More Stripes

I love stripes, as you can see here, here and here.  So when our basement TV wall was looking awfully empty and I was looking to spruce it up a budget, I decided to turn to what else than some stripes!

Here is what the basement looked like after installing the new carpet, painting the walls & trim and moving our furniture down there. 

 (yes, I often take photos without cleaning up at all)

In previous rooms, I had fabric hangings on both sides of the TV.  But, I wasn't feeling it for the basement for more than one reason 1) the ceilings are lower and the hangings make them look even lower 2) there are outlets/light switches in the way 3) I was growing tired of looking at them.  

Because the ceilings are low, that limited what could be hung around the TV so the wall didn't appear to be an empty wall with just a TV.  Enter the idea of stripes! 

 

It gives the wall enough visual interest that it doesn't appear empty and boring.  But, it isn't overwhelming to look at, either.  

The process was pretty simple.

First, measure the total height of the wall and decide how many stripes you want to determine how thick each stripe will be.  Then I simply measured and marked with pencil, where each stripe would be.

I chose to draw the entire line, because it was my first time painting wall stripes.  Next time, I'd just leave tick marks and let my eye make the taping line straight.  

After the lines are penciled on, tape off the stripes.  

Once the tape is on, using the same color that the wall currently is, paint over the edge of the tape where the stripe will go.  This creates a seal between the tape and wall, so if any color leaks, it is the base wall color.  

Once that paint is dry, paint the stripes.  It took two coats of the stripe color to get even coverage.  After the 2nd coat, when the paint is still wet, remove the tape to reveal your crisp and clean stripes.

Since I was already working on the basement a bit, I went ahead and added some curtains and wall art (things we already had).  It's amazing what a few things on the walls and some curtains can do.  Even though the room is far from complete, it took the room from feeling barely started to nice and cozy/homey.