i really love how BIG and wide these stripes are...
stripes make a hallway so very interesting... usually, hallways are lame... so these make the hallway of this home spectacular, you know, something to write home about.
orange and blue, one of my favorite color combinations.... it's classic, clean, and you've got to have some serious style to pull it off in your home.
the photo below comes from my favorite diy blog, younghouselove! the subtle stripes are clean, sophisticated and chic.... yum.
even kids know that horizontal stripes are the way to go....
another hallway brought to life with dramatic stripes.
black and white. so bold- so awesome.
more pretty horizontal striped curtains...
must i say it again? hallway, stripes, fab.
look at that... black and white again- it really sets off the beautiful gesture drawing
Now, here is my pretty hallway... stripes were a must... this was my first project that I completed in my first home- and boy did I make a statement. I do not have a photo of the wall before... I know, I know... it's sad, I've already had a pitty-party about it... so, this is the best I could do. This is right after mister hubbs and I closed on the house, and I was giving a tour to my mom... she didn't take a photo of the actual hall, because as I said before, hallways are generally lame.
Can you see the lame-ness? Barely? Well, its all I've got- so imagine a LOT of "builder beige" very granola... and I am not granola.
First I painted the walls Ralph Lauren Veranda (cream). Then I spent an entire day measuring 5" stripes down both, long hallways... I used a level, a pencil, and a ruler... that's right, I did it old school. I tried to use the cheapest laser level thingamabob I could find.... it didn't work. I used about 6 rolls of tape, and then I was ready to paint!
I used another Ralph Lauren Regent Metallic... it has a consistency slightly thicker than water, so I knew I was in trouble once I started rolling in between the lines. I knew that I would have a lot of touching up to do once the tape came up! Painting the stripes didn't take that long. Or maybe it was just really exciting to be painting instead of prepping for paint! I painted 3-4 coats of the metallic, the more you use, the better the texture becomes.
Removing the tape should have been the best part of this project, instead, removing the tape stripped a lot of the base coat off in chunks and, I was right, the paint ran right through the tape in so many places.... So, after all of that work, I took the tape off while I cried and drank wine. It was pathetic. Thank goodness all of the tape I had used turned into a ball that was ENORMOUS... so enormous that I couldn't help but laugh a little.
So, I came home every night from work and touched up my precious walls for hours until it was time to go to sleep. This lasted for about 3 weeks, and then, it, was, DONE! I'm pretty sure I cried again, this time minus the wine, and the gigantic blue ball of tape.
After all of that work, it took a long time to mussy up the courage to hang anything on the walls, and by a long time, I mean about a year! I collected different pieces for the hallway over about a 2 year span- and finally came up with an organic arrangement that I love....
This is our hallway now....what do you think?
entryway: the two paintings to the left are by me!
standing in the kitchen looking down my stripey-fab hallway
the final selection of my wall grouping: the 4 paintings hung are also by me! My favorite is the little dog on the tiny canvas on the far right.
found the tiny convex mirror below at an antique place in pelham, alabama- love it!
two chair paintings, both by me- cream frame in between is from Pottery Barn
I must say, I really love our striped entry way and hallway. It was worth all of the work and frustration. It's such a huge statement when you open our front door. The wall hangings are all monotoned in color- I stuck with cream, white, silver and gold. I even painted the three canvases to compliment the monotones in the rest of the arrangement.
What I learned: when painting stripes, give the base coat more than 24 hours before putting painters tape on top. Also, if you are using paint that does not require a special application (the metallic paint must be painted with a shag roller) paint by hand and forget the tape! If you do not have a steady hand, forget about it... but if you do, it's totally worth painting the stripes in by hand with a brush!
Have a marvelous evening!
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