When we toured artist Jen French’s house a couple of months ago, we were in awe of her wonderful wall paintings, and here’s another sample of her handiwork. Though she liked the color of the olive green wall in her family room, Jen wasn’t crazy about how dark it was so she incorporated the color into a pattern, using the green for the lines of the interlocking boxes. Here’s how she did it.
Jen originally got the idea from this spare bedroom transformation on Apartment Therapy New York. She made a square template out of cardboard, then drew the lines on the wall using chalk. She taped each square and painted over the wall with cream-colored paint.
When the paint was dry, she removed the tape and started applying the smaller designs with darker paint inside the squares, using stamps and stencils she found at Michael’s. She then touched up the wall with the cream paint, adding little lines to create the interlocking pattern.
We love the slight imperfections that make the pattern feel handmade and remind us of a faded wall fresco or beautiful vintage wallpaper. To see more of Jen’s wall paintings, visit her House Tour on Apartment Therapy Boston or the tour of her sons’ nursery on Ohdeedoh. You can see all of her artwork on her website, jenniferelifrench.com.
(Images: Sarah Rainwater)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I don't think I'm feeling it, although her technique is good. This pattern is too busy for my taste. On a side note, I painted an olive green in my living room. I also worried it would be too dark. But it's totally the opposite. It makes accent colors in the room really pop, and looks great with the white molding in the room.
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view LTangie's profile
It's not straight. That would drive me INSANE.
view forked's profile
I actually love that it isn't perfectly straight -- it feels much more organic and interesting that way.
view sarahlr's profile
it looks straight, i think the ceiling has a slight slant.
view Terri.'s profile
No, it's not straight.. Look in the middle of the wall.
Actually, as it's been done, it's far more overwhelming than if she had left the wall the solid olive green. As it is, it's overwhelmingly busy, busy, busy.
view Daily Nuance's profile
I don't care if it's straight or not. I would go CRAZY just doing this thing!
I do praise her, though, because it is a bit old world feeling, and I like being transported.
view LydiaKutko's profile
Well, of course it's a matter of opinion. I've seen wallpaper that is far busier than this design, but at the end of the day it really only matters to the person who has to live in the space. Personally I'd find it very difficult to live in a room where the wall color wasn't just right--to me that is just as overwhelming that any pattern could ever be.
This idea could definitely be customized for different colors, spaces and tastes!
Sarah
view sarahlr's profile
I think if the ceiling row was solid that it wouldn't feel so disorienting (even with the wonky parts in the middle). I like the interlocking squares, and would paint out the doo-dads in the middle of them.
view FantasticMrFaux's profile
I really love the idea! Excellent use of a dark paint on a wall you don't want to paint with a solid, dark color. I'm not sure I'd have gone for that pattern in particular (not quite my personal style), but I do love the idea quite a lot. Using the stamps - super smart. Gives me tons of ideas for my own house. Thanks for posting!
view Libby Unwin's profile
Organic is one thing, crooked is another. That would drive me insane. I'm not big on any wall pattern, but the larger interlocking shapes are clever. The stamped pattern is not necessary and makes the whole way too busy...for me.
view jacasi's profile
I have always believed 'whatever you do has to look intentional.' If it's supposed to be straight, make it straight. If it's supposed to be uneven, free-form, organic, etc, really go for it and don't make people assume it was a mistake.
Good idea, bad craft.
view allisonharris's profile
This pattern and colour would work in an extremely large room, but not here. The furnishings are way off as well, which doesn't help either.
view smoothsailing's profile