This easy-to-do paint job will make a big difference to any space. It is quick project with big impact and can be done very reasonably if you use leftover paint or paint samples.
Knocking an archway from our playroom to our kitchen
As part of the renovations to the house we decided to connect the sun room (playroom) to the kitchen. The rooms are side by side but with three small kids it made sense that they would have direct access to the kitchen.
We knocked an archway between the rooms so they could run in and out (which they do!). It involved moving a radiator in the kitchen but luckily our builders were able to do it easily enough.
This is the kitchen when we viewed the house with the wall dividing the kitchen and playroom.
Once the builders knocked in the archway and moved the radiator we painted both rooms white. Here is the archway from the playroom to the kitchen.
Here is the view of the archway in the kitchen through to the playroom.
Adding some colour and pattern
After a few months I wanted to add a bit of colour and make it a fun entrance to the playroom.
I thought about painting it a block colour but I also liked the idea of a geometric pattern (mirroring the geometric wallpaper from Erica Wakerly in our Living Room). I had used frog tape in some of my craft projects so I knew it would work well.
Pick your colours
In terms of the colours I wanted some gold and shades of grey to match the kitchen cupboards and I wanted to use the leftover paints we had from our Sitting Room and kitchen. The gold paint I bought was Johnstones Metallic paint. We then used the dark grey paint we had from the Sitting Room Farrow and Ball Downpipe , and mixed Downpipe with white to create a lighter grey.
Prime and paint with your base colour
If the wall is not painted then prime and paint with your base colour. In our case the arch was already painted white which was our base colour so we didn’t need to paint it.
Mark off the areas to paint
Use masking tape (we used yellow FrogTape) to mark off the areas you want to section off and paint. Make sure you press down the masking tape quite hard so the paint doesn’t bleed underneath. You can be as precise and measure it or you can wing it and mark off sections at various angles just using your eye (which is what we did).
Paint the sections in the various colours
Continue to paint all the sections, giving them 1-3 coats depending on your paint. You can plan it out in advance or just work it out as you go along as we did. We also left some sections white.
Make sure to give the paint sufficient time to dry out fully and then carefully peel off the masking tape and stand back and enjoy your new wall (or archway in this case).
Let me know what you think. Would you be tempted to undertake a painting project? Be sure to leave a comment below or drop me a message.
