Last month I did a “Fashion for Your Home” post on polka dots and it got me thinking about my own house. I have an open staircase in my rental that has two-story walls which make painting a real hassle. My landlord has been pretty open about me painting the other rooms but was concerned about painting these walls so up until now I have lived with them pretty much bare. The stairs are rather nice but years of using these carpets treads means the wood has changed colors underneath so the treads must stay. When we moved in they were rather grubby red tread so I upgraded them a more neutral grey that matches my rug in the downstairs hall. Still the space has always felt a little boring and since the back wall is seen from the upper and lower I figured this would be the perfect place to add a little impact.plus a set of windows at the top means I don’t have to reach as high!
This is what I started with, a completely blank canvas. Now all I needed was something black to make the circles out of and a way to cut them. The only catch was I couldn’t damage the wall. I had recently seen a roll of adhesive chalkboard vinyl for $5 a roll. It was removable plus it already had an adhesive backing, Perfect! Now I needed to cut them out (not by hand.) I tried my scrapbook circle punch first but it was a bit dull and wasn’t cutting very cleanly on the vinyl. Then remembered my AccuQuilt® a die cutting press intended for fabric but it just so happened to work perfectly cutting through several layers of the vinyl. If you have another cutting tool like a Sizzex or a Cricut these would work great too. If not you can also buy pre-cut vinyl circles from Etsy as well.
Once you have your circles it is tie to put them on the wall. Everyone’s spacing will vary based on the size of the wall so take the height and width and divide it by the approximate spacing you would like.Once you have decided how wide to space your dots you can get to work. I wanted my dots to look like wallpaper so I cut the first row of dots in half so they would cut off at the corner. My spacing worked out to be 8″ and 9 1/2 inches with each row having twelve dots. I laid the first column along the corner with a spacing of 9″ (top to bottom) and then using a ruler spaced the next row of dots 4″ over and 4 3/4″ down. Keep doing this across the wall alternating the rows to get the perfect polka dot pattern. For more interest you can insert a different shape at regular intervals like I did with my stars. 
I love the results and now that I have started a collection of black and white paper cuts since we have been here in Germany I think the black dots work perfectly! While I was at it the upstairs hall got a little love too!
Notice my Dash and Albert Zigzag Multi Micro Hooked Rug I told you about before finally found its way home!
Linking with DIY Showoff and Tattertots & Jello
Such a good solution..I appreciate you being so detailed with your measurements!