Over the years, Color Touch Painting has been hired to paint stripes in a number of San Francisco Bay Area bedrooms, office spaces and hallways. We have learned a few things along the way and would love to share how to paint stripes in a bedroom. Before starting, decide what effect you are trying to achieve. Are you looking to stripe just one accent wall, or a whole room? If an accent wall, will one of your colors be the same as the base color for the other walls? Or are you looking to make a bold statement with bold colors or diagonal stripes? Using colors from the same family or a single color with different sheens, one can create a more subtle effect. High contrast (such as black and white) creates a bolder, more striking look. Keep in mind that Horizontal stripes make a room appear more spacious; vertical stripes make the ceiling appear higher. Also, stripes look best when they are between 4 – 12 inches wide. Wider stripes can make a room look more expansive, while narrower stripes are better suited for smaller rooms.
Wall stripes in a bedroom
Step #1: Plan out the Stripe Pattern
Before you get into painting, spend some time planning out your stripe colors and pattern for your wall. Try to decide what effect you are trying to achieve. Great inspiration can come from decor magazines, or simply by searching ideas on-line. Keep in mind that vertical stripes can make your wall appear higher, while horizontal stripes can make your space seem larger. Diagonal stripes in a bedroom can create a dynamic, interesting effect but using them requires careful consideration. what angle do you want the stripes to be? A conventional 45 degrees, or something steeper? While diagonal stripes can make a space feel more energetic and modern, over-using them on all walls or in highly contrasting colors can be overwhelming.
Whether you’re painting horizontal stripes on walls, vertical striped walls, 0r diagonal stripes, you’ll need to measure the height (or width) of your wall and divide it by the number of stripes you want. Think about how wide you want your stripes to be. Placing some tape or snap lines on the wall can give you a general idea ahead of time.
Helpful Tip:
If you are doing an accent wall, you probably want to “book-end” your stripes (have the same color on opposite ends, for symmetry). For this, you will need an odd number of stripes. If one of your stripe colors is the same as the main room color (white, for instance), you will probably want your “book-end” stripes to be black.
Step #2: Prepare the wall and workspace
To prepare for painting your stripes:
- Remove all furniture, wall hangings and light fixtures in your project space.
- Cover your floor with a drop cloth or rosin paper.
- Inspect your wall for imperfections, loose paint and nail-holes.
- Sand out any raised blemishes with 120 grit sand-paper, fill nail-holes with either a hot mud (larger holes) or a lightweight Spackle such as Dap fast’n final.
- Sand down any repaired areas and wipe away sanding dust with a damp rag.
Step #3: Paint the base color.
- Decide which color you want as the base color. For the base coat, most people go for the lightest color in their stripe pattern. Or, use the same color as the rest of the room as your base color.
Step#4: Lay out your stripes
- After deciding how many stripes you will have and how wide they will be, measure out where you’ll place each of your stripes and mark them in pencil (see the helpful tip below).
- Some people use a level tool (or a laser level) and a pencil to draw their stripe lines. We prefer to snap chalk lines.
- Use a specialty tape, like “Frogtape with paint block” or Scotch “sharp lines”#2093 Using regular painter’s tape may damage your newly painted wall. This step prevents wet paint from creeping beneath the paint and ensures you create a crisp, clean separation in the design.
- After you tape, apply a very thin bead of clear caulk on the tape line. Use a damp rag to work it into the line.
- Be careful to tape just below and above your pencil lines to ensure you paint over them.
Helpful Tip:
The edges of you wall may not be exactly horizontal or vertical, so measure from one edge and then use a level to make sure that your first line is plumb and square. For a 12″ wide vertical stripe, you may find that your stripe is 12″ from the edge at the top of the wall, but 11.5″ from the edge at the bottom.Once you establish the first line, you can measure from it for successive lines (12″, 24″, 36″ etc).
Step #5: Paint the Stripes
- Get a two gallon bucket with a roller screen, a 4″ or 6″ mini roller and a good 2″ or 2.5″ brush.
- Consider using a clear sealer to seal the tape edges on surfaces with any level of texture (see helpful tip below).
- Using the brush and small roller, apply an even coat of paint to paint each stripe. We prefer to brush the edges along the tape and roll the middle, as rolling onto the tape can cause extra paint bleed (see helpful tip below).
Helpful Tip:
Even if you use tape that is specially formulated for clean lines, you may still get some “bleed-through”, which creates a fuzzy line. This can happen on walls that are not completely smooth. You can either carefully touch up any bleed after pulling the tape, or eliminate the problem ahead of time by pre-priming over your tape with a clear sealant such as Kilz Klear.
Step #6: Let Dry and Apply Second Coat
- Allow the first coat to dry for a couple of hours before applying a second coat.
- Remove the tape slowly and at a 45-degree angle shortly after you’ve applied your final coat of paint.
- Touch up any bits of bleed through.
- Admire a job well done!
