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the start of a new room redo – painting over stripes

    First of all, I KNOW! Me? Painting over stripes? It’s crazy. I adore all things striped.

    Except this room.

    The stripes were painted six years ago when this was originally the boys’ room. It has gone from their room to an office, play room, and most recently a pretty guest room for Paige.  The walls were dinged up and in great need of a touch up but I also was ready to say goodbye to the stripes.

    Stripes on walls are still great – but I probably prefer horizontal to vertical. Here are some of my favorite inspiration photos.

    The first step for removing the stripes from these walls was patching the many, many nail holes I’ve made over the past six years.

    filling-holes-in-striped-walls

    Here’s my opinion about putting holes in walls: do it. They are just walls and can be patched-up so easily. Don’t let the fear of nail holes stop you from making your walls reflect you. It’s all part of living where we live.

    To fill holes, I use a glob of wood filler and smudge it on the wall with my fingertip. Wipe away the excess and let dry. Lightly sand with fine grit sandpaper to remove any bumps. If you are doing a larger area of wall, you may need to spray texture back on the walls, but for small holes you can get away with skipping this step.

    stripes-before-and-during

    When I painted the stripes, I kept the original wall color {relaxed khaki} and used white paint for the stripes. To cover over them, I painted just over the darker wall color to even out the walls and give them a nice undercoat. I started with primer and then ran out so used leftover latex paint for the rest.

    As of last night, here’s what the walls look like:

    audrey-new-room-no-stripes

    I’ll get another coat or two of paint on the walls and hopefully the stripes will disappear!

    This room is going to be Audrey’s new bedroom and I can’t wait to put something girly and fun together for her. Her nursery was a perfect room for her as a baby, but she’ll be four next month and it’s time to let her room grow up a bit, too. Why are we moving entire rooms? Because we’re just like that.

    I’ll be back later this week with a design board for her new space and will show you progress of her room redo along the way.

    14 thoughts on “the start of a new room redo – painting over stripes”

    1. I was going to say the same thing about spackle or drywall compound. I’ve never seen anyone use wood filler for drywall…. So you don’t talk about the edges of the stripes. Did you scrape and then sand them or just paint over them? You will have edges from them if you didn’t.

    2. …I would’ve used joint compound mix. But what do I know? I’m just a professional painter.
      Whatever works for you, I guess.
      And to cut down on steps, use Behr with the built-in primer so you don’t miss a fully day of rehab. :)

    3. I’m kind of sad you’re painting over those pretty stripes, but I’m sure whatever that room is being transformed into, will be absolutely gorgeous. I’m excited to see the outcome! :-)

    4. Thank you!! :) I’ve actually been contemplating some horizontal stripes in my foyer, but since I spent a whole week taking wallpaper down in there just a few months ago (I’m not sure there will ever be any more wallpaper in my life, EVER, after that debacle), I’ve been skittish of doing any more projects that involve a lot of labor to undo. I can’t wait to see how this works out. Maybe it’ll give me the courage to paint those stripes! :)

    5. I love that you move rooms around; what a great way to make every room in your house work for you for each stage in your family’s life! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

    6. Have I ever told you, you are just the sweetest thing ever! Transforming a room so that your lovely guest could have a special retreat (and yes Paige is just the loveliest thing ever!! no i’ve never met her in real life but my goodness gracious the smidgeon of corresponding, etc well… she is just lovely!! oddly enough I had no idea either one of you knew each other until later on…) Well that just shows a bit of your heart! Okay, more than a BIT!!! And then to turn around just a short time later to remake the room for your daughter.

      It is going to be as lovely as the one who makes it! :-)

    7. How smart are you?! I painted stripes with a finish by Ralph Lauren called candlelight in our master about 5 years ago, and I’ve wanted to change the wall color in there for oh, a year or two now, but wasn’t sure how I could get rid of the lines without sanding. So I just haven’t done anything. This is some great inspiration to tackle it! Thanks!

    8. I really loved how the room looked when you decorated it for Paige’s visit so I’m a little sad to see it go. Can’t wait to see the finished room though – I’m sure it’ll be lovely.

    9. You can avoid the whole holes-in-walls thing (which I hate to patch), by using some of those command velcro strips on the backs of all but your heaviest artwork. I stage houses and I use them all the time, unless I’m hanging a large mirror or the walls are plaster (which the command strips will crack). They work like a charm and make changing things up in your home incredibly easy!

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