Saturday, September 15, 2012

Let's Decorate the Nursery: Painting a stripe

I debated and debated wall colors. Should I paint the walls white? It would make the tans and browns in the decorations stand out more. Should I paint the walls a lighter tan? Should I lean more towards a gray?

But the room was already tan. It may not have been the exact shade I would have picked, but it wasn't as if it had a pink tint to it or anything. I thought about stenciling a wall. But that seemed a little girly. I thought about stripes. And then, I started to see some pictures of just one stripe. Since the baseboards were white, I thought it would make the woodwork and closet doors stand out that much more.


To see more details, you can read the original post here.


Why is the crib mattress in the middle of the floor, you may ask...Well, after posting my plan for the nursery, my friend sent me a picture of her nursery plan for their little baby girl. However, she had been all detailed and included measurements. I'm more the type girl to have a plan, but once the furniture is in the room, I can completely change my mind about the layout. Yet...I woke up at 4 am in a panic. Somehow, I had freaked myself out, and all I kept thinking was "The only piece of furniture that is going to fit in the nursery is the crib. Nothing else will fit. That will fill up the whole room. Should I switch rooms? What am I going to do?" I could not get myself to go back to sleep. So, I got up and laid the crib mattress in the floor - just to prove to myself that more would fit. And then, I was able to go back to sleep. Oh the dreams of a pregnant lady! Guess it could be worse!


We decided to use the Frog tape for the lines. I had read that it would create the best seal, blocking all little runs of paint. Also, it promised to do just fine if we taped one day and painted the next. (Side note: that toy chest pictured above is mine from when I was a little girl - handmade by my dad)

I followed Young House Love's tips for painting stripes.  I thought to myself, "How hard can it be to tape a straight line? I tried using the level to get things perfect...and you can see how my first attempt worked out for me.


Just a tad wonky!

Needless to say, I started over. It worked best to measure up from the baseboard the desired inches, making a slight pencil mark on the wall. Then, I simply connected the dots with the tape. So much better!!




I decided that a 2 foot stripe would create the clean look I was going for. And after all that taping. I was definitely glad I was only doing one stripe. (And I probably convinced myself to never do a taped chevron wall - this is a frustrating project for a perfectionist!)

The next day, after only 30 minutes of rolling on some white paint, we were left with a beautiful stripe (two coats).


Following YHL's advice, I removed the tape as soon as the second coat was on the wall. And I was left with a satisfyingly clean line all the way around the room.


And I purposefully included the light switch into the stripe area. I thought it would give things a much more cohesive look if the line didn't cut right through the plate cover.


I'm satisfied and excited. I love the cleanness of the stripe. And it makes me so excited to add the other elements to this room.

You can see the nursery plan here. And here's a little handwritten wall art for the little guy's space. 

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