DIY - Hand Painted Stripes On the Wall

I do have a love for decorating and DIY home projects. I have always stayed away from wallpaper as beautiful as some of it is. Mostly it is the thought of taking it off the walls when I'm tired of it that scares me. We have all heard many wallpaper removal horror stories. In my old house I did a lot of rag rolling with this Iridescent Pearl Glaze from Lowe's. I would paint my walls a color and go back and do the technique in the glaze. It always had a nice subtle effect on the walls that I loved.

I didn't really want that same look in this house, so I decided to use the same glaze in a striped pattern in this small area on the inside of my staircase. My colors there are silvery and mossy green. I am loving how it all turned out. It really didn't take that much time either - I love a quick project with fast impact! Look below for the how to...

First, I measured the wall length and decided how wide I wanted the stripes to be. I then took a small ruler and made tick marks across the wall - about 4 marks for each side of each stripe. I then took a yardstick placing along the tick marks to use as a guide for my painters tape. I did not draw lines down the wall with a pencil. The pencil will show through the glaze and not look very nice. I then taped the yardstick to the wall so that I had two hands to tape the stripes. I moved the yardstick up the stripe as I went along.

You want the tape to go on the outside of the stripe you are going to paint. This takes a little bit of concentration as I taped the wrong side more than once. When you are finished it should appear that you have thinner and wider strips. After the stripes are painted they will all be the same size. The thinner strips will remain the original wall color and the wider stripes will have the glaze.

Don't forget to tape the tops and bottoms of the stripes.

Here is the products that I used - Valspar Translucent Iridescent Glaze and a small roller. I also had a small paint brush handy for the few corners the roller could not reach.

I covered an old paint tray with foil so there was a clean fresh surface for my paint. I only added a small amount of a glaze at a time. You want the roller to only have a thin amount of glaze on it.

When wet, the glaze does not look very dark.

This photo shows the glaze in the stripes. I waited to the next day to remove the tape in case I need to re-roll anything...and I did in one stripe.

I love how it turned out. It adds a little interest without being overpowering. What I love about the glaze is it is highly reflective. As the light changes during the day so do the stripes. Sometimes it looks light and sometimes darker. It also has a nice elegant feel.

Now I have to decide if I want to add it to the larger curve going up the stairs. I am afraid it may be too much...your thoughts?