Wall of Stripes No Tape Required

 

We have all seen the abundance of tutorials on painting stripes on a wall and you ask why is this any different?

 

Well, first I have a question for you….

 

I have always tried to muster up the courage to tackle painting stripes on a wall. There are some great tutorials out there such as here and here.

But, I knew it was going to be an immediate thumbs down right from the start.

 

 

Why do I doom myself from the beginning?

Our walls are highly textured. They have this thin coat of plaster mixed with sand. I am not a fan of it. Painting walls with a solid color is a major struggle to get good coverage. I can’t imagine adding striped details with tape to the mix. And this post from Michelle @ 4 men 1 lady about the truth on striped walls just confirmed my fears.

 

And that brings me to the second reason….

I have no patience for tape. I just don’t use it. The whole process of trying to get the tape off the roll, lining it up in a straight line, and making sure the tape sticks to the highly textured wall makes me well….lose my stripes!

 {Source}

 

Now, I realize I am not being a big promoter of painters tape such as Frog Tape. There have been many great reviews of the product and I have no doubt it is. So, if you have way more courage and optimism than I do, they have a great tutorial on painting textured walls using Frog Tape. Perhaps, one of these days I will get over my fear and get on the Frog Tape bandwagon.

 

I gotta tell ya though…even though I am a tape hater, I am a firm believer that walls need love. They need character added to them whether it be a gorgeous paint color, board-and-batten, shiplap, crown moulding or in my case a bit of screen stock.

 

Screen what you say?

Screen stock. It is a very thin piece of flat wood or millwork. You can find it in the millwork department at your local hardware store. It comes in lengths of 8′ and runs about $5 for each piece.

 

This was our process…

We used a great tutorial to measure out the width of the stripes from Beth at Unskinny Boppy. The Lazy Girls Timesaving Tips For Painting Wall Stripes. Hmm,  I am the first to say that maybe my post should be called the Lazier Girls Timesaving Tips. Bahaha.

 

Anyway, here is where you really need to pay attention …

If you are planning on having a contrasting stripe to your walls such as white and black or gray and white, it is advisable to prime and paint the screen stock in the colors you are using prior to nailing on. Otherwise, you will be getting out that teeny tiny paint brush, pulling your hair out and wishing you would have used that Frog Tape! And depending on your preference, painting between the lines might be helpful as well.

 

For me though, I really didn’t want contrast on the walls. I did however, want some interest and texture. So, I did prime the screen stock first and then I just painted the walls entirely when finished.

 

Adding the screen stock:

We marked, with chalk, where the studs were located in order to properly nail the screen stock to the wall securely. We used a pneumatic nail gun for this process. Because our room was longer than the 8′ pieces of stock, we just butted the ends together and nailed while staggering the seams.

 

 

One more important tip that we learned after the fact……

The screen stock will expand and contract with temperature changes. Make sure you leave a small gap on each end where the screen stock butts up to the wall corner. Otherwise, you will have buckling over time.

So, now you ask me if I am a solids or stripes kinda gal?

I guess I am a little bit of both.

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