DO IT YOURSELF

Stripes on the walls can add elegance and a kind of liveliness to the room, they can also change its visual proportions; horizontal stripes make the room look larger, vertical ones make the room look taller.

You can create wide or narrow stripes in vertical or horizontal direction. You can achieve tricolored or bi colored walls with the use of stripes. If you like monochrome color scheme you can paint gloss stripes, on matte background.
Tools

• Pencil
• Spirit level
• Tape measure
• Painters masking tape

Steps

1. Decide the size and direction of the stripes (horizontal or vertical). Usually the width of equal stripes ranges from 10 cm to 30 cm. It’s up to you to paint stripes of equal or different width on the same wall.

2. If your stripes are going to be the same width in two different colors, paint the entire wall first in the lighter color on one or two coats.

3. Wait at least 24 hours after the final coat then measure and mark with the pencil the position of the stripes on the wall using the tape measure.

4. Use the spirit level to make sure that the stripes are perfectly horizontal or vertical and to create guide marks on the wall with the pencil.  

5. Use painters masking tape just below the line marked and then press the tape edge against the wall to avoid paint bleeding.

6. Paint with a paintbrush the edges and with a roller the body of the stripes in one or two coats to ensure a uniform color.

7. Remove the painter’s tape while paint is wet to avoid paint peeling.

Wait for the paint to completely dry and the wall is ready to use.

CAUTION

• Use a pencil to write. The pen marks are not covered by the paint.
• Do not use line chalk box to mark stripe positions because the chalk affects on the paint color.
• Wait at least 24 hours after the final coat to paint the stripes because the paint will peel off when removing the masking tape.
• Make sure your stripes are straight and level (horizontal and vertical). Stripes which are not horizontal or vertical create sense of confusion.
• If you like tri color stripes on the wall paint a coat of primer paint on the wall and then paint the stripes with the appropriate color.

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