The long awaited tutorial for our DIY ombre wall from the season finale of Unsellable Houses is finally here! We hope you all will use this tutorial to transform your own spaces and tag us in the before and afters! Use the hashtag #UnsellableHousesDIY and tag us @lambandcompany. We can’t wait to see what you create! Let’s get to it.
The Process:
Find a starting place: Start by measuring your wall into three sections and then pick a place to begin. We started at the top with the lightest color Sherwin Williams Anew Gray and then moved to the bottom and painted with the darkest Behr Ultra Graphic Charcoal.
Mix it up: Combine the light and dark colors together in multiple buckets to create different variations for the middle part of the wall.
The technique: As you paint along the wall, take a wet cloth (or a paint brush) and smear the paint while it is still wet. Don’t let it fully dry! If the paint gets too dry you will need to paint again.
Pro tip: Make sure you are working in small sections to blend the colors together as you go (lighter to darker). This is why beginning with the lighter color is best!
The finale: Continue this technique until the entire wall is finished. And remember to have patience because this will take time!
Check out our before and after below:
Lessons Learned:
Make no mistake, this wall was a challenge—we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but in the end we had a stunning result that we would definitely do again! Here are a couple of lessons we learned along the way to keep in mind for when you try this on your own.
- Don’t let the wall get completely dry when you are starting to smear. We did this and had to add more paint and wait it out again. We started calling the desired dryness a “soft dry.” Get the perfect soft dry and then start smearing. And don’t wait too long!
- We found that you can’t really go wrong with this wall. It won’t ever be perfect because it is an abstract design. So don’t waste time getting caught up in straight lines and consistency! Have fun with it and remember to be patient. It took us four coats of layering and texturing until we liked it!
This DIY was a part of Season 1, Episode 11: Lake House Update.
Let us know in the comments on Instagram and Facebook, what DIY’s you would like to see next!
Xo,
Leslie
