Painting Horizontal Stripes...on the Archway

I am so excited to say my archway is not dreaded anymore! Yay for me! It has been a long time coming, and with a great deal of thought too. If you didn't see the post on how it was the The Dreaded Archway, click here. I had knee surgery in March and was on crutches for 4 weeks. I spent  A LOT of time on my bed, looking out through my doorway into the archway, and I think my decision was pretty thought out. Drum roll please.......

So everyone who has seen my stripes this week love them... and then the comment about how they couldn't do that usually follows. I am here to tell you that you can. It is not hard, it just takes time and effort. In addition to regular paint supplies you will need:

• 4 foot level
• Smaller level (like 8 inches) if you have a teensy wall like around a door frame
• Painters tape
• Paint brush
• Putty knife or pan scraper

To start of I must apologize that I forgot 2 photos for the steps along the way. So I will do my best to explain the process. Also, the glare on all my pics is inevitable from the light fixture. Being a small space I couldn't turn it off and couldn't avoid it either. 

STEP 1: Paint the entire space the LIGHTER of your 2 colors. After it dries, move to STEP 2.

STEP 2: Decide how big you want your stripes to be. I wanted them 10 inches. I also didn't want them to be perfectly measured out into a pattern. So I put my ruler on the floor measured up 10 inches made a mark, and kept going up the wall to the ceiling marking every 10 inches.  

Yes, I know you are all jealous of the laundry rockin' it on the floor IN the laundry room

STEP 3: Once you have the marks up the wall, you will grab a level (4 foot one). Line your level up with the mark (horizontally) and once it is level pencil in a LIGHT line. This is where I forgot a picture. After your pencil lines are on the wall use an X to lightly mark which stripes you will be painting the different color. Now grab the painters tape. 

STEP 4: Remember when you keep your eye "on the horizon" you can make straighter lines with the tape vs focusing on every few inches. So take your roll of tape, and line the horizontal edge of the tape parallel with the pencil line.  Stick one END in place. Then find your line down the wall a few feet and aim to stick the  length of tape there. Remember you are taping a boundary for where the NEW color is going to go so your tape needs to be outside the lines (not on it) so when you paint it covers the pencil line.

**Here are a few tips for taping those corners or door frames:

Stretch the length of your tape along the wall parallel to your pencil line. Leave the corners curled up while you are working on the wall.

Then use a flat edged thing. (As you can see, my Pampered Chef pan scrapers work just great!). I just use the flat edge and press toward the corner not directing the tape, just letting it lay as I go as it pretty much is straight. Press the tape into the corner making sure it is stuck pretty well, before going along the adjacent wall towards the door frame.

STEP 5: I think this next step is not a very commonly known step as I have seen stripes painted that seem to "bleed" under the tape. The trick to avoid this is to grab a paintbrush and your EXISTING wall color and paint the edges of tape lining the new stripe. Any bleeding under the tape will be the color of the wall and it seals the line so no other colors will bleed through.

STEP 6: Once that is dry, begin painting your NEW color. If your stripes are wide enough, have at it with the paint roller, no need to cut in with a brush.

STEP 7: Once done, I immediately begin removing the painters tape so that there is less chance of the tape taking paint with it. Even though I have used name brand tape, it still has pulled off paint before so now I just start removing it with the paint on the tape still wet.

** I still had a bit of paint come off when I pulled the tape. Just have ready the paint you might need to touch it up. No need to tape off. If you are worried you are not steady enough with a regular paint brush, you can always use a craft paint brush.

Remember, most projects are a learning project! Have fun and learn from any mistakes you might make. It is just paint. You can always paint over mistakes!