I Walk The Line

Looking for a quick project to spice up your kiddo's room without breaking the bank? Slap up some stipes on a wall!

Since H's fifth birthday is this weekend and we've been doing project after project on the house, I decided it was the perfect time to head to Home Depot to get the paint for their walls.

Actually, it was the thought of putting up the two robot prints that I found on etsy (by artist Dianne Sammons) on totally blank walls that spurred me on. I want their room to look put together when the hordes of people come to stay at our house. It's the one room in the house that is pretty much complete, so I wanted to be able to decorate (and take four more things off of the 'to be installed' pile).

My sister was in town, so I didn't even have to interrupt J's unpacking streak. Using a laser level and painters tape, we marked out four stripes of varying widths. Because I'm lazy, I decided to let the tape be the natural barrier between stripes so I had less marking to do.

The good folds at Home Depot saved me a ton of money by recommending that I buy the sample sizes of the Behr Paint plus Primer. I chose four colors: Pencil Point, Marmalade Glaze, Voyage and Elephant Skin.
Because it's a flat paint, they sold me a clear glaze that I'll paint over the stripes in about two weeks. Including buying a separate tray and roller for each color and the glaze, the whole project cost me less than $40.

Once I started painting the stripes, I realized that the two narrow stripes presented a challenge because I had to roll them vertically instead of horizontally because the roller was four inches wide. Also, I didn't buy a paint brush, so we used Q-tips to get the pesky corners. While the orange and dark grey would have benefited from a second coat, the coverage was actually really great, especially for a dark or bright color. And no, they won't get that second coat, because once this girl's done with a project, I'm done.

We did, however, go back over the tiny spots that went outside of the tape with the wall paint that the builders left behind for us...with Q-tips. All told, I think it turned out great. I found cute grey curtain panels at Wal-Mart that are lined with black-out-fabric, so once I get the prints up today, I will have one room pretty much complete. I'm still looking for a great book case or book sling and I can put a fork in it.