The harlequin pattern is a popular painting pattern that is applied by creating a series of repeating diamonds on a painted surface. The traditional colors used for a Harlequin pattern are black and white. New users have found that adapting colors into the patterns attains a look that better suits the room it's painted in. Whether done with bold contrasting colors or subtle tints of the same shade, regardless of the colors used, a Harlequin pattern creates a visually stunning effect.
Instructions
1. Paint the floor using the base paint. Start at the corner farthest from the door and paint toward the opening. Allow the paint to dry for 24 hours.
2. Measure the width and height of the room. Decide which direction the harlequin diamonds will face. Diamonds are traditionally taller than they are wide. Create a stencil using plexiglass for your diamond, with the diamond of a size that can cover the room using an evenly placed pattern. Place a tape measure onto the floor and mark off the width of your diamond across the room. Do the same for the height of the diamond.
3. Using the chalk, draw a series of grid lines connecting these marks, creating a slightly elongated checkerboard pattern. Check the sizes of the squares in your pattern by placing the stencil over a square. The diamond shape should touch the edges of the square.
4. Beginning at the farthest wall, place the stencil on the height lines with the tips of the diamond straddling a width line. Paint the top coat in the pattern. Raise the stencil and skip a width line, moving to the third width line; center the stencil with the height lines as a guide and repeat the process. Continue until you've completed the first row of diamonds, and then go back to where the first was placed.
5. Skip a row so that the stencil does not cover the wet harlequin diamonds of the first row, and repeat the process on the third row, continuing every other row until half the rows have been placed. Allow the paint to dry for 24 hours.
6. Place the stencil on the second row and begin painting the diamond pattern onto the skipped rows. When the last row has been completed allow the paint to dry.
7. Go back to the first row and repeat the process with the skipped diamonds on the odd rows. After 24 hours, paint the remaining diamonds on the evenly numbered rows.
8. Sweep up any remaining chalk on the floor.
