Before wall stripes…
Transforming your room by painting your own wall stripes is a very cost effective way to achieve the look you want without the price tag of wallpaper. It can certainly sound like a daunting exercise at first, however if you’ve got an instruction manual with a step-by-step guide you cant lose!
After deciding we’d revamp our Billiard Room I scrolled through book after book of wallpaper samples, finally sourcing the most beautiful navy and white stripe only to be informed it was $1,450 including installation. Hmmm… Not going to happen. The original photos were taken the day I inspected the property prior to purchase – great bones, a gorgeous bay window, high ceilings and beautifully detailed cornices. Perhaps not so gorgeous wall colour, roman blinds, lighting and décor (in my opinion of course).
After settlement, the interior walls of the entire house were painted in ¾ strength Dulux Lexicon. It’s white, but quite a grey white. The plan is to transition our home into a classic, coastal cross Hamptons inspired theme so Lexicon was a perfect choice…
setting up…
What you’ll need:
- A Ruler
- Spirit level (straight edge)
- A light pencil
- A plastic trowel
- Lots of 3mm Edge Lock Tape (I think I went through 4 rolls in my pool room)
- A step ladder
Last but certainly not least, a playlist of your favourite elevator music to take your mind away from the tedious job ahead.
A wide stripe would give the room vibrancy so we decided to space the lines 110mm apart. Using a 60cm floppy plastic ruler I marked the wall starting from the left corner with small dots 110mm apart. Then using a straight edge (spirit level) and ensuring the lines were level and even, I drew all of the vertical lines using a light pencil.
Then comes the worst part – taping up! I would strongly advise using 3mm Edge Lock painters tape to help prevent bleed under the tape. If you decide to use a cheaper alternative, you may find yourself in a world of pain when you peel off the tape hoping for a perfect edge. That said, I find even the best quality tape still will not ensure a perfect line however, there’s an easy way to around it.
Once you’ve taped along your cornice, skirting and both sides of your pencil lines, use your plastic trowel to run firmly over the tape. This will push the tape into the existing paintwork as securely as possible.
painting the stripes…
What you’ll need:
- Foam roller and tray remembering that the roller must be thinner than your stripe… Obviously.
- Drop sheets and old towels.
- An old wooden spoon to stir the paint or a random stick for that matter.
- 1st undercoat: 1 tin of your current wall colour (I will explain this below).
- 2nd undercoat: 1 tin of a grey undercoat – only necessary if your new paint colour is significantly darker than your wall colour.
- Your topcoat.
First things first: how do you calculate the amount of paint required? Simply measure your wall, width x length to obtain the correct m2. We chose to make our blue stripe the same size ratio as the white strip, so simply divide your m2 by two and that’s your area.
first undercoat
Bleed under the tape is almost impossible to prevent. To achieve a perfectly straight edge your first coat of paint should be the same as your current wall colour so any bleed will simply not be seen. Genius! Using your foam roller, paint the wall stripes pressing firmly over the edge of the tape. This will do two things: 1) Push any bleed under the tape and 2) Seal the tape.
second undercoat
If the colour you’ve selected for your new stripe is considerably darker than your current wall colour, you’ll need to use a grey based undercoat. Unless of course you feel like rolling 27 layers of topcoat 🙂 Using the same technique as above paint the stripes and allow to dry. In our billiard room, we used 1 litre of Taubmans Easycoat tinted in grey.
We have two large Batman and Superman framed comics which my partner bought for way too much at a Charity Auction recently. Needless to say he was under the influence that evening, however I like the comics all the same. We needed to incorporate bold lines and a strong use of colour in the room so the frames wouldn’t appear out of place, but still somehow maintain elegance and class. With this in mind, we chose Dulux Wash & Wear in Passionate Blue which is a very dark, deep, navy blue. It’s rich and it’s gorgeous!
topcoat… yay you’re almost there!
Paint your stripes in your chosen topcoat colour. If you’ve used an undercoat you should only require two coats, maybe three at best. When the paint is dry, first marvel at your stunning new wall and give yourself a high five for taking on such a tedious yet satisfying project.
Peeling off the tape:
- A Stanley knife or sharp blade
- Patience and a positive attitude.
Now, peeling off the tape in my opinion is like some sort of art form. Which way do you pull the tape? Well I can certainly advise on which way NOT to pull it, and that’s outwards. If you peel outwards you’ll most likely pull the paint off the wall altogether (and yes, I found out the hard way). Peel the tape up or down depending on your access to that particular area. I also advise using a blade first along the skirting and cornices as gloss based paint will occasionally peel off with the tape.
annnnnnndddd…. viola! finito!
You’ve created something yourself and completely transformed your space at a damn good price might I add. It’s fun and it’s fabulous! The wall that is – and you are too for that matter! If you have any questions, please comment below or connect with me via my contact page. I hope I have offered some insight and inspired you to take a leap and start a new project. Remember, I’m here to help.
Enjoy
