The masking technique is a simple painting technique for the color design of the walls in the living room, hallway, bedroom, or children’s room and can be implemented by anyone without prior knowledge. With this wall painting technique, you mask an area with strips of masking tape and paint the wall in between in the desired color. In this way, a decorative wall painting made of patterns, geometric shapes, or stripes can be painted on the wall in a short time.

Material List for the masking technology: What do I need?

For the wall painting, among other things, brushes, rulers, spirit levels, and painter’s tape are required or visit for more details. With the masking technique, different shapes or stripes can be painted and the walls can be designed with different colors. Sophisticated designs are also conceivable. You can also combine this technique with stencil painting. Different materials are required for the DIY project depending on the effect you want. If you paint your walls in a single color and only want to paint different colored stripes on the wall, it is best to use emulsion paint. There are no limits to your creativity when it comes to motifs. On the other hand, for wall painting, either acrylic paint or – for large areas – full of tinted colors are used.

Simple wall painting: paint strips on the wall

It doesn’t have to be an Egyptian mural: The simple design ideas with the masking technique include stripes on the wall. To do this, you need the above-mentioned materials and emulsion or tinting paint. In the first step, the desired area is marked with chalk or a pencil. For straight stripes, use a spirit level to make the markings. If the stripes run horizontally or vertically over the entire wall, it is advisable to check the course of the lines in several places. If the wall has already been painted a different shade, it should be completely dry. Note that intense tones require multiple coats of paint to cover the colored stripes. Then mask the lines with painter’s tape. Now you paint the area – depending on the size with a brush or roller – in the desired color. As soon as this is completely dry, remove the adhesive tape and draw the markings for the next strips.

Set accents with geometric shapes

Geometric shapes and patterns set specific accents on monochrome walls and bring more variety to the color design of the rooms. Bright colors are primarily suitable for the living room, while subtle tones, for example, a light green or blue, create a calming atmosphere in the bedroom. Of course, you can also use the masking technique to transform a complete wall into a colorful play of colors from geometric shapes. It is important that the color of the surface or the areas next to it is dry before a new shape is painted. First, draw the outlines of the geometric shapes with pencil or chalk and check the course of the lines with a spirit level. To check whether the drawing is straight, it helps to look at it from a distance of several steps. Then mask the field with painter’s tape. In the penultimate step, the paint is applied before the adhesive tape is carefully peeled off after it has dried.

Design the mural with a masking technique

The masking technique is also suitable for creating murals with different motifs. If there are several shapes in the picture, the frame of the picture is recorded first. Then draw in the desired motifs and cover all lines with painter’s tape. Here you first paint the background or the main picture, ie smaller motifs are painted. In this case, too, the paint should be completely dry before the other picture elements are painted.

Masking technique for pictures on canvases

In addition, this painting technique can be used to paint beautiful pictures on canvases. This method is particularly suitable for those who want to remain flexible in the color design of the walls. For strong colors, you should first paint the canvas with a lighter shade and let it dry. In the next step, mask off the desired shapes or figures with painter’s tape and paint over a strong color. After drying remove the tapes and hang the picture.