Painting Stripes - really that easy?

FutureMrsMall · March 2009

I am hoping to do stripes in the baby's room but i'm really unsure how to draw out the stripes so they are even & straight. Does anyone have instructions/advice or can point me in the rigth direction? I'm just doing two colors (white and yellow).

Thanks for the help!

kryssy · March 2009

Painter's tape, yard stick, and maybe a level. It's pretty easy, just time consuming to do it right. Measure along the ceiling and mark where you want your lines, do the same across the bottom, run your tape in between (it is easiest if you have two people doing this part). Use the level to double check, if you want, but most don't and they still get it right. Just about any decor website will have tips on how to do stripes.

LLarson · March 2009

I agree with previous poster. My dh hates painting though so it is possible to do it alone

good luck!! the outcome is well worth the work!

heidismith · March 2009

I am planning on painting stripes and am hoping they turn out well! I am going to use the methods pp said above.

goodgalpal · March 2009

Use a chalked plumb line

moonshiney · March 2009

I used a chalk line and plumb bob. And painters tape and cloth tape measure. It is hard work and I really needed help. My dh hates painting and would just complain the whole time so I got my mom to help me! The lines bleed though if you have textured walls. I did. And there is a lot of touch up too!

b15chik · March 2009

pic in sig of ours. we used 2" painters tape to cover up the white and then alternated the brown and blue. the hard part was getting all the measurements right so everything was the same size.worth it in the end though, i love it. (side note, the painters tape isn't actually 2" wide. it's 1.something or other. hubby was really pissed when he was at the end of the wall with one huge gigantic stripe).

just used a vertical level and a yard stick really

amber_tynan · March 2009

You should paint the walls white first, then figure out what width you want the stripes to be. Measure along the ceiling and mark with a pencil how wide you want the stripes (ie: every 5 inches). I suggest using a laser level- I got mine at Home Depot for about $20- you want to put the painting tape at the outside edges of the area you want yellow, just follow the laser line down the wall with the edge of the tape. Sometimes it's helpful to put an "x" with tape in the stripes you want to keep white so you don't get confused. Do two coats of yellow, and make sure to take the tape off pretty soon after the last coat because the tape will stick really bad if the paint dries- and take it off at an angle not just pull straight down because that will leave an uneven line.

ballet84 · March 2009

We actually did white and yellow stripes in our nursery and it turned out exactly how I wanted. It definately took patience. I did the stripes above the chair rail (not intalled yet).

I painted the white first. Then measured my walls and determined strip width and marked a small dot where the lines needed to be. I used a laser liner instead of yard stick and used Frog Tape (green, not blue) and then painted the yellow. I had no bleeding of paint with that tape like with the blue painters tape I used in the past. I took photos as I worked for my scrapbook, so let me try and post them in here for you:

b15chik · March 2009

ballet84:
used Frog Tape (green, not blue) and then painted the yellow. I had no bleeding of paint with that tape like with the blue painters tape I used in the past.

this was the awesome tape we had used in the beginning. when we ran out and went to get another roll, this is the stuff that has apparently been pulled from all the shelves out here. can't find it anywhere anymore.

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