How to Paint Subtle Stripes on Walls

Subtle stripes of alternating glossy and flat paint will add visual dimensions to a room. While horizontal stripes will make a room appear more comfortable, vertical stripes will visually add height. As well, subtle stripes provide a classic appearance that is always in style. You can easily add subtle stripes to any room with only a few days effort and very little money. Here's how to add subtle stripes to a room.

Things You'll Need

• 2-inch blue or green painter's tape
• Tape measure
• 2 cans of the same color paint ( 1 flat or egg shell, 1 semi gloss)
• Level
• Large putty knife
• Drop clothes, paint rollers, cutting brush and paint tray
• 120-grit sandpaper
• TSP and warm water

Instructions

1. Determine the direction and width of the stripes you want for your wall. Vertical stripes are usually chosen since they add height to a room; however, horizontal stripes will work in high-ceilinged rooms to make them seem smaller and more cozy. Stripes 6 to 8-inches-wide are most common, since stripes narrower than 6 inches tend to make a wall seem "busy," while stripes wider than 8 inches often appear too heavy. (In this instance we will be doing vertical stripes.)

2. Measure the walls and calculate how many stripes you're going to need based on your measurements. It's a good idea to transfer your room dimensions to a piece of graph paper to actually plan the striping.

3. Prepare the room and walls to be painted by removing all the furniture, lightly sanding the walls with 120-grit sandpaper, then cleaning the wall with warm water and TSP. Wait for the walls to dry, then apply painter's tape around the windows, doors and trim to protect them from wall paint.

4. Begin the actual painting by doing the entire room (or wall) using the flat paint, then wait for it to dry thoroughly (in practice, this usually means two days).

5. Apply a strip of painter's tape horizontally across the entire width of the room from wall to wall--this will act as a template for applying your stripes.

6. Start in one corner of the room, measure and mark the width of each stripe on the painter's tape. Now, using the dots on the tape template run painter's tape vertically up from the base of the wall to the template, then peel back a section of the horizontal tape and continue the vertical tape up to the ceiling in a continuous strip. Use a level to ensure the stripe is truly vertical and adjust the tape if necessary.

7. After you've finished taping, run a wide-bladed putty knife over the edge of the painter's tape to ensure it is firmly attached to the wall.

8. Apply your semi gloss paint covering the entire area of the stripe. Paint over the edges of the painter's tape to ensure you get complete coverage of the stripe.

9. Wait for a few minutes after you've painted the wall for the paint to partially dry (before it has fully dried), and carefully remove the vertical tape by pulling the strips off the wall angling them back on themselves at about a 45-degree angle.

Tips & Warnings

• You could just mark the location of the stripes directly on the wall with a pencil; however, using the tape template ensures there will be no pencil marks visible on your finished wall.

• The most important part of any paint project is the preparation. When preparing to paint the subtle stripes on your wall, don't skimp on the preparation and don't rush it, or your elegant stripes will look amateurish.