need advice on painting stripes

[Avsfan]

I am going to finally paint my bedroom! There is a chair rail about 2/3 of the way down the wall, and so the bottom part of the wall I am going to paint deep red. The top 2/3 of the wall I want to paint a cream/light tan color in stripes, but I'm not sure how to do it. I've seen it so it looks almost like wallpaper, where one stripe is shiny (high gloss) and the other is not. I don't know if I should use high gloss paint and flat, or semi-gloss and something else?

Has anyone else painted stripes? Do you paint the wall all one color and then just add the "stripe" color? How do you keep the lines straight?

Any help would be appreciated!

[kurlisola]

you use tape. paint your wall one color (the lighter color), then using ruler & level, tape your walls. then paint, then remove tape. word of advice, stripes might be better on lower half of wall, otherwise too busy. sorry, baby in arms,

[Spacegirl99]

How Lisa discribed is how I did my daughter's room. When she said "tape your walls," she means that you will be painting between the 2 pieces of tape, so you will space them according to how large you want the stripes. I agree with her about doing the bottom half.

[BzyBee]

Are you painting the stripes with 2 colors or you want the shine to define the stripes?

I have seen 2 methods to achieve shiny stripes. One is to use high gloss paint with a flat. The other is to paint the wall one solid color and add the shine by painting on a coat of polyurethane in the stripe pattern you want.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/lr_wal...398147,00.html

http://lifestyle.msn.com/homeandgard...mentid=1127607

http://www.mkosior.com/hildisstripes.html

I really don't use flat for anything as it does not wear well. I would use at least a satin or a flat enamel paint that is scrubbable for your 'dull' stripe. You will still have plenty of contrast with the shiny stripe.

[berlinsmommy]

We did stripes too, but one thing we realized when we got out the level is that contractors don't build houses level. Instead of doing "level" which would look crooked, be did it at right angles. We did the bottom half of Berlin's room and did the stripes 90 degrees off of the baseboards. We also figured out our measurements by taking the two most visible corners (usually when you walk in the door to the room the most visible corners are the two on the sides of the opposite wall) and measure between them. Then figure a logical number that will make your stripes end at each corner. For example, if the room is 12 feet across you can do 12" or 18" stripes, but if the room is 14 feet, you cannot do 18" stripes, make sense??

[arose304]

The other is to paint the wall one solid color and add the shine by painting on a coat of polyurethane in the stripe pattern you want.

This is the method they use on Trading Spaces. One of my favorite shows!! Bzybee gave you the best 2 ways. I like the polyurethane way because you only have to use one color and then tape off once to put on the poly.

[Avsfan]

Thanks, these ideas are great!!! I went to Home Depot to check out paint, and I couldn't BELIEVE they had THREE cans of Oops paint in the color I wanted! So instead of paying 25.xx for one can, I got 3 cans for 15.00. Soo happy with that. It is already semi-gloss, so I will just take in my color once I'm done painting the whole room, and he said they will match the color for my flat/flat enamel. The picture with the Polyurethane on top of the blue flat had much more contrast than I want.

Thanks for the thoughts about doing it on the bottom part of the wall; I'm hoping that with the light color that I'm using, and the contrast being not too stark, it won't be too busy-looking.

THANK YOU for your experience!

[BzyBee]

Great find on the oops paint!!

A few things that might help you out. You should paint the flat color first...or lightly sand the semi-gloss where you apply the flat so it will stick better.

You may have already decided to go with paint vs polyurethane, but for future reference...polyurethane also comes in varying degrees of sheen...you can choose a lower gloss if high gloss is too much contrast.

[berlinsmommy]

She did say the bottom was going to be a dark red & the stripes a light color, so I agree putting the stripes on top should not be an issue with the dark color on the bottom. My house came with wallpaper stripes on the top of the chair rail & it looks just fine (though currently moving on to something less 60's). I also painted another room dark green on the bottom w/ tan stripes on top. Looks great.

Ohhh, that sounds cool!!! I'm turning into a bit of a painting junkie, its driving my DH crazy. I'm painting walls and already planning what to do the next time I paint them, like it is a seasonal thing!

Do you have pictures hosted anywhere that you could link? I'd like to see that! I'm now considering doing wide stripes of high gloss paint on top of an accent wall that I'm painting sage green. OP posted this a year ago, I wonder if she has pictures??

Also, for anyone reading this who hasn't painted, I have my detailed instructions as well as a few other home improvement projects on my blog. I need to do more so I can blog more on my projects!

[purplefdu]

I've never heard of the stripes using poly, but thats a really great idea.

Good find on the oops. We were pricing supplies to build a desk/dog bed and found the perfect shade of pale lilac the other day for .99. Perfect type as well. Now we just have to wait to build it.