I’ve seen a lot of tutorials on how to paint a chevron wall, but they were a little complicated. So, I took what I liked from a few tutorials to create my own. Chevron painting really isn’t as tough as it can look… but it is time-consuming.
How to paint a chevron wall
Step 1: Measuring
- Measure the wall horizontally and divide by two to find the center.
- Measure the wall vertically and divide by two to find the center. Use a pencil to mark this center. This is your starting point.
TIP: Only measure what you will paint, so do not include the baseboard in your measurements. This is to ensure the chevrons are the same everywhere, so you don’t have a funky looking pattern on one side or the top or bottom.
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Step 2: Drawing
4. Decide how big you want your chevrons to be.
For my wall, I chose 10 inches – not huge, but not too small. The smaller, the busier it’ll look.
Remember the starting point we made? Use a level to measure 10″ above it and make another dot with your pencil. Do the same thing below your starting point. You should have three vertical dots on either side of your starting point, 10 inches apart.
5. Now, you are going to use the 45-degree angle part of a level to make the chevrons. (Did you ever think you’d use that part?!)
I’m also making these 10″ across. I start at the dots (we made in steps #1 and #2) and just move along the wall, flipping the level as I go to get that perfect 45-degree angle, drawing 10″ lines (up and over, down and over, up and over, down and over, etc.)
Follow this pattern until you have drawn the chevrons on the entire wall.
Step 3: Taping
6. Use those pencil chevrons as a guide to tape your wall. (You don’t need chevron painters tape. Regular tape works fine.)
Put the tape around the section you are going to paint, but apply the tape just over the pencil marks so you paint over them. Also, you will want to overlap the tape at the points so it should look like a little x.
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Step 4: Cutting
7. The little x you made while taping acts as a guide to using your razor. Cut off the little extra to create that perfect point, or v shape. (There is no need to cut the tape that points to the area you will not be painting.)
When you are done taping and you look at the wall, the area you will paint in, will appear a little larger than the area above/below it.
Step 5: Painting
8. Paint inside the area you have taped off and rip off the tape before the wall is completely dry.
This takes patience, but stripes and chevrons look so pretty when it’s done. Now, you’re ready to paint chevron stripes!
Happy chevron painting!
