Cecelia Mullins
Find out how I created a DIY painted arch accent wall in my girls’ bedroom Back in the day, I was a big fan of changing rooms as my interest in interiors had been sparked, but it wasn’t yet my career. I loved seeing the transformations that were possible and how a room could end up looking unrecognisable with some simple but often imaginative and somewhat unconventional changes. Seeing friends and neighbours let loose on each other’s homes under the guidance of designers left the audience on the edge of their seats waiting to find out if the homeowners would love it or loathe it. So when I was approached by Dulux, who are sponsoring the show, asking if I would be interested in undertaking my own Changing Rooms transformation, I was definitely game. And after the initial panic over what I would do, I actually felt really quite excited about this project and realised that I had been preparing for it for months already by saving inspiring images of painted feature walls over on my Pinterest Account.
Paint is such a flexible and versatile way to transform a room and it’s also an affordable way to create a completely new look with minimal effort. Here are some images from Dulux that show how you can use paint in a slightly more subtle way to create a real statement in your home just in case you’re not up for the full Changing Rooms experience. After a bit of back and forth and negotiating with my two little girls, we came up with a plan to redecorate their bedroom, which was badly in need of a makeover.
A few months ago we found out that our building doesn’t have cavity wall insulation.
Finally, we can transform their bedroom and make it into a lovely space fit for two growing girls. So I’d like to take you step-by-step through the transformation of the girls’ bedroom and show you exactly how we created our DIY painted arch accent wall.
We then chose to use Pressed Petal, which is a slightly deeper and warmer pink as one of the accent colours. Along with this, we opted for Golden Sands, a rich, warm shade of yellow and Everglade Forest, a delicious dark green. As we started to scrape and sand the flaking paint off, the whole lot came off, right back to the bare plaster.
Next, we taped off the skirting boards and we were ready to start creating our DIY painted arch accent wall. However, I did need to do a second coat in this colour, purely due to the fact that I was painting onto a bare wall. So we decided to go for some on-trend arches (as a nod to a rainbow) with a few geometric additions to add some extra interest and colour to the room.
For the outside curve of the arch, I drew around the lid of my coffee table which just so happened to be the perfect size. Once you have painted your shapes and you’re sure that you’ve not left any areas a bit patchy, it’s time to remove the tape.
But this does mean you need to make sure you have good coverage before taking it off as it will be trickier to repaint once the tape has been removed.
Using the Dulux Simply Refresh Range you can give your room a whole new look in a matter of hours. I’d not used the Simply Refresh Range before this project, but I would definitely use it again as the coverage was just so good and made the job super speedy.
