Create The Accent Wall Of Your Dreams With TikTok's Unlikely Painting Technique
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Accent walls can be a great way to add interest and texture to a room, as well as provide a dynamic focal point to visually manipulate the eye to create more space. The creation of an accent wall is usually achieved by painting a wall a single color or adding wallpaper in a room, but the opportunity to be creative in any given space can result in innovative approaches to making a unique and distinctive accent wall. TikTok user @alissalove_0 recently showed off an amazing hack and alternative to traditional brushes or sponges that has stunning, completely custom results. She uses an inexpensive beauty blender in a repeating pattern of different-sized dots to create a unique pebbled effect in her bathroom.
In the comments, the DIY-er says she initially started with a brush creating her accent wall, but switched to the beauty blender when she found it easier to work with. The beauty blender allows her to create unique dots exactly where she wants them. While the approach resembles many sponge painting or stamping techniques, the beauty blender's application is slightly different, which means the dots are denser and darker.
Using a beauty blender for painting
Beauty blenders are usually inexpensive, sold in packs of multiples from places like Ulta and Amazon, making them a great alternative to more expensive natural sponges often used in painting. @alissalove_0 uses the beauty blender dipped liberally into the paint to create an irregular pattern of pitch-black splotches on a white wall that resembles Dalmatian dots. She can freehandedly determine the shape and placement carefully of each mark, which creates a unique and custom pattern.
Different amounts of pressure and amounts of paint will create different results, so practicing on another surface is key before you turn your attention to your chosen wall. You can go for denser dots of color or lighter ones, as well as manipulate the beauty blender to create more feathered strokes, almost like flowers, or create more solid and defined marks. Numerous shapes and sizes exist, from more triangular blenders to rounder and oval-shaped ones, allowing for a great amount of variety. Paint will also vary your results, with thicker paint and more liberal application creating more texture. As with any sponge painting technique, work in small sections to make sure you are getting the results you want.
Is it right for you?
Using a handpainted approach gives you a bit more control over the pattern than a stencil or patterned roller, and is much easier to install than wallpaper, allowing you to get around things like light fixtures, outlets, and mirrors. It's much easier than cutting down wallpaper to fit. Because the pattern is uneven, unlike a stamp, you needn't worry as much about correct placement. You can create a finish that's more free-flowing and organic than what you get with a stamp.
This approach is great for small spaces since the process of applying can take some time (which @alissalove_ described as very therapeutic.) The smaller the pattern, the longer it will take. This makes it great for accent walls in small rooms like bathrooms, entryways, and laundry rooms. You can also use it in small areas like a backsplash or anywhere else you would like to create some pattern and texture with a more custom look.