLY PAINT COLOR #1)

(HOW TO APPLY PAINT COLOR #2)

 

 

SWEET DREAMS Bedroom VIDEO ROOM TOUR:

WATERCOLOR Walls Paint Technique 

Color Variation Photo-corrected Examples:

As you can SEE BELOW, the WATERCOLOR walls also make a GREAT photo back-drop!

BIG THANKS to Calling It Home and House Beautiful for the One Room Challenge™! 💛

IF you TRY this WATERCOLOR Walls Paint Technique, PLEASE share web link in the comments below so we can see your project! 

PHOTOGRAPHY DISCLAIMER: IF you SHARE any PHOTOS that belong to theCreativeOrchard.com, PLEASE give CREDIT to the Creative Orchard and/also LINK back to theCreativeOrchard.com and/or TAG @thecreativeorchard  on Instagram.com.

Thank You!

DISCLOSURE: (The COMPANIES/PRODUCTS/BRANDS that I used and featured in this post was my own personal choice and they are NOT affiliated in any way.)

IMPORTANT NOTICE:  To whom it may concern, IF you choose to TRY to attempt this DIY WATERCOLOR Walls Paint Technique, I (Renee Hagloch) am NOT responsible for the outcome. This DIY TUTORIAL was based off of my own personal experience. I am NOT a PRO PAINTER. HAVE A NICE DAY! 

DECORATE: SWEET DREAMS Bedroom (ORC - Week 2)

One Room Challenge™

What a crazy BUSY week I have had!!! I'm exhausted but so much PROGRESS has been done to Haley's "SWEET DREAMS" Bedroom makeover! This is WEEK 2 of the One Room Challenge™, if you want to know more about the ORC or you missed my DESIGN INSPIRATION and BEFORE Room Photos from the previous WEEK 1 post go back here. (CLICK to SEE)

ALL of the other ORC "Guest Participants" have linked up (CLICK to SEE) for WEEK 2 at the Calling It Home blog so be sure check up on everyone's rooms progress. All kinds of inspiration is happening!

You can also view the 20 Professional "Featured Designers" room transformations here. (CLICK to SEE)

www.CallingItHome.com 

If you want to see pics of previous ORC™ Design Entries from past seasons 

or follow this current season, visit these Instagram links below. 

#oneroomchallenge  •  @callingithome  •  @housebeautiful

PLUS I will be sharing SNEAK PEEKS of my "SWEET DREAMS" Bedroom makeover on Social Media. (@thecreativeorchard)

ORC - WEEK 2:  

For WEEK 2 of the One Room Challenge™, I focused on lots and lots of PAINTING!!! I thought that it would be easier for me to PAINT everything all at one time that actually needed painted. Not until I started taking before pics of the walls and started looking around at the hand painted scallop border I did for Haley's Baby Nursery, (CLICK to SEE) did I realize how sad painting over it was going to be. So after I got all emotional, I decided to take a couple days to cope with idea of change and just prep the room by cleaning everything out first. Then I removed the outlet covers and patched up all the little holes/scrapes. Haley's EXCITEMENT for her new room really helped to keep me positive and motivated me to move on. Of course both kiddos volunteered to help me get started with the PAINTING. This when I had to let go of my strong desire to completely control the potential of a paint mess. Although it caused a little anxiety, I still felt it was important for the kids, especially Haley, to feel involved with the decorating process. Everything turned out great, the room is now a blank WHITE canvas for me to work with. (SEE PHOTOS BELOW) Too bad the WHITE isn't going to be staying for very long... 😈 mooahahaha. In fact I like the fresh WHITE walls so much that it kinda makes me want to paint more WHITE walls in my house but my hubby appears to be annoyed by that statement since I recently painted everything GRAY. So because I can only work on one room at a time, I guess we'll just have to see if that happens later. 😉  

To Do PAINT List:

✔ PAINT Bedroom WHITE (to start)

✔ PAINT Trim/Base Boards WHITE

✔ SPRAY PAINT Jenny Lind Headboard AQUA (Once delivered, too "blue" for color scheme)

✔ SPRAY PAINT Pretend Dessert Stand AQUA

✔ SPRAY PAINT Kids Table and Chairs YELLOW, CORAL and LIGHT PINK

✔ SPRAY PAINT Decorative Tray AQUA

✔ SPRAY PAINT Storage Box LIGHT GREEN

✔ SPRAY PAINT Decorative Misc. Decorative Accessories 

SHOPPING List from the WEEK 1 post is DONE! ✔ (CLICK to SEE LIST) 

Next WEEK, I plan to... 

ORGANIZE Haley's closet by replacing all the storage bins, color coordinating clothing and set up a more functional and attractive accessory area. 

CREATE some of the DIY decorative accessories. 

HANG various window treatments options. 

DESIGN a floor plan for furniture. 

PAINT over the WHITE walls with a NEW PAINTING technique that I've never tried before. Which if it turns out the way it looks in my head, it will look AMAZING! Let's just hope everything goes smoothly and works out the way its supposed to... wish me LUCK!!!

BIG THANKS to Calling It Home and House Beautiful for the One Room Challenge™! 💛