Paint Like a Pro and Pull-off this One-of-a-Kind Accent Wall

Mandi from Vintage Revivals takes an ordinary wall and makes it into a stylish masterpiece. #BrightIdeas

Mandi from Vintage Revivals, and winner of a 2014 Homie award from Apartment Therapy, takes an ordinary wall and transforms it into a stylish masterpiece in just a few simple steps, starting with the Swiffer® Sweeper.

Mandi approaches every wall as a blank canvas just waiting to be turned into art. And the makeover of her mother in-laws' spare room into a home office retreat was no exception.

The key to Mandi's success is prepping and planning. To truly paint like a professional, it is all about getting the walls clean at the start. She used Swiffer Sweeper on the walls to help remove all of the dust and debris that could "junk" up the paint rollers. Once the walls were clean, they were painted a crisp vintage white.

She has a good history with creating different types of eye-popping walls. This gold-on-white, sharp angle accent wall was the feather in the cap of her Southwest/Tribal inspired living room.

This is when the detail planning comes into play. Mandi sketched out the pattern she was going to draw on the wall on a piece of paper. She also had to figure out all of the measurements so that the design would be centered on the wall and fit nicely when all the furniture was placed in the room.

Then she began the work to transfer the pattern to the wall, first by marking out where she would draw lines, then drawing all the vertical lines to exact measurements using a Sharpie® paint pen and a straight edge. Mandi made extra sure to get a water-based PAINT pen and not just a regular Sharpie.

Did you know that you can paint oil paint over latex, but you can't paint latex over oil? This is the very reason to use a water-based paint pen. In the future, if Mandi wanted to paint over it, she would be able to do so without re-priming the walls. You can find water based paint pens at The Home Depot.

Once all the vertical lines were drawn in, Mandi then measured and marked out where the connecting pattern lines connect with the vertical lines. Using the straight edge, she connected the dots. Patience is key at this step.