Adding Horizontal Wall Stripes to the Powder Room

I  went wide…

Painting horizontal wall stripes on a wall is not new, but it is a great way to add affordable impact to a space.  Since this powder room is being done on a teeny tiny budget – under $200 – painting stripes adds a lot of style for the price of a quart of paint and a roll of painter’s tape.

I had planned to get further along than just painting the stripes on the walls this weekend, but it was over 50 degrees and sunny outside!!!   I am an outdoor person and when I woke up on Saturday morning and saw the sun and heard the forecast  – painting in a cramped room with no windows versus lots of fresh air and sunshine – you can guess what won!  I had to get out and enjoy the fresh air both days. It felt great and energized me.

Taking photos of  a small room with only a one sided light source…not easy. Lots of shadows in the photos, but you will get the idea of how the room is starting to transform.

I did not have a plan for this room. It took me a few weeks to settle on an idea. I was going back and forth with ideas and colors. I wanted to go all white with pops of color, but I had to incorporate the existing beige toilet, counter, and sink that have to stay into the new color scheme.  Once I figured out how to make them not stand out against the white I wanted to add, I got to work.

First I added the wide bead board to the focal wall and painted it white.  Then I painted the walls and ceiling white.  This alone made a huge difference, but the walls needed something more. Since the decorative accessories are going to be very minimal, the walls had to have something on them, but something that would not make the room look too busy.

You can see how the new vintage industrial light looks that I posted about last week.   I still have to place a mirror under it as well as paint the cabinet and replace the gold faucet.

In the back of my mind, I always have to think about decorating the rooms with resale in mind. Keeping the decor semi-neutral with updated styling will only help if we move and put the house on the market.

When you open the door and turn on the light to this room I wanted to see visual impact without a cluttered or overdone feel.  When you close this door and are inside, it can get a little claustrophobic since there is no window.  The simplicity of the wide stripes in the color of the existing fixtures adds exactly enough.

Painting the stripes on one feature wall is really very easy, taking the stripes around all four, not hard , but a little more time consuming since you have to match up the level line all around the room. Having an uneven ceiling line and working in a tight space added a bit of a challenge but is not hard to do.

I started using a laser level to make my lines for the stripes but then I realized my ceiling was not level and I ended up doing it the the easy and old-fashioned way of marking down from the ceiling with a yardstick and pencil.

supplies needed:

• Paint – I used Valspar Bistro White #7006-4 and Glidden Remain Neutral Specify: #39YY 77/091 #A0066 for the stripes and cabinet
• Angled paint brush
• Foam paint roller
• Bubble level
• Painter’s tape
• Yardstick
• Pencil
• Small tipped paint brush

1. Choose the two colors you want the the stripes to be.  Roll on one or two coats of the first color all over the wall..Let dry.

2. Figure out how wide and how many stripes you want on the walls.  I went with an uneven number of stripes so that I would have the same color at the top and bottom of the wall.    Measure the height of your wall and divide it by the number of stripes you want.

My walls are just short of 8 feet high and I wanted my stripes to be around 8 inches wide.  If you want wider stripes use a lower number  ( 5, 7, or 9 ) to divide into your wall height.

I did the focal wall above the bead board first to see if I would like the look of the stripes.  I did, so I continued the stripes on the other 3 walls.

I divided the WALL HEIGHT : 91″  by the odd number 11.    91″ divided by 11 = 8.27″
That came out so each stripe would be about 8 1/4 inches wide.

I was left with a 2 inch wide stripe on the full wall behind and on the door side of the toilet.  The other two walls are only half walls because of the sink cabinet.

Once you know your measurements, it is time to start marking the wall.

3. Starting from the ceiling, place the end of a yardstick against the ceiling.  Mark your stripe width measurements vertically down the wall with a small pencil mark using the measurements on the yardstick as your guide.  Continue marking vertically down the yardstick the width of your stripes.  Check to make sure all the marks are evenly spaced. You may have to make a few adjustments.  Use a wet rag to remove the previous pencil marks if you make a measuring mistake.  When you get to the end of the yardstick, place the tip at the bottom-most mark on the wall and then continue marking the wall.

4. Once you have the marks evenly spaced, mark the measurements on the yardstick with a pencil or marker so that it can be your guide to mark the rest of the wall.  Move over about 18 inches from the first vertical line of marks you made.  Hold the end of the yardstick to the ceiling again and make your marks down the wall again. Repeat this step all around the room.

5. Once your pencil marks are on the wall, it is time to mask out the stripes you are painting. Place the tape onto the walls by lining up the tapes edge against the horizontal pencil marks on the wall.    The stripes that you will be painting the second color will be outlined in the tape. Place a small piece of tape in the stripes that are not getting painted. This helps so you know which stripes  get paint and which ones don’t.

*** Before painting, double check to make sure that you have the tape on  each stripe correctly. The stripes that don’t get paint will look thinner because the painters tape is inside of them since you are outlining the stripes that will be painted.

6.  Run the tips of your fingers or a credit card along the painted edge of each piece of tape to seal it.  This will help lessen bleed-through and will keep your stripes sharp.

7.  Dip an angled paint brush into the second color of paint and remove some of the paint against the edge of the can. Brush along the taped edge of the strip by starting the brush on the tape itself and then brush it on the wall. This will help lessen bleed-through. Once the taped edge is painted, use a paint roller to add the rest of the paint in the center of each stripe.  Let dry about 10 minutes and then add one more coat.

8. Once the second coat of paint is on, remove all the tape. DO NOT LEAVE THE TAPE ON WHILE THE PAINT DRIES.   If the paint dries with the tape on you risk the chance of the paint coming off with the tape.

9.  Touch up any areas with a fine tipped paint brush.