Home Improvements - Striped Walls

Striped walls offer a world of design possibilities but sadly we rarely think of add strips. Join us as we explore a new world of walls - wall with design possibilities made only with strips. See first hand bold design and subtle designs. Take a close look at the tone on tone options and see various applications in many different settings beyond children's rooms, see living rooms, master suites, formal entries and stay tune til the end for the beyond bold displays of strips sometimes even going in different directions.

Our purpose here is not how to create the stripes, our purpose is to choose the design you aspire to and wish to create on your walls.

I was taught at my first corporate job the importance of high quality walls in office decoration. Yes, we had a corporate mandate we must spend x number of dollars on the walls. Plain walls were not acceptable by upper management. That mandate has helped me in decorating my various homes. While my favorite wall treatment was the suede walls, suede walls in the virtual world might be difficult to convey. I will attempt shortly after this hub but for now let's consider the possibilities of striped paint. Yes, just simple striped paint.

Striped paint can offer a vast array of possibilities in color and design. Some designs are very subtle, some designs are frankly bold, and then there are other designs I consider "beyond bold", they make such a strong statement only a few exceptional personalities in the world would even consider let alone have in their home.

This design is one of my favorites and is reminiscent of the Victorian era and the heavy silk brocade of wallpaper. To me this is very french in nature and can offer a very inexpensive (if you are the DIY type) yet ultra luxurious feel to the design of a room.

One of the places I have seen this used exceptionally well is in large foyers where you want that expansiveness of space but you want to convey the warmth of a friendly welcome.

One of the prettiest designs I ever saw was in a former Governor's mansion and this technique was use in a vanilla, cream tone to offset the glow of the sconces and the stairway.

However, this technique is not just for mansions, I feel this design element offers allot for any home, any style.

While the possibilities are endless and we cannot cover everything, one of the designs that I especially like is the more intricate design of the horizontal with subtle tones but with the stripe edged in another color. This is more complicated but it give it a wow factor.

Our Victorian home has the bedroom in blue stripes but the blue and white stripes if you look closely are not just blue and white, there is a tiny stripe of blush/cream color in between. Yes, effectively the look is of two stripes - white and blue but the real design has a tiny subtle blush add in. Very elegant. Allot more labor but it really makes the room pop.

Now that I have said that remember, some of the best designs are on focal walls. You don't have to cover the room in stripes on all four walls. For instance, our master suite has two opposing walls. Essentially the wall with main window is plain as well as where we have placed our headboard. Those walls already have a focal point and adding in stripes would 1.) clutter the design and 2.) take away the impact of the headboard and the focal window.

For you see, stripes seem simple and for those whose careers are in design striped walls may be simple but to bring the entire concept together takes some careful thought.

Yes, paint alone can craft a home's design. Yet, how to apply that paint is beyond the scope of this article. Yes, you will need painters tape and all the fixings for painting. However, the demands that striped walls require are really rather fundamental.

The design is the killer. Yes, the design can either make or break you. Do know exactly what you want. Do try out a sample board and place it in the room you are considering.

Lighting can change the color and the very feel of paint.

Here are a few design ideas for your consideration:

• Subtle Tone on Tone
• Subtle Vertical Stripes
• Subtle Horizontal Stripes (yes, they do work and amazingly well - as you shall see!)
• Bold Stripes
• Beyond Bold (you must have the right place and the right personality to carry some of these extremes as a design element in your home)

Study the room, sketch your room, measure the width of each wall and sketch the stripes so that you don't end up with stripes over lapping. The video from Home Depot does a great job on how to sketch out your project and how to craft the sample board and much more.

Planning the stripe, especially around the corner is critical. While my walls do not adjoin, for stripes that overlap from wall to another you want to start and know where you are ending.

This Home Depot video gives you fantastic tips to avoid unnecessary touch ups.

The bold designs to me say look at me but don't stay - remember me well but I am not a room to sit and chat a spell. The bold designs in a child's room, however, if carefully crafted can evoke "play". I would recommend keeping the function foremost in your design. A playroom with bright colorful stripes is appropriate, a bedroom needs tranquility. Seek a stripe that caters to the activity of the room and you will have years of enjoyment from that painted stripe wall.

And there you have it - a plethora of design options all with the one simple theme - striped walls.

While a striped wall not be in your future, do closely consider the effort you put on the walls in your home. Oftentimes, in home decorating the tiny details will pay big dividends in how you enjoy your home.

I prefer a room to invite me. To go back to my very first employer and to plan on spending x number of dollars on the walls is not feasible for most of us but what is feasible is to give the walls a strong consideration.

Yes, we all look for the granite counter tops and the wood floors - like me, you too are probably tired of hearing out this. Counter tops and flooring are essential elements but if you have the time and the funding, do design your walls so that they convey the feeling you wish to invoke in your room.

Are You Inspired to Try Striped Walls? Are You Ready for Striped Wall Success? Please share with us below your thoughts and experiences. Have you seen a room with striped painted walls that called out to you and inspired you? What were your feelings?