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How to Paint Stripes
Painted
stripes are a popular faux finish used in a variety of interior settings.
Stripes are versatile and range in size from pinstripes to wide 6" or larger
stripes. Soft almost mono tone stripes have a classy look to them as does a
shimmer stripe done with varnish or paints of different sheens.
Laying out your stripes
You stripe a room in the same way that you would hang wallpaper. Start in an
inconspicuous corner and work your way around the room from that point. Your
starting point will be your finishing point after you circle your way around
the room.
Size of stripes
A simple way to stripe is to do so in standard masking tape widths. I often do
2" stripes, which is a standard masking tape width.
Number of colors
You can do your stripes in two, three or more colors, but if you are new to
the striping technique I would recommend just two colors.
Two color striping is done by first painting the walls in total in one of your
stripe colors and then masking off and painting to obtain the second stripe.
In practical terms if you are painting 2" stripes, you would paint your room
in the first stripe color, then apply masking tape at 2" intervals (a word on
how to mask straight lines - see below) throughout the whole room. Once the
masking tape is in place you paint the walls again with the second stripe
color. When each section or wall is done, remove the masking tape to reveal
your two color striping.
Masking tape
You must use easy release blue tape for your stripes. A good tape for striping
is 3M's #2080 blue tape which is a smooth , easy release tape which will make
it possible to get clean lines with a minimum of bleeding under the tape. Rub
down the edge of the tape to ensure a good tight bond which the paint won't
bleed under. When pulling the tape off , pull gently at a 45 degree angle from
the surface.
How to lay down straight stripes
The best way - or perhaps I should say the easiest way is to use a laser
level. Center the level, level it properly, line your tape up with the
vertical laser line working your way down the wall moving the laser level as
you work your way around the room..
Not everyone has a laser level, for those who don't, a 4' bubble type level
works fine. If you use a standard bubble level you will need to put pencil
marks on the wall to line up the tape. Keep the pencil marks light and don't
cover them with the tape as you lay the tape down. Remember if the marks show
when the tape is down, they will be painted over. If the marks don't show
(because the tape is covering the lines) then you will not be painting over
the marks and they will show when you remove the tape.
Reasonable expectations
With striping you can get some ridging at the tape edge especially if you put
on a heavy coat of paint or apply multiple coats for your stripes. When it
comes time to repaint down the road, you will probably need to do some sanding
or skim coating with spackle to smooth out any paint ridge lines so that they
don't show through the next coat of paint. Like wallpaper removal, some faux
finishes may require some extra surface preparation when it comes time to
recoat. |
