Walking The Line
Remember this old post about all the fun projects we were daydreaming about taking on with some bonus cash from BHG’s 48-Hour Challenge? Well 20,000+ votes later (!) we didn’t win the 5K (congrats Nicole!), but the good news is that plenty of those projects are still on the agenda. In fact, two of them are already completed! Remember we spruced up our patio a few weeks ago with a DIY firepit and some cheap-o lounge chairs? One down, four to go.
Well, better make that three because we’re back to share the second project that we tackled on the sly. We hinted at wanting to “introduce some layered, textural interest in the half bath” but then decided not to delve into details and surprise you guys instead. Well… surprise!
See that cream on cream texture that’s visible all the way from the front door? Let’s get closer shall we?
Yup, we painted cream on cream horizontal stripes in the half bathroom! It used to be the same tone as the hallways and the adjoining den (Wishes by Glidden) but we decided to amp it up in that jewel box of a bathroom with some lighter stripes to make the room feel a little more expansive (horizontal stripes have a way of creating that effect) and a heckova lot more interesting. Jenn’s Design Star makeover from last summer was actually our inspiration- it just took us twelve months to make it happen. Here’s the bathroom before our little paint intervention:
The entire project took just 4 hours one evening, and the steps were really simple:
Step 1: Divide & Conquer- Measure the full length of your wall and divide that number by twice the number of stripes that you want to have minus one (ex: our ceiling is 98″ tall and we wanted six horizontal stripes so we divided 98 by 11 (6 x 2 = 12 – 1 = 11) to get the thickness of each stripe. Ours came out to about 8.9 inches.
Step 2: Make Your Mark- Use a ruler to mark off every 8.9 inches starting from the floor and working up to the ceiling (we made two small pencil marks on each wall, one on each side).
Step 3: Tape It Off- Grab some blue painter’s tape and connect your pencil markings to create taped off stripes (once the tape is in place rub it a few times so you know that it’s flush with the wall for cleaner lines). The main thing to remember is that the tape should go outside the marks for the stripes you’ll be painting but inside the marks in the negative space that you won’t be painting. This might sound confusing, but just ask yourself if you’re taping off the stripe or the negative space as you go, and make sure the taped stripes are the right distance apart (ours were 8.9 inches) while the tape for the negative spaces is closer (once you remove the tape both areas will be the same width).
Step 4: Roll With It- Grab a good roller and some slightly lighter or darker paint (subtle is key for this look, so just going a shade or two away from the wall color makes for a soft layered look). Then apply two even and thin coats of latex paint between the tape that’s further apart to create your stripes. You’ll also need to use an angled brush to cut in near the base molding and the ceiling.
Step 5: Take It Off, Baby- This is a very very very important step. It’s crucial that you remove every strip of tape as soon as you’re done with your second coat of paint while the paint is still wet (assuming the coverage is good enough that you don’t need a third coat). Waiting to remove the tape until after the paint has fully dried will cause peeling and uneven lines that are less than crisp (which will make you want to cry after all that taping). In short: as soon as your roller is down, start pulling that tape off the wall for a clean stripe that looks seamless and sleek.
There you have it. Horizontal wall stripes. Easy eh? Oh and we used a quart of Valspar’s Honeymilk for the stripes because we actually had a $10-off coupon to Lowe’s. And thanks to that $10 off coupon, this entire project came in at just… (drumroll please)… $2.48. Gotta love that bang-for-your-buck upgrade!
We really like how our crystal tear-drop chandelier (a cheap-o Urban Outfitter’s score from a while back) looks even more dreamy with the soft stripes around it.
And our $9.99 art somehow feels even more spa-like with the tone on tone stripes:
We also feel particularly lucky that our stripes ended up framing our wall sconces perfectly (of course this is something you can ensure by starting your stripes in that area and working up or down to tape off the rest of them so nothing cuts through your lighting at a funny spot).
So there it is. Our under $3 bathroom makeover. We’ve always had a soft spot for stripes (take our blog’s background for example, or our recently striped porch) and I guess we just had to bring ‘em into our tiny half bath to fully embrace the linear love.
What do you guys think? Did any of you take on any cheap-o projects this weekend? Any striping stories of your own? Do tell.
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Comments
Good question! We have enough privacy to avoid window treatments altogether, but for privacy we like a chic frosted look (and you can pick up frosting film at places like Home Depot on a dime). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hi Sherry,
Gotta a question – I’m ready to paint my upstairs bathroom and because it’s the “shower” area, I am planning to paint it with a semi-gloss or kitchen/bath paint color. However, there is an accent wall that I’d like to stripe but it’s an eggshell finish. In my readings, I have learned that you should paint with a flat paint first, then stripe with a different finish to avoid cracking. What is your thought?
Nope! We striped with semi-gloss right over semi-gloss and it’s great, so feel free to go with that eggshell. It should be fab. Good luck!
xo,
s
Sherry and John,
I’m tackling your inspirational stripes project in my teeny-tiny half-bath this week. I have a quick question: Since it’s so important to remove the tape while the paint is still wet, do you wait for the first coat of stripe paint to fully dry before painting a second? I don’t want to risk any fuzzy edges after all that taping! :) Thanks!
Hey Gail,
We definitely didn’t stand around at all between coats, but we found by the time we worked our way up the wall with stripes the bottom ones were ready for their second coat (not totally dry of course but dry enough for the second coat). It seemed to work well in our tiny back so here’s hoping it’s the perfect timing for yours too! Good luck!
xo,
s
We’re about to try your stripe technique on our half-bath. We’re curious what color you painted your ceiling? White or the lighter of your two stripe colors?
Thanks!
Hey Kevin,
We were pretty simple and just left the ceiling plain white, but Sherry actually wants to go back in and repaint the ceiling the color of the lighter stripe – that way it’s not three different paint colors in there, just two. So it sounds like you may be one step ahead of us. Good luck with your stripe painting!
-John
Quick question.. my hubs and I just started this project in our master bath. We have taped everything off but are beginning to feel that the stripes in our somewhat large bath are making it seems smaller. Do you feel the layout of the bathroom may actually make a difference with this painting style? Our bathroom is long (I figured it would make it longer). Thanks, Nicole
Hey Nicole,
As long as the colors of the stripes are relatively low contrast it should really be more of a soft texture than something that makes the room feel smaller. In fact, experts day that subtle horizontal stripes can actually make a room feel wider and more expansive. In our bathroom, it’s a tiny room and we knew nothing would really make it look giant so we liked the soft interest and layered texture that the cream on cream stripes added. And of course when you tape things off it looks crazy because the tape is so high contrast and stripey. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hey guys,
I have a weird question for ya(well, weird to me). So my husband comes home the other day and tells me that one of his co-workers (who also just recently bought a house) told him: “You need to lightly sand your walls before you do any painting or else the paint won’t stick”. He also said: “Don’t buy any of that crappy paint from Home Depot or Lowe’s, and especially NOT Behr- it sucks”. Is this guy totally bonkers or is he giving my hubby sound home-renovating advice? To me, this sounds crazy, and I told my husband as much! I’ve never heard of anyone sanding their walls before painting! As for Behr paint, I’ve heard/read nothing but rave reviews. Also, if you don’t get paint from Home Depot or Lowe’s, where else would you go to get it? Please help!
(OK, so maybe that was more than one question, but I’m desperate for answers!)
Hey Elle S,
With all due respect to your husband’s co-worker, he does sound a bit bonkers. We’ve heard about lightly wiping your walls with a damp cloth (to remove dust and cobwebs) or priming to prep them to be painted (especially if you’re going from a dark to a light color), but never sanding. That sounds like crazy talk to us. And we’ve painted our entire house with paints from Lowe’s and Home Depot, so we certainly don’t agree with his other assessment. True, paints from private retailers like Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore can have better coverage than the Behr’s, Valspars and Gliddens out there but we’ve always been happy using a little bit more elbow grease to get a good coat over dishing out more cash. Hope that helps counteract some of the other advice you’ve gotten.
-John
Hi John,
Thank you SO much for clearing that up for me! I knew I could count on you and Sherry to straighten that out. Any advice on how to get my husband to stop listening to his co-workers and to start trusting his wife when it comes to home renovating? ;-)
Is there a width that you wouldn’t get larger than or smaller than for a stripe? (I figured that’s the easier way to answer the question, can you ever have too many or too few stripes on a wall).
Hey Lisa,
Good question! I would say that unless you have a very tall ceiling I would keep your stripes smaller than 24″ each. And even in a room with regular height ceilings, I would keep them larger than about 6″. That way there won’t be too few or too many to get that simple clean-lined layered and textured look. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I’m toying around with the idea of painting stripes in our spare bathroom, but would like to use a light gray color. Do you have any suggestions of paint brand/color. Thanks!
Hey Christina,
Hmm, you might want to try Benjamin Moore’s Horizon along with a cool white color (the soft gray and the white will look subtle and sophisticated together). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hey guys,
I really liked the horizontal stripes especially the colors,i want to do it in my half bath,but teh problem is my bathroom has a vaulted ceiling and it has many odd angles.So I was wondering if it would still be ok to do the stripes on teh lateral walls while leaving te ceiling with all the angles white?Also there is no ventilation and hence no light at all in my bathroon,but i really loved the colors u used,so whta do you think i can do about it?Can I go ahead n do the same color palette?
I would really appreciate ur advice.i need some serious design advice here.
Cheers:-)
Rohitha
Hey Rohitha,
Doing the stripes on the lateral walls and leaving the angled ceiling white sounds like the perfect solution! And since the colors of the stripes are so soft and subtle they won’t darken your room so it will look great. Just be sure to use semi-gloss paint so it’s wipe-able since you don’t have ventilation in there (you’ll want walls tht you can scrub down). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I have painted stripes in the past, and am considering it
again in my guest bathroom (a full bath). I had been
advised that after you tape it off you should paint your
lighter wall color first along the edge of the paint to
seal it off and prevent bleeding through. Then paint the
darker color. Seems to work and make a straighter line.
My biggest problem is picking colors for fear they will
be trendy.
Hey Holly,
We have also heard about the paint-the-wall-color-against-the-tape-first trick so it definitely should work out for you. And as for picking colors, good luck! We think subtle differences in tone are a bit less in-your-face so they might last a bit longer without looking trendy. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This is fabulous! Amazing to think someone could get such a high-end look with so little cash outlay. Great imagination, great idea, great work! …. and you two must either have a fine eye or the patience of the gods to get that taping lined up so nice and straight. Absolutely lovely!
Hey Angela,
We love a short-handled angled brush like this for trim, cutting in, and tight spots like behind the toilet. Worked like a charm!
xo,
s
Hello! I love this look. I recently bought a condo and would like to try this out. You used Honeymilk for the lighter stripes but what color did you use for the darker stripes? Thanks!
The darker stripes were just the original wall color: Wishes by Glidden. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
FANTABULOUS! We just bought our first house as well and are so excited to try this in our mouse-sized 1/2 bath! Thanks for the great tips!
I love the stripes in the bathroom! I think we might like to try that too in our hall bathroom. Currently it is an old lady faux finish yellow. Would these stripes work with textured walls? The edges always seen to look frayed. Any ideas?
Hey Michelle,
This question has actually come up quite a bit already so if you scroll back through the comments you can find many solutions (we like the idea of using clear caulk once you tape the stripes to keep the paint from bleeding since the wall is textured- then you just paint and pull the tape). Feel free to scroll back for more details and solutions. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
okay so I’m doing my room in a light blue “sea breeze” and a tan. I want my room to look as large as possible though. Should I do 2 walls blue and 2 walls tan? Or stripes? or blue on top and tan on bottom?
Hey Sara,
If you want the room to look super huge the best way to accomplish that is to paint all the walls one color (and use the other color as an accent for curtains, pillows, art, etc) so the corners fall away and the room feels more expansive (painting two walls one color and two the other color will have the opposite effect and will in effect split the room in half). You could also do stripes which really make a room feel wide and spacious but keeping the colors extremely close (tone on tone, like tan with cream or light blue with an even lighter blue) will have more of that effect (higher contrast stripes don’t feel as breezy and open). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sherry-
I’d like to paint our master bathroom with stripes like these and I plan on painting the master bedroom (which is attached) a blue-greyish color. Two questions for you: Do you think beadboarding and the stripes would be too busy? Do you think the stripes (using similar colors as yours) would clash with the blue walls in the master? I’ve also thought about doing blue stripes in the bathroom to coordinate with the blue in the master, but would that be too matchy-matchy in your opinion? (Ok that’s three questions. :) )
Good news! The colors we used for the stripes are so neutral and subtle that they’ll look great with your bedroom’s blue-gray walls and also with the beadboarding in the bathroom. You could also do blue stripes to tie everything together but they might be too high contrast (and therefore too busy) for the beadboard walls. They also might feel a bit too matchy-matchy so something lighter and more neutral might be the way to go for a nice visual break along with some openness in the smaller room (the bathroom). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
hi john & sherry!
thank you so much for this idea. i have to admit i still have paint on my hands and in my hair as i type this – i just finished painting a wall in our master bedroom with subtle light green stripes based on this post. i loved the pics of your bathroom and you totally inspired me! the paint hasn’t yet dried, nothing is hung on the wall, and the furniture’s not returned yet, but i had to write and thank you… i actually teared-up a little (i know, gag) after i pulled the tape off – i’ve never had such a pretty room before! i’d love to send a pic (how do i do that?).
liz (& james) tsang
Thanks so much for the sweet note Liz! You just made our day. We’re so glad your stripe project came out so well and we can’t wait to see it! On our sidebar you’ll see a button that says “Click here to contact the Youngsters” and that’ll take you to a page that shows you how to email us! Hope it helps. And congrats again on your pretty striped master bedroom wall!
xo,
s
Hey guys,
I have a couple of questions. I would like to do vertical stripes in my bed room. Should I follow the same steps on this post?
I will be doing black and white stripes on one of my walls. Similar to the master bedroom in this post
http://alkemie.blogspot.com/2008/07/study-in-black-white-one-designers-home.html
Hey Elizabeth,
Yup, the steps above should work exactly the same way for vertical stripes. Hope it helps! Love that inspiration pic!
xo,
s
I painted vertical stripes in my dining room last year. Instead of using blue painters tape to tape off the stripes, I used a product called Frog Tape. It’s green . . appropriately. The paint guy at Home Depot recommended it to me, and it was the best painting decision I ever made. It was a bit more expensive than blue painters tape, but it completely prevented any bleeding on my bumpy plaster walls. Well worth the cost.
Love your blog!
Great tip! Thanks so much for sharing. We’ll definitely have to give frog tape a try.
xo,
s
I just finished copying your half-bath and I love it! Thanks again for the inspiration and step-by-step directions!
http://thesouthernroyalty.blogspot.com/2010/02/half-bath-beauty.html
Just realized you don’t have any window treatments in your bathrooms in these pictures…..do you still have nothing on your windows?? I’m just trying to find something, since we have very close neighbors and I was looking at your bathrooms for ideas….thanks!