Glistening Pearl Paint Over Coastal Blue Water Walls DIY Bathroom Make Over

We live on the Emerald Coast of Florida, in the Panhandle, on Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach. The waters look crystal green and blue like the Bahamas. We bought our condo 3 yrs ago and it has taken me all this time to do over the bathroom walls.  The blue waters above is the new color and the yellow below is the old wallpaper. I painted right over the wallpaper.

The makeover plan was to paint the color of the water onto the walls creating the subtle hombre effect of the water as it makes it's depth change. To pull it all together, I planned to use the Valspar Pearl Paint over the top to give the sense that the water was sparkling , glistening bright and blue,  in the beautiful Florida sun.

 

I'm happy with the way it turned out. 

Here's what I did to paint , blend and pearlize the walls.

First, I chose the colors that best matched the look of the water. 

Then I painted the bottom with the lighter color and the top with the darker blue. I did not create a straight line across where the two colors met. I wanted to show the curved changes you can see when you look out at the Gulf of Mexico.

The towel rack and the outlet covers were painted in order to 

help them blend into the visual of the water.

I knew the stark contrast of the colors would need to be toned down with some blending and eventually, the pearlized paint. In order to do this,I laid down a line of paint, at the water change mark,

in each color and blended them back and forth with a damp brush.

In some spots the brush marks were softened with a damp cloth. 

For the finale, I 

ragged on the diluted pearl paint. I actually over diluted the pearl paint for the first coat and had to redo the ratio of paint to water on the second coat. 

Rag painting is like sponge painting, you use a damp rag and pick up some paint and blot the rag

on some newspaper and then stamp a small section at a time. All the while you'll be turn and twisting 

your wrist to change the look of the rag. This part is important because you want to avoid the same look from the rag. Overall the constant stamp change keeps the eye from noticing anything exact. It becomes a subtle finish to the whole look of the water and softens the lines of the paint.

 

I've placed an order for a new a shower curtain that has white and turquoise stripes, reminding me of a beach cabana or beach umbrella.

What do you think of the stripes shower curtain idea? 

Can't wait to see it all come to life with the stripes.

Keep painting.

With love and gratitude,

Michele

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