DIY- How to paint stripes on walls?
Painting stripes on walls enhance the overall ambiance of the room. Contrary to what people may think, painting a striped wall pattern is not a complicated process and can be easily done by following some simple tips and techniques. Here is a list of common do it yourself (DIY) tips for painting striped walls for your home.
Choose your pattern: Before embarking on a DIY program to paint striped walls in your home or office, it is essential to shortlist the pattern one needs to paint. Usually the width of stripes can vary from four inches to fifteen inches apart. Depending on the size of your room, the widths of the stripes need to be carefully selected. Remember narrow stripes in a big sized room would feel lost while the same is true if you paint very large stripes in a small room. Another option that can be useful is to have a mixture of narrow and wide stripes to make it look more artistic. Select the width of the stripes carefully as a bad selection can make even a good coloring job look awful.
Choose the base color: Select one of the hues of the design pattern and select it as a base color. The best way to choose a base color is to choose the color which is likely to be more visually dominant. Base color should always be applied minimum of 24 to 48 hours before painting the stripes. A good idea is to have a flat hue color as base color and the stripes can be alternated between high gloss colors. Irrespective of what shade of color you use, make sure that base color is spread out evenly and is well dried before embarking on painting the stripes.
Demark stripe width using a painter’s tape: Now that the base color has dried out, use a painter’s tape to draw vertical or horizontal lines as per your design and select the width of the stripe. Marking dots on the wall with a pencil while measuring the width of each stripe can be used to make taping easier and quicker. An important tip is to seal each tape edge with a thin coat of the base color used on the wall. This practice makes sure that the other color being used in the stripe would never seep through under the painter’s tape.
Check for any bends in the lines: Once the painter’s tape is applied over the walls, it is imperative to check for any apparent bends. It is essential to make sure that tapes are pasted straight as any bends can make the stripes go haywire. Once can use a level or chalk line tool to check whether the lines are straight or not. If the lines appear to be slightly misdirected, repeat the process till you are satisfied with the straight line formation of the tape.
Paint the entire strip: Now using a small roller, paint the entire strip using the second color to be used in the stripe pattern. Remember to use a small roller especially if you have never painted before as handling a big roller may be a tad difficult for amateurs. Paint the strip from tape to tape covering the entire strip. You can use multiple coats if you want a proper distribution of paint on the stripe.
Remove the painter’s tape: Once the paint over the entire strip dries out, remove the underlying painter’s tape. It is imperative to note that some people advise removing the tape while the paint is still wet but it makes more sense for the paint to dry out to avoid any smudging especially if you are a beginner when it comes to painting walls.
