Polka dots are often used in homes as circles are an easy to use feature on walls and in patterns. Stripes however offer beautiful symmetry and can add structure to any room. Anyone can introduce stripes using paint to a room in their house. If you have painted interior walls in your home before adding stripes to these walls should be a piece of cake. Remember stripes don’t have to be vertical they can be horizontal, diagonal, whatever you choose!

There are two pieces of equipment that are vital to source before you start; blue painter’s tape and a measuring tape. When choosing the paint you wish to use  in the room, be sure to pick contrasting colours, i.e. colours in a similar spectrum. If your base coat is a very light cream or an off-white shade obviously this extends the range of colours you can choose from. If unsure at all simply choose a lighter shade of the current colour on your walls. If you are feeling bold in your colour choice, a little goes a long way when it comes to using stripes.

Make sure to plan before you begin painting, choose both the stripe width vertically and horizontally. Mark the stripes in intervals with pencil on all four walls before applying the tape. A builders level is a great tool to help you ensure all of your lines are straight. Take your time with the preparation and the end result will be worth it. Allow the paint to dry completely before attempting to remove the tape slowly.

One room that this works particularly well in is the bathroom. Bathrooms are normally one of the smallest rooms in the home so it can be difficult to introduce feature walls or accessorise the room to make it feel unique. By adding three or five stripes about a third of the way up the wall the room can look revamped in a matter of hours. Make sure to use Crown emulsion for kitchen and bathrooms to ensure the steam does not ruin your finish.

If your kitchen budget won’t stretch to full tiling of all of the walls, why not just tile backsplashes and use stripes to decorate the rest of the walls. Using an odd number of horizontal stripes through the walls in a vibrant colour can make your kitchen appear larger to the eye. Incorporate the tiles you do use by purchasing ones with stripes. Alternate the direction of the stripes to create a quirky little feature in your kitchen.

Stripes can look great in plenty of places other than walls. Why not try using them on your fifth wall (the ceiling) as a border or add an extra stripe to your skirting boards and architraves. Stripes can be brought in through patterns on bedspreads, curtains, pillows and even carpets. Rugs are a great way of bringing colourful stripes into a room with minimal effort. By picking up a colour from your walls and finding a floor covering with that exact colour along with some others it can give your room an instant boost.

Happy Decorating,

Neville