Now This Is A Wall Treatment

This wall treatment caught my eye the other night when I was catching up on a little work while the TV was on in the background. HGTV's new Urban Oasis in Chicago was being featured, and I probably wouldn't have thought twice about the walls in the bedroom, but then they starting talking about how the look was achieved and I had to look up and watch!

Pretty, huh? And looks like it could be wallpaper, yes?

Nope. Instead, Michael Boudreault painted the walls using this method:

Lining up and taping a template with a design covering its surface to a section of the wall...

...Michael then traced the pattern with a wheel which punctured little holes along the pattern lines.

Afterwards he took a nylon filled with chalk dust to transfer the pattern onto the wall.

(I believe it was chalk dust. At this point I made sure I was taping the show so I could rewind to capture photos of the steps, so was half listening!)

Once one section was done, the template was moved over and aligned with the previous placement and the above steps repeated...over all the walls in the room. Tedious, I tell you!!

Then the painting began.

Using two tones for a dimensional look...

This is the final result. 

It looks very traditional and feminine before all the furnishing are added in. But afterwards, paired with the more modern and masculine decor, the result is really quite beautiful and balanced.

The pattern was inspired by the ironwork seen on the Carson Pirie Scott building on State Street. This was fun to see, I worked at this store while putting myself through fashion design school at SAIC! Great memories to be sure, the school was located right across the street on Wabash.

It all just makes me want to hop on a plane to take in all the sights. Chicago is perfect in the early fall!