How to Paint Vertical Stripes

Drop the roller and grab a calculator when you're ready to paint vertical stripes.

Vertical stripes can add interest to a room when a painter places them on the wall perfectly. The key to painting professional-looking wall stripes is precise measurements.

Things You'll Need

• Base color paint
• Tape measure
• Calculator
• Stripe color paint
• Ladder
• Roller
• Carpenter's level
• Chalk
• Trim brush
• Painter's wipes

Instructions

Paint Base Color and Take Measurements

1. Paint the entire wall using the base color you have chosen. Allow the paint to dry overnight.

2. Measure the perimeter of room using a tape measure. Write down that value in inches.

3. Divide the perimeter by the desired width of your stripes. For example, if the perimeter is 288 inches and you want 5-inch stripes, divide 288 by 5. The result is 57.6. Since this result is not an even number, 5-inch stripes will not produce an evenly distributed pattern of vertical stripes.

4. Adjust your width value, and perform the calculation again until you arrive at an even number that contains no decimal. For instance, if you change the width to 6 inches, you get 48 when you divide 288 by 6. Six is a good value because it is a whole number. For the sake of this exercise, assume that the width of the stripes is 6 inches.

Paint Stripes

1. Place your tape measure along the bottom of a wall starting at the wall's left edge.

2. Draw a chalk mark above the ruler where you want the first stripe to appear.

3. Draw another mark 6 inches to the right of the previous mark. These two marks identify the boundaries of the wall's second vertical stripe.

4. Move to the right 6 inches and draw another mark. Move 6 inches to the right of that one, and draw an additional mark.

5. Move along the bottom of the wall, and continue to draw marks using this technique. Add marks until you have moved completely around the room.

6. Return to the first mark. Place the bottom left edge of a carpenter's level on top of that mark. Hold the level against the wall vertically. Adjust the level so that it is perfectly vertical. To verify that it is vertical, note the horizontal glass tube at the top of the level. That tube contains a water bubble. If the level is perfectly vertical, that bubble will appear in the center of the horizontal glass tube.

7. Place the point of the chalk stick at the bottom of the level along the left edge. Trace upward along the level's left edge until you reach the top of the level. Draw a small circle at that point using the chalk.

8. Move the level up, and place the bottom left edge of the level on top of that circle. Verify that the level is vertical.

9. Trace upward again along the level's left edge until you reach the top of the level. Draw another small circle at that point using the chalk. Repeat this process until you reach the ceiling. When finished, you will have a vertical line starting from the first chalk mark near the floor to the ceiling. This line forms the left edge of the first stripe.

10. Move to the bottom of the wall, and locate the second chalk mark that you drew. That mark is 6 inches to the right of the previous mark. Place the bottom left edge of the level on top of that mark, and hold the level against the wall vertically. Adjust the level so that it is perfectly vertical.

11. Trace upward along the level's left edge from the floor to the top off the level. Draw a small circle at that point using the chalk. Move the level up, and place the bottom left edge of the level on top of that circle. Verify that the level is vertical.

12. Trace upward along the level's left edge until you reach the top of the level. Draw another small circle at that point using the chalk. Repeat this process until you reach the ceiling. When done, the wall will contain two vertical lines defining a 6-inch wide stripe.

13. Move to the other marks on the wall and repeat this process to create the remaining stripes.

14. Place a large "X" in the center of every other stripe using painter's tape. These are the stripes that you will not paint.

Mask and Paint

1. Move to the first stripe that does not have an "X."

2. Stretch a length of painter's tape along the outside edges of the stripe's chalk lines.

3. Repeat this process for all stripes that do not contain an "X." Press down firmly on the tape to ensure that it sticks securely to the wall. This will help produce crisp, clean edges by preventing paint from seeping through the tape's edges.

4. Dip your roller into the paint that you will use to paint the stripes.

5. Move to the stripe that does not contain an "X." Paint between the two strips of tape to cover the stripe from the ceiling to the floor.

6. Move around the room and paint the remaining stripes that do not have "X" marks.

7. Remove the tape from the wall before the paint dries to reveal the new vertical stripes.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a small brush to fill in any uneven areas after painting the stripes. Use painter's wipes to dab off stray paint that accidentally lands outside a striped area.

• This example described creating 6-inch stripes. Use any width that you like as long as you get a whole number when dividing the measurement of the width of the stripe into your room perimeter value.

References

• "The Naked Wall"; Anne Bold-Pryor and Donna Lacis; 2006

Resources

• Dummies.com: How to Pick Paint Colors