A few months ago I walked into a friend’s house and was amazed. They had taken decorating risks that I had always wanted to be brave enough to try. Now I don’t want you to think they had nailed their chairs to the ceiling. Instead it was the overall feeling that they had grabbed the house and made it their home. Their decor looked liked something you would see in a decorating magazine. But when I look at those pictures I never imagine myself being able to make any room look that good, without professional help and some winning lotto numbers. So I asked for their secret. And you know what they said? Stop thinking about it, take the leap, and the initial pessimism is the only real obstacle. 

Emboldened by my friend’s words, I planned my attack. My oldest son wanted a change to his room that was last painted five years ago. Perhaps the cartoonish toddler theme wasn’t doing it anymore. So I asked what he wanted and his reply, “Something Cool.” Great! Now I have to come up with something he thinks will be cool. Not having a great track record with coolness in the past, I enlisted his help and we settled on a few bold stripes and some geometric accents to his walls. The plan was to have diagonal stripes dividing two of the walls, a triangle accent near the closet and a rectangle accent for a beam in the ceiling. But could I pull off our grand vision? I was surprised how simple it turned out to be.

Here are some hints I learned from this really easy painting technique.

1. Measure once and then measure again. When doing stripes or any other shape, you have to get the lines right or it will look awful. So take your time, use a level and a long ruler to ensure you have straight lines. I used a pencil to lightly mark the lines after two measurements. 

2. Tape it. Put painter’s tape on the outside of your pencil lines. Make sure you press the tape down along the edges, or you will end up with jagged lines.

3. Paint. If you have taken your time with the above steps this will be a snap. Use a roller to paint the larger areas and a small brush to make sure you get the edges. Remember to cover the area completely.

4. Second Coat. Wait about an hour for the first coat to dry and then add a second coat. This gives you a more even color and lets you fix any goofs from the first coat. Now wait a few hours till the paint is almost dry and then pull off the tape. Do not wait until the paint is completely dry because some of it could come off with the tape, and then you are doing touch up work.

Here are a few more things to remember.  Most of the time, vertical stripes are preferable. They will help elongate a room and make the ceiling look taller. Horizontal stripes work best in rooms with high ceilings and any more than three horizontal stripes tend to make the room look busy. And a great technique for subtle stripes is to paint the wall one color and then mark off your stripes. Once the tape is down, use polyurethane for your stripes instead of paint. This adds a subtle accent instead of the bold statement colored stripes usually make. And most of all “Stop thinking about it, take the leap, (because) the initial pessimism is the only real obstacle.”