This Paint Technique Is Way Cheaper Than Buying an Actual Headboard

The designer of Hotel San Fernando in Mexico City shares her secrets.
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Patio at Hotel San Fernando in Mexico City

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On its exterior, the recently opened Hotel San Fernando in Mexico City’s colorful La Condesa neighborhood boasts a cool mint green—but inside it’s the half-pink walls that lure visitors to book one of the 19 guest rooms in the former apartment building.

Mint exterior of the San Fernando Hotel

Keeping original details from the 1947 structure—stained-glass windows, curved breeze-blocks, an exterior shade—was important to Paige Henney, director of design at Bunkhouse Hotels, who worked with local architects and contractors to transform the space’s style, which she calls “a Mexico City version of Art Deco,” into a workable hotel.  But those pink walls? All new.

Original stained glass window and green walls in lobby

“The rooms were solid white when we came in,” Henney says. “But we did notice, in the previous renovation, that there was a wall transition at about wainscoting height—there was a drywall finish below and a stuccolike finish above.” The team loved the texture but felt like it wasn’t being shown off in the best possible way. Plus, they were hoping to use La Condesa’s famous pink somewhere in the project.

Close up of half-painted coral walls

So they went to Comex, a Mexican paint company, and stocked up on the vibrant coral shade Emilia, then applied it halfway up, right to where the wall changes textures. Henney was lucky to have a natural line to follow, but she says if you are trying the look in your own home, painter’s tape and a level would give you a similar payoff. (“Just be extra-careful when you’re pulling back the tape so you don’t take the color with you,” she adds.)

Trailing plant and kitchen items in half-coral guest room
Half coral walls at a day bed in a guest room

The result added warmth and coziness to the rooms, and in some cases tricks the eye into thinking there’s furniture where there isn’t. For example, above a bed, the paint acts as a headboard. The trick to a no-fail illusion, Henney says, is avoiding the line intersecting outlets or poles, which can be hard to match up perfectly.

Half painted pink walls and a bed in a guest room

Once the walls were done, she added contrasting furniture to make it all pop, a proud homage to the authentic, not to mention vibrant, charm of the neighborhood. 

Pick Your Paint Color

Coral Reef Paint

Benjamin Moore
 Benjamin Moore Coral Reef

Pop Paint

Clare
$70
 Clare Pop Paint

36 Hours in Marrakesh Paint

Backdrop
$75
 Backdrop 36 hours in marrakesh paint

Ravishing Coral Paint

Sherwin-Williams
 Sherwin Williams Ravishing Coral
Julie Vadnal Avatar

Julie Vadnal

Deputy Editor

Julie Vadnal is the deputy editor of Domino. She edits and writes stories about shopping for new and vintage furniture, covers new products (and the tastemakers who love them), and tours the homes of cool creatives. She lives in Brooklyn.