All week, we’ve been (finally) painting our living room and dining room. And by “we” I mean Jason:
Remember, I’m pregnant. FUMES! (Was I supposed to leave the house when he was painting? If so, OOPSIE.
But, seriously, that room needed a serious overhaul. Here’s what it looked like just a few weeks ago:
Am I riiiiiight?
Thankfully, those couches are long gone and we got some cash instead – which paid for another couch. Long story. I’ll fill you in later.
Anywho, the point of this post is to seek some advice. We’re painting the rooms a neutral color, but the plan is to do horizontal stripes on the longest wall… which is about 25 feet long.
They’ll be about 15 inches wide, but I cannot FOR.THE.LIFE.OF.ME. get the first line straight.
I’ve been measuring from the ceiling, but apparently the ceiling isn’t even?! (WTH?)
Any ideas? Tips? Anyone done anything similar and have a suggestion that will work?
Adam and Shauna somehow did chevron stripes in Huxley’s Nursery. Maybe they would know how to do regular ones as well?
What about using a level and a yard stick (or something that’s the right height)? Put your yard stick against the wall (vertically), and rest your level on top. When the bubble is center, draw a line along the level. You wouldn’t need to do this across the entire wall – just in intervals. Then when you’re putting your tape up for your lines, just make sure to line up with all of your pencil lines.
Maybe that’d work?!
If you have a friend in construction borrow a self-leveling laser level. It may help.
Hi Michelle! Love your blog:) Have you tried the chalk string line? This is a great tool for painting straight lines: http://metal.brightcookie.com/shared/toolbook/tool_07.htm
I’ve never heard of the chalk string, but am going to hunt it down ASAP!!! BRILLIANT.
When we did our chevron wall, we measured at intervals along the wall and used a straight edge and a level to double check our measurements. Then we connected them with tape. Precision mattered quite a bit less with the chevrons than it does with stripes, though…I’ll bet the chalk string line would work really well, I wish we’d thought of it!
Or a laser level ..our floor is off in our living room. Slopes down about two inches. Matt (our friend who painted for us) based his measurements off the ceiling because how your eye plays tricks on you … This was for the beadboard … Good luck and hope you get some sleep 🙂
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[…] could not get a straight line to save my life. I even blogged about how frustrated I was and made a plea for help. You see, the wall is about 30 feet long and neither the ceiling nor the floor is 100% straight. […]