How to Paint Accent Walls Over a Fireplace

Look around the room to note the most dominant color already featured. Find this color on your color wheel. Then decide how heavily contrasted -- the opposite color on the wheel -- or complementary -- an adjacent color -- or monochromatic -- a lighter or darker shade of the same color -- you want for the accent wall.

Pick up a few paint samples of varying shades of the accent wall color you’ve selected and place them with the fireplace. If you want the fireplace to stand out in the room, then pick a final color to be in high contrast to your fireplace color. For a subtle look, select a shade which is closer to the shade of the fireplace.

Tape off the areas adjacent to the accent wall to protect them from paint, as well as taping off the fireplace area. Move any furniture away from the accent wall and spread a drop cloth along the floor below the accent wall.

Brush a perimeter paint line around the wall at the ceiling, corners, along the sides, around the fireplace and around the baseboards with a 2-inch paintbrush. Make the perimeter border 4 to 5 inches wide to give you plenty of clearance.

Paint the wall space inside the perimeter with a paint roller working from top to bottom in 3-by-3-foot sections. Work the roller in a “W” formation over the 3-foot sections until you have painted the entire wall. Blend the imaginary squares by running the “W” shape with your roller over areas where the squares meet.

Repeat Steps 4 and 5 to apply a second coat for thorough coverage of the accent wall after one hour. Allow the second coat to dry for at least one to two hours. Remove the painter’s tape from the wall by pulling it backwards over itself slowly.