Hello friends,
I recently shared some pictures of this ombré wall on my Facebook and Instagram pages and was quite surprised with the immediate positive response I had from so many people!
I recorded most part of my process because I was planning to prepare a video tutorial on it, but I have to be honest with you. This was not a straightforward, step-by-step -instructions type of project. Far from it. There was a lot of trial and error, back and forth, cleanup-the-mess stages, which is always expected when you are trying to do something for the first time and have to learn as you go. You will notice exactly that if you watch my video below. So please take my tutorial more as a general guideline. Hopefully, it will have the basic information you need to create your own ombré wall.
If you decide to try, I have a few important warnings for you.
- It gets ugly before it gets pretty
- In the middle of it, you will be absolutely sure you failed and will be tempted to drop everything and just paint the whole wall in one color. Don’t give up! Take a break, and come back to it the next day
- If your wall is large, prepare yourself for a long and tedious process, and go for it anyways. I promise it will be worth your time and effort
- No two ombre walls will ever look exactly the same so, watch my tutorial a couple of times to get the main idea and don’t come back to it. Your wall will turn out different and probably more beautiful than mine!
Are you ready?
You can start by watching my video tutorial below before reading my detailed instructions in this post.
For this project, I used regular latex paint in these colors
- New House White (white)
- Starless Sky (navy blue)
- Shadow Mountain (dark gray)
These colors are all by Behr (a brand sold at Home Depot), in an eggshell sheen.
You will also need:
- Painters tape
- Paint trays
- A spray bottle of water
- Several chip brushes
- Baby wipes (they are a lifesaver when you mess up)
Note: If the wall you will work on is currently painted in a dark or very bright color, you should paint it completely white before you start, or the original color will show through your ombré.
I started by painting a large stripe of the darker and the lighter colors on the extreme opposite sides of my ombré. Gray on the bottom and white on the top.
If your wall is already white, you can skip the latter step (white stripe on the top). To save time, you can do this part with paint rollers.
At this point, I didn’t need any water on my brushes. The purpose was to get the best coverage in those two areas.
As I got to the area in the middle, it was time to dilute my paint with water, loosen up my strokes, and proceed with the blending. I worked my brush in a criss-cross pattern but there is no rule here since the pattern won’t be visible once you start adding water and blending the colors.


I applied all three colors in one small area of the wall to visualize where I wanted my transitions to be. After that, I worked one large stripe at a time across the entire length of the wall.
The goal was to blend two colors at a time with a smooth transition between them. The water is what allows the soft blending to happen.

I avoided spraying water straight on my wall because I wanted to have more control of the paint and didn’t want any drips to show. Also, too much water would cause the original color of my wall to peek through.
I repeated that process blending two colors at a time (gray and blue, then blue and white), always wetting my brush, and working quickly to avoid drippings and to blend the colors before the paint dried.
From time to time, I stepped back and see where I need to go back with a different color.
I covered my entire wall with my blended colors and called it a day.
Tip: You will certainly want to make some changes and adjustments at this point, but I strongly recommend that you wait until the next day to do it. You will look at your project with fresh eyes, a rested mind and all the energy you need to finish it up.
Sometimes it helps if you blend your colors on the tray instead of the wall. Just make sure to add a little water to your brush before applying the paint to the wall.

It took me two coats (mainly in the middle and top areas) to achieve this finish. You may be happy with your result after just one coat. Or maybe you will need to add a third one. There is no right or wrong. This is your own unique project, and you will know when it is done.
Here is how my bedroom looks now. I love it! My husband is also happy. He calls it our “dreamy wall”.
Let me know what you think!
Pin this!!
Thanks for reading!
Pat.
I’m sharing this project on this awesome link parties.
Silver Pennies Sunday Link Party
Pat it goes without saying that your awesome wall is my feature this week at Sweet Inspiration because to me that is exactly what you have done! Inspired me in a big way!!
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That is so nice to hear this inspired you, Mary! I can’t wait to see what you will create on your wall. Thanks for the feature!
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Wow!!! Pat, your bedroom wall is stunning!!! Pinning to my Perfect Paint board for you and will pin to my Decorating board, too. Awesome job and I hope you and your husband enjoy it for a long time to come. ❤
Beautiful,
Barb 🙂
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Thank you so much for pinning it! Yes we are already enjoying the calming mood of our bedroom now. 🙂
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It looks like clouds! You have really achieved dreamy look! Great great job!
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Thank you so much Ana! It’s been pretty awesome to fall asleep under the cloudy sky.
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This tutorial is one of the very best I have watched .It is clear, well-organized, just enough information
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Thank you Sharon! I’m happy you found it helpful.
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Congratulations from Australia. I would like to try this
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