Painting - Painted Stripes

We have a 9 x 17 solarium that we use as a family/TV room. We have a white couch, end tables, TV and a green tapestry upolstered chair, wooden rocker, dark green area rug in the room. The walls are currently wallpapered and the paper has been up longer than we care to admit.

There are 5 windows on one long side and a 5' opening to the living room on the other long side. Each end has 2 windows.

The plan is to strip off the wallpaper and paint the walls in a vertical stripe.

What are the do's and don'ts in painting stripes? The colors that we have considered so far are dark green, cream and burgundy either individually or in some combination.

Admittedly there isn't a lot of wall to deal with, but we would like to get your comments and recommendations regarding stipes and the colors.

Do buy good quality paints, brushes and rollers from a paint store, not a paint department in a bigger store. Don't use tape to mark the edges of the stripes, a good quality brush will allow you to make the edges clean while the tape actually lets paint get underneath.

Thanks Mitch17. I agree with all your recommendations about painting, but my issues deal mainly with the color selecton and coordination of the decor. I want the room to be tasteful and in style.

I don't want to do the tedious job of painting stripes and end up with an ugly disaster.

For example I am concerned if I alternate constasting stripes (like green and cream) the room will look like a gaudy gift box. I have considered stripes of different sheen in the same color.

The room has lots of windows so it is bright in the daytime, but at night will dark colors (dark green or burgundy) make the room too dark?

Several years ago my wife and I painted several rooms using the technique you mentioned; same color, different sheens.

We painted the walls with a flat latex, waited two days, then came back and did stripes (same color) in a semigloss. Came out looking like a very expertly applied wallpaper job - we're both very pleased.

BTW Mitch, we did use tape for the stripes - the blue type. No problem with seepage, but then maybe we were just lucky.

On a smooth wall, tape will sometimes work ok. Biggest problem with tape is that people think it will stop paint and then slop paint all over it, which it can't handle.

You're exactly right - I 'cut' to the tape like it wasn't there. Very little paint actually went on the tape. Probably the reason I was 'lucky'

I think luck had little to do with it, you just did the job properly and got good results.

3M has a tape just for striping. Retails for $14.99 a roll. :eek: I have used this tape. If there is one weak link under the coatings of paint it is worth the price. This tape I did burnish down with a paint stick. You still want to keep the paint as light as possible at the tape edges.