Boy's Room In Navy and Orange, and Painting Stripes.

Boy’s Room In Navy and Orange by maggieoverbystudios

Working on my son’s room started with a fresh coat of paint and a bunch of ideas. While we were still in Germany I refinished a German wardrobe, you may remember it as the Longest Refinishing Project Ever. I knew this piece would be a focal point for the new room. I used the orange as my jumping off point and came up with a plan. Using the a Pottery Barn crewel throw pillow I found on clearance as my inspiration, the new room will be navy orange and green. The first step to this new room was getting the walls painted.

The room started off a builder beige/brown that seems to come with every house I move into. I hate brown so I repainted the room Valspar Morning Lake, a nice grey with a hint of blue that really brightened up the room.

Next addition, a striped accent wall. I will show you how it’s done using Valspar Indigo Streamer and my good friend Frog Tape. The only other tools needed are a pencil, tape measure, and a long level or yard stick.

The first step involves a little math. My wall is 93″ from base board to ceiling. I knew I wanted 10″-12″ stripes and that I wanted the top and bottom stripe match the wall color. I will admit this last decision was out of laziness since avoiding the base board and ceiling made for less work. Having the top and bottom stripe the same means I needed an odd number of stripes. So dividing my 93″ by 9 gave me 10 1/4″ stripes, five light and four dark, perfect!

Starting at the ceiling I measured down 10 1/4″ all along the wall, then using my long level I drew a line connecting the marks at the same time making sure my marks are level. I continued down the wall measuring 10 1/4″ down from the line above marking and adding a new line. Once complete I tape outside of the stripe to be painted. I also made sure to put the tape just outside my pencil line so that they would be painted over, leaving less clean up.

One extra step I like to take is to add a few small strips of tape inside each stripe I will not be painting. I have been known to paint the wrong stripe so this is a safety measure before the paint comes out.

Now for the most important tip of stripe painting. Using your wall color paint over the edges of your painters tape inside your stripes. Even the best tape does not account for human error. By painting the wall color on the seams will seal them before you add your contrasting coat, and any bleeding paint will match the wall color and not be seen. This does not have to be a thick coat of paint just a quick brushing around the edges.

Once the edge coat is completely dry your ready for your contrasting coat. I like to use a small foam roller for better control. I roll up and down being sure to get good coverage along the tape edge for a crisp clean line.

The photo above shows the wall after one coat of paint. I used two coats but use as many coats as needed to get full even coverage. Once the painting is complete remove the tape. I find it best to pull the tape while the paint is still wet. Due to the elastic quality of latex based paint it will sometimes tear away with the tape once it is dry so pulling the tape while the paint is wet will prevent this from happening.