Stripey Stripes

Sorry for the black and white photos today. When I turned on the camera, the battery light was flashing and I was afraid I didn't have enough time to change the setting back to color. My auto focus is also not working, so you might notice that some of my pictures are a little out of focus. I'm hoping that by being forced to use the manual setting, I'll improve my camera technique.
So this is what I've been working on since Sunday. On a whim, I decided to do a mini mudroom makeover. I still have a lot of work to do, like painting the ceiling, replacing the old lace curtain on the door, painting the banged up trim and putting up some coat hooks. I think I'll wait until winter before I do hooks, though. We might end up using the front door instead and there's a closet right next to the that door. Eventually the gross linoleum floors will be replaced with tile. Something old-fashioned like checkerboard or hexagon tiles. I also came to realize while painting that the switchplate covers are really disgusting. So those will have to be replaced someday, too.
This painting stripes business is hard work. Normally, I like to tackle a painting project in one day, but because I had some other stuff going on and because this took longer than I thought, I stretched out the job over 3 days (and counting). I used a sample can of Benjamin Moore's Gray Owl. I don't ever remember testing that one out on the walls, which is a shame, because I really like it and might have used a lot more of it in the house. The darker grey is the same shade I used for the living and dining room. Up above, is a picture of the first step: painting the lighter color stripes. My husband came home right after this step and I asked him (with a proud smile), "So, how do you like it?" Poor guy. He actually thought I was finished painting. He's too nice to say anything negative, but his facial expression spoke volumes.
But of course the sloppy stripes were only the beginning step. Next, I used a ruler to make sure my stripes would each be 12" wide (I'm already wondering if I should have made them thinner.). Then I used a level to draw on the lines. Next came the painter's tape.
After pressing the tape to the wall with a putty knife, I used a sponge brush to dab the darker grey along the lines of the tape and let it dry for a few minutes. This technique has been working for me. You can see (3 pictures down) how the lines come out nice and neat.
So then the fun part, rolling on the dark grey paint. Fun because the measuring and leveling part was over and I'm getting closer to the "peeling off the tape" part. Oh yeah, and I also used an angle sash brush to get right up next to the trim. So much trim for such a small room. Ugh!
Here are the stripes drying. Not bad, but I'm only a quarter done with the room at this point. 
See that nice clean line? Makes me so happy when the tape comes off and things look good. Of course, there were some disappointing moments, like when I pulled of a particularly long piece of tape and it curled up and stuck, paint-side-down, on the wrong color stripe.

Overall, I'm pleased with the stripes and looking forward to making our mudroom shine!

Comments

Jay Wen said…
Your mudroom looks awesome! I kind of want to look into some cool wall paper for my mudroom though...
Vanessa said…
thanks! wallpaper could be really fun.
Haus and Home said…
Thanks for finding me! Great job on the stripes, I have always wanted to try.....but I'm scared!
Vanessa said…
you're blog is adorable!

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