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How to Paint Perfect Stripes {One Room Challenge, Week 3}

Welcome back to week 3 of the One Room Challenge! If you’re unfamiliar with the challenge, it is a fun event hosted by Linda at Calling It Home where bloggers tackle an entire room makeover in just six weeks. We have decided to take on our boys’ shared room and are going with a “Let’s Go Adventuring!” theme. 🙂 You can see our plans for the space here, and our favorite choices for kids’ beds in this post.

This week is all about stripes! Painted stripes, that is…

I've always wondered how people paint perfect stripes on walls, and this post shares the secret! It's genius and I never knew it was so easy! Click through to the post to see how!

How to Paint Perfect Stripes

I knew I wanted to do something to make the walls look a little more fun for the boys, and I thought a little stripe would be the perfect detail. I’m really loving how they turned out, so I thought I would share our process in case you have any stripe projects coming up in the near future!

Materials

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

For this project we used:

Step 1- Measure and Draw Your Lines

Donnie helped me with this part because he’s better with a level. 🙂 We decided on the height we wanted our lines to be and marked that spot on the wall. Then Donnie used a long level and a pencil to draw the line the whole way around the room. He repeated the process with the subsequent lines.

For reference, our top stripe is 8″ wide, the bottom stripe is 2 1/4″ wide, and there is a 1 1/4″ gap between the stripes.

I've always wondered how people paint perfect stripes on walls, and this post shares the secret! It's genius and I never knew it was so easy! Click through to the post to see how!

When he was drawing the lines, he made sure that his ending point was on either side of the doorway. That way, if the lines didn’t match up exactly, it wouldn’t be as noticeable.

I've always wondered how people paint perfect stripes on walls, and this post shares the secret! It's genius and I never knew it was so easy! Click through to the post to see how!

Step 2- Tape Off the Lines

Once Donnie had drawn all of the lines on the wall, I went around and very carefully put up painter’s tape just barely outside of his lines. This way, I made sure that I painted over the pencil marks so I wouldn’t have to try to go around and erase them later.

I've always wondered how people paint perfect stripes on walls, and this post shares the secret! It's genius and I never knew it was so easy! Click through to the post to see how!

Step 3- The Secret to Perfectly Crisp Lines!

This next step is the secret to getting perfect lines every time! Before I painted the stripes the color I wanted them to be, I painted over the edges of my painter’s tape with the wall color. This seals the edges of the tape and prevents the stripe color from seeping underneath it, giving me perfectly painted lines.

I've always wondered how people paint perfect stripes on walls, and this post shares the secret! It's genius and I never knew it was so easy! Click through to the post to see how!

Step 4- Paint the Stripe Color

After I had sealed the edges of the tape with the wall color, I painted on my stripe color. I did one coat, let it dry for about 10 minutes, then did a second coat.

I've always wondered how people paint perfect stripes on walls, and this post shares the secret! It's genius and I never knew it was so easy! Click through to the post to see how!

As soon as I finished the second coat of the stripe color, it was time for…

Step 5- Peel Off the Tape

I removed the tape, being very careful not to get the wet paint on anything else in the room, and I was left with my perfectly painted stripes!

I've always wondered how people paint perfect stripes on walls, and this post shares the secret! It's genius and I never knew it was so easy! Click through to the post to see how!

I've always wondered how people paint perfect stripes on walls, and this post shares the secret! It's genius and I never knew it was so easy! Click through to the post to see how!

It’s just a little detail, but I love the impact it makes in the room. And the Cs think it looks very cool, so that is a win in my book! 🙂

One Room Challenge

We just have a few more projects left in this room before the big reveal in a few weeks! If you’d like to see the progress that the other One Room Challenge participants are making, you can do so here. And you can follow the transformation of the Cs’ room from the very beginning in these posts:

Let’s Go Adventuring: Planning a Shared Boy Room {One Room Challenge, Week 1}

My Favorite Kids’ Beds- High/Low {One Room Challenge, Week 2}

How to Paint Perfect Stripes {One Room Challenge, Week 3} (You’re here!)

How to Create an Organized Kids’ Closet {One Room Challenge, Week 4}

Favorite Plaid Bedding Options {One Room Challenge, Week 5}

Let’s Go Adventuring: A Shared Boy Bedroom {One Room Challenge Reveal!}

Thanks for following along! Have a wonderful week!

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This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

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Comments

  1. Great tip about sealing the edge with the wall colour, Thanks Abby! The stripes look amazing, looking so forward to seeing the finished room!

    Reply

  4. I love this tip! I would have never thought of that but your lines look ULTRA crisp! I have always been kinda intimidated to paint stripes on walls because of that. Now I need to find a place for stripes in my home :).
    Looking so good so far, I can’t wait to see when everything’s all finished.

    >> Christene
    Keys to Inspiration

    Reply

  6. I love watching the progress of your boy’s room, Abby! As a mom of 3 boys (now in high school), I’m confident you are creating a space that will grow with them. The walls and furniture will last them forever! It all looks classic but not boring or stuffy: My favorite style of decorating. Congrats on your beautiful new home!

    Reply

  7. Holy cow! That is such a great tip! About how long did you let the wall color dry before you painted over with the navy?

    I am so glad you found such a great navy. I cannot tell you how many sample cans I have purchased trying to find “just the right” navy color and they have all been too light, too gray, and everything in between. I am writing this color down. Both my boys have navy accents in their rooms too.

    Reply

    • You are right– navy paint colors can be hard!

      We had a few days between when we did the wall color and when we painted the stripes, just because that’s when we had time available!

      ~Abby =)

      Reply

  8. I am definitely filing that painting tip away for future reference! Your stripes look super crisp and beautiful! It’s going to be an amazing boys’ room. Can’t wait to see the finished room with the beds all made and (hopefully) the super cute red bear pillow your oldest liked! 🙂

    Reply

  10. Looks great Abby. I remember when my son was little we did this to his room. We were trying to imitate the Toronto Maple Leafs stripes on their jersey’s. We are big hockey fans!! Always loved that room. I’m happy the strips are still in style for wall décor. Its one of my favourites.!

    Reply

  13. What a great tip! The stripes look great. How long did you wait to paint the stripes after you painted the walls? Looking forward to seeing the finished room.

    Reply

  15. The stripes look awesome and I love the tip. I’ve used Frog tape before and thought it worked well, but this is a great option and doesn’t require a separate tape. Question: Do you ever have the paint on the edges want to pull away as you pull the tape up? When I paint normally, I’ve had that problem so I avoid painters tape at all costs. I find it’s best to remove the tape when it’s still a little wet in order to avoid it peeling off with the tape. Just wondering if you ever had that happen or how you prevent that. The room is coming along so nicely!!

    Reply

    • I do try to remove the tape as soon as I can to avoid pulling up the paint. I will sometimes have to go through and touch up a few spots, but for the most part, this method has worked really well for me!

      ~Abby =)

      Reply

  16. Great tutorial! My son’s been asking for orange stripes for ages, but I’ve been intimidated by the process. You made it seem pretty simple, so I guess I should get on it. 🙂

    Reply

  19. I am planning a dimond pattern on my little man’s room and was researching painting techniques when I came upon your blog. Your tip of sealing the edges of the tape will no doubt save me hours of touching up! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

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