Fauxology: Studying the Visual Magic of Faux Finishing and Interior Design (brought to you by Garay Artisans)

We sometimes get e-mails from our website visitors asking questions about a specific finish or just about a general finishing dilemma they have.  While we can’t give away all our secrets, we are pretty open about a lot of our faux finishes and recipes.  I’m going to be sharing some of the e-mail questions we receive that I think many would benefit from.  So, here goes the premiere of our first mailbag question: stripes!

Kristen from Jacksonville, FL writes: Hi! First of all, you do amazing work. I’d like some info on your sunny yellow and white stripe room. What kind of paint did you use? Is it a glaze? Do you know the specific colors that were used?  It is awesome. How wide are the stripes? Thanks so much.

Kristen: Ah, those stripes.  One of my FAVORITE rooms — but it wasn’t while we were doing it, LOL!  Our client called us in with that yellow pre-existing?with her home purchase.  It literally started at the baseboards and was taken into the ceilings.  There were no house records of the paints used and no paint can available to guide us in the right direction.  It was a dark sunny/yellow ochre at least, that’s the way I would describe it.  We went to our local Sherwin-Williams to match it using a painted switchplate.  (Took us 4 tries — you have no idea how much we wish we knew what the original color was.  We were touching up so it had to be spot-on.) We used the white to tone the yellow down with stripes and painted the ceiling, but left the baseboards and crown with the yellow intact.  There were no glazes used.  The stripes were 5″ wide from what I remember (it’s been a few years).  The accessories in that room were kept to black and white and small splashes of color.

One thing I do remember about that yellow is that it was slightly obnoxious on its own.  So, in looking for that yellow, I would test out some that are, on first impression, not “pretty” and a bit much — in fact, you may look at it and say “no way” initially. That yellow turned into a powerhouse only when the white (and black) came in to pair up with it.  I hope that has helped…let me know how it turns out…and thanks for the compliment! - Regina

Here is another view of the room she is referring to, in addition to the link above:

Below are a few tips on stripes — and a few more pics.

Tip 1: Before starting, measure the length of the entire room.  We divide this number by the stripe width we are hoping to achieve and find a happy medium that will give us the best possible equal length stripes. We then use pencil and a laser beam level to map out the stripes. There are a few ways to create stripes but this method is effective for us.

Tip 2: Before you begin painting the stripes, seal the tape with either a clear color (such as Faux Effects AquaSeal) or use the same color that the tape is protecting. When it dries, it creates a seal barrier that your striping color can not penetrate  allowing for a crisp clean line. (If the color you use to seal with does seep under, it’s absolutely fine since it will either be the same color that it seeps into or will dry clear and you will not be able to see it.) You will sooooooooo thank me for this tip.

Tip 3: Know that all stripe lengths will not be spot on but the final effect is such that no one will notice. Start at the least seen corner and work your way around back to the starting point.

Tip 4: The direction of the stripes (horizontal or vertical) affect the size of the room while the color of the stripes affect the ambience and style.  Vertical stripes add height while horizontal stripes make the room appear larger.

Tip 5: To achieve subtle stripes, either (1) paint the same color in both a satin and semi-gloss or gloss sheen or (2) paint the room using a satin base paint in your chosen color and then stripe with a semi-gloss or gloss topcoat.