Geometry class

Paint effects projects, from Your Home & Garden

Give a room a strong modern vibe with crisp geometric shapes painted in bold grey and rich gold tones with contrasting cream.

Paint a geometric pattern on your lounge wall

Paint effects — make a style statement on your walls using this show-stopping painting technique

Creating a pattern like this with paint is art in its own right, its clean lines providing a glamorous backdrop for the rest of the space. We’ve painted parallelograms, but a diamond design would work equally well.

How to make a geometric pattern

Step 1: Paint the whole wall in two coats of Resene White Linen, allowing 30 minutes’ drying time between coats. Allow to dry (1-2 hours).

Step 2: Measure and mark the parallelogram pattern onto the wall using a metre ruler. Each parallelogram is 180cm x 40cm. Measure and mark 40cm sections up the wall. Rule a line across the wall to create 40cm-high stripes. Rule and mark 180cm sections across each horizontal line. Measure and mark 50cm and 230cm in from the edge of each horizontal line (this creates the angle of the parallelogram). Rule a line between the 50cm mark and the 40cm mark at the right edge of the wall, and another at the 180cm and 230cm marks. Mark out the whole pattern before painting.

Step 3: Use masking tape to outline the parallelograms to be painted gold. Erase any pencil lines. Paint two coats of Resene Gold Dust, allowing half an hour between coats. Allow to dry then apply Resene Aquaclear to protect the metallic finish. Remove masking tape. Repeat step three for the grey parallelograms.

Top tip: Alter the height and width of the parallelograms to suit the specifications of the wall you are painting.

Walls: Resene White Linen, Resene Gold Dust and Resene Mako.

Accessories: CityScape sofa from Freedom; Ara zip cushions from Country Road; triangle design cushions from Weekend Trader; Pony Rider ‘My direction’ potato sack cushion and sugar paper journal from Father Rabbit; bronze-coated leather cushion from BoConcept; gold pouf and gold splatter cowhide from Collected; Eclectic by Tom Dixon gold ‘Bash’ vessels (set of two) and Form bowl black and gold (set of three) from Simon James Design; Nest cushion cover from Citta Design.