Painting Harlequin Diamonds on a wall produces an interesting pattern that can either be very bold or very subtle depending on the colors you choose. Make sure you do a small test of the pattern with the colors you want before starting on your wall. This will take a lot of patience and tape, but it will be well worth it in the end. There are many variations you can use to create a nice design on your walls. What you see to the right was the basic layout design for one of my customers. You can see the finished results by clicking the link at the bottom of the page.

To get started you will need the following supplies:

1. Lots of 1" or 2" Blue painters tape, How much you need will depend on how big the room is that you are painting. There is a new green tape that is boasting no bleed. I have not tried it yet, as it is a bit pricier than your standard blue tape. It may be well worth the price in the end however. 

2. Two different paint colors. Make sure you measure the length and width of your walls and get the square footage to estimate how much paint you will need. (square footage = length X width of wall)

3. drop cloths

4. roller pan with liner

5. I regular size roller with refill and one small roller

6. one or more neaded erasers if drawing lines with a pencil (buy them at an art supply store like Michaels) The pink ones make a mess.

7. at least one pencil with a sharpener

8. razor blade

9. chalk if you would rather use this than a pencil (make sure you buy the correct color chalk so you can see the lines, white chalk may not show up well on a light background.)

10. Baby wipes if you use chalk to draw lines.

Step 1: Figure out the size your diamond pattern is going to be. See our Handy Dandy Harlequin Diamond Calculator below! The rule of thumb is that the height of the diamond should be twice the width. Once you have figured out how big your diamond will be you can move on to step 2.

Step 2: When you have all your supplies ready, and the room cleared for painting, your drop cloths in place, paint your base coat of paint on the wall using one of the two colors you purchased. Let it dry. You may want to leave it for a day, before you get to the hard stuff.

Step 3: Once you have calculated the width and height of your diamonds it is time to draw your lines vertically down the wall where your diamonds will be.  Measure the width of each diamond and using your level, draw a straight line the exact width of the diamond all the way down the wall vertically. Keep going until all vertical lines are drawn. Start with the wall you see as you enter the room. After you finish that wall, draw your lines on either side starting from the ends of the wall you just completed. The reason for this is you want to use the same dimensions on the additional walls. Some adjustments may be necessary once you reach the ends of the other walls. You can adjust the width of the diamonds slightly, but never adjust the height.

Step 4: Draw horizontal lines the height of your diamond the entire length of the wall. Now you should basically have a bunch of rectangles on the wall.

Step 5: Find the middle of each rectangle and mark the top, bottom, right and left side. Then connect the dots by drawing lines to form your diamond pattern. Keep in mind that all these lines will have to be erased at some point, so you may not want to make too dark a line with your pencil. Chalk, however will wipe off easily with a baby wipe. It is possible to connect the dots with tape without drawing lines. If you do not feel confident, DRAW THE LINES that will form your diamond. Don't attempt to tape all the way down your wall in one line as it is impossible to keep the tape straight enough on the wall without a partner, and even then, it may be difficult. Rather, tear off a piece of tape just long enough to cover each side of your diamond.

Step 6: Once you have your diamond drawn you will need to paint in alternating patterns. The picture you see to your left has some diamonds left out. This is simply to illustrate which diamonds to tape first. In other words, you will paint the first and third, fifth and seventh etc, vertically and horizontally. SOOOOO, you need to tape up these alternating rows of diamonds skipping one in-between.

Step 7: When you have painted your odd rows go back and paint and tape your even rows.

Step 8: repeat until finished

IMPORTANT TIPS

Tip 1: You are going to find that bleed will be a problem when painting. But, there is a way to avoid bleed. Once you tape up your diamond pattern and before you paint any of the diamonds in, you can paint the inside of the edges of the diamond with the paint you are using as a basecoat. Make sure you paint over the edge of the tape to seal the tape on the inside of your diamond. If the paint bleeds it won't matter because it's the same color as the base color on your wall. Then let the paint dry before you paint your diamond with the actual color you want to use. Once you paint the diamond, remove the tape immediately. You may need to use a razor to make sure the tape comes off cleanly.

Tip 2: When you are taping the diamonds, put your tape just outside your line and erase the lines using a neaded eraser because it leaves no residue. If you paint your diamonds with a dark color paint it will cover the pencil marks, so you won't have to erase. Be aware that pencil lines will be visible if you are using a light metalic paint. When in doubt, ERASE PENCIL MARKS!

See Example of Harlequin Diamond Pattern from Silverspoon Murals Photo Gallery

If you are like most people embarking on this paint project for the first time, you may be scratching your head on how to figure out what size diamonds to paint, how many rows and columns will fit..etc... Now don't you wish you had paid more attention in math class!

 Let us help you figure out what size diamond will fit on your wall with your wall dimensions. We'll do the math for you!

Woo Hoo! It couldn't be any easier with our handy dandy calculator.