general

An important item when deciding on painting stripes on walls to consider is “contrasting your colors”. One should be brighter/darker enough than the other.
I’d suggest that you first try out a couple of stripes first before tackling the whole room. This way, if you don’t like the colors or even the spacing/width of the stripes, you can easily prime over them and start on a fresh slate.

Before painting stripes on walls, you will need to get the preparation done first, such as repairing any holes, patching, sanding and taping, etc. see my page on interior painting preparation for a quick refresher on the steps involved.

Ok, now you have chosen the two colors and finished prepping the room. The question people ask at this point is what color should they paint first? Simply put, it should be the lightest of the two colors or the “flattest” of the finishes.

Apply the first color now to the wall(s). You need to wait at least 24 hours for this coat to cure enough before moving onto the next step of using painter’s tape…

Measuring for Painting Stripes on Walls

For planning out the proper spacing of the stripes and sections, you’ll need to do a bit of math 🙂

When planning your walls, the stripes are usually between 4-10 inches wide.

Using a tape measure or long ruler, start marking out your chosen width at the top of the wall with a pencil – don’t use ink as it bleeds through most latex interior paints.

Some minor adjustments may be needed to keep an equal distance between the stripes for the length of the wall that you are painting.

It’s a good idea to then use a long level to transfer the final marks vertically to the bottom of the wall for each line and draw a light pencil mark down the full length so you can easily apply the painter’s tape. If you have a laser level on hand, all the better.

There is a 3M “Scotch” product called “Safe-Release Painter’s Tape” specifically designed for freshly painted surfaces and even shows a picture on the box of its use in painting stripes on walls! In at least, try to purchase a less-adhesive brand of painter’s tape.

Once you apply a length of painter’s tape along a vertical line, run a putty knife over the tape. This will help eliminate any seepage of paint under the tape.
Time to paint the darker, second color. Cut in the ceiling and bottom baseboard areas as normal with a good quality sash brush.

Using a small 4-inch roller, start applying the second color in the alternating sections. If your stripes are of a smaller dimension, you will have to find a smaller applicator or use a brush.

Once you’ve completed one wall, very carefully and slowly, remove the painter’s tape. This should be done while the paint is still fresh (semi-wet).

This doesn’t happen all that often in my neighborhood, so I shouldn’t complain too much, but what fun would that be? It has happened plenty throughout my life though, so I feel justified.

I wake up this morning, finally feeling better after my 3+ day holiday bug, ready for the day. While getting ready, my wife opens the curtains and lets me know, “Some dog got in our trash.”

I am not sure how the trash routine is in your neck of the woods, but around here when there is a holiday we basically have no idea when our can is going to get emptied. We normally have Wednesday as our pick up day, but when a holiday happens early in the week, on the weekend, or in the last couple of weeks, our trash day is automatically bumped to some other day, so be prepared. It could happen on the same day too, we have no idea. Often it is the day after your normal pick up, but you just can’t count on that. We have planned on it in the past and had to deal with an overstuffed bin for an extra week because, by some superhuman feat, the trash guy was able to keep us on schedule.

I am sure there is some logic to all this, but the company engaged by the city to take care of our refuse doesn’t care to share it with all of us. Trust me, we do actually read our city monthly newsletter, so we would know! We have only lived here two years now, so perhaps they only announce it once every decade and I shouldn’t be complaining.

So, in lieu of knowing what the heck is going on, we – and all our neighbors – dutifully put out our trash on a normal day so we will be ready for whenever the pickup actually happens. Queue dog getting out of whatever stronghold a neighbor should have him in. It is the Christmas season, right? This dog definitely had himself a whole buffet of options available. With the inevitable overstuffing of garbage cans due to the discarded present packaging, lids are all askew and rampant aromas floating in the air.

You would expect trash strewn up and down the street from everyone can available, right? Wrong. Of course not. For some reason, the contents of my can hit this particular dogs delight. My wife mused,

“Maybe it’s the wonderful diapers we have in our can, dogs love those.”

Yuck. That is one thing that turns my stomach, but it’s true. Dog’s love the baby diapers. That can’t be the case though because the Utah water hit several of our neighbors this last year and we all have little ones under 1 yr. I guess my kid just has that special scent.

Whatever the reason, we were the only ones with the pleasure of having our trash spread for the world to see. Lucky us.