Striped Hallway Reveal!

So, I showed you a sneak peek of the hallway stripes here, but I'm happy to announce that the endless measuring and taping is complete! There are plenty of great tutorials for making the perfect stripes, but I kind of winged it for this one ;)

First, I painted the entire hallway white. It had been the same builder's choice of creamy white (almost a butter color) since we moved in. After that completely dried, I measured about 9 inches down from the ceiling, and made a little mark with a sharpie. Then, I measured another 8 inches down from there (to allow for the one inch margin of frog tape) and made another mark. Then, I kept repeating the process all the way down the wall.

I then taped horizontally over the sharpie marks, using a level and a yardstick to make sure the lines were completely straight.

{pardon my jacked-up looking hand in this picture...have you ever tried to take a flattering picture of your hand?}

One of the biggest obstacles in this hallway were all of the angles. There are five different "walls" and four doorways that I had to tape around. It was very difficult to make sure that all of the stripes matched up, so I measured and taped each wall separately! Definitely the most time-consuming part of this project.

After all of the taping was done, I labeled each line with the color I was going to paint it {G = gray}. Knowing me, I would get in the zone and forget which stripe was which!

Here is the hallway leading into our two guest bedrooms after I taped the whole thing off. It took me a good three+ hours to finish the taping.

After I taped off the stripes, I taped off the edges of the doorways. Thank GOD for Frog Tape; this project would have been a mess without it! {By the way, head over to Melissa's blog to enter a Frog Tape Giveaway! We both ended up doing stripes in the same colors....and we didn't know it. So alike, that girl and I!}

I then lightly painted the inside of the stripes that I was going to paint gray. Painter's tip: wait for the paint to dry completely- it will give you a good base. Then, when you fill in the rest of the stripe with your paint color, peel the tape off while the paint is still tacky- you'll have perfect lines every time!

And here is the after!
{I finally got a new camera, so I'm happy to report that the following pictures were not taken with my iPhone!}

Here is the view as you come up the stairs.

I made a mini-gallery wall with some pictures of the Husband and I.

A gift from my parents on our first Christmas together!

A wedding gift from a friend. Definitely one of my favorite frames!

The corners of the hallway were the hardest part. The level and yard stick did not fit in between the doorways, so I pretty much had to eyeball it!

This space is pretty small with lots of angles and half-walls, so it's pretty difficult to get a decent picture.

Guest bathroom on the left, two guest rooms straight ahead, and linen closet on the right.

A shot of the linen closet and the half-wall that borders the stairs.

View from halfway downstairs.

View from the bottom of the stairs.

The layout of our house is very open; you can see the living room, dining room, part of the kitchen, and up the stairs as soon as you walk in. I wanted to add a little bit of funk to the house, so I thought that this hallway at the top of the stairs would be the perfect place! {and yes, that is a stripe going up the right side of the wall, we have yet to install the chair rail and picture molding on the stairs!}

So, what do you think? Worth the effort? Do you have striped walls anywhere in your house?

Linking up to:

Not Just a Housewife

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Home Stories of A to Z

The Shabby Nest

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