Colour in your world
Paint can make a big difference to the look and feel of your home
PAINT has the ability to make a huge difference to a space. It’s cost effective, easy to use and there is an endless range of textures and colour options available in today’s market.
When we bought our forever home in late 2015, this room was used as a formal living room which I loved, however our family would utilise the space better if it were used as a games and billiard room.
It’s centrally located off our kitchen and main living space, so I wanted to create a sophisticated room with a fun twist, given it’s a games room. I felt a beautiful navy and white stripe feature wall would contrast nicely against the green felt and deep timber finish of the billiard table, while providing the room with a fun splash of colour. They say “blue and green should never be seen” – I personally believe that theory is defunct and have seen these colours used together in plenty of gorgeous spaces.
A thick stripe would accentuate the spaciousness of the room, so I marked across the wall horizontally with small dots at 110mm increments using a light pencil. Repeat this at different levels up and down your wall so you’ve got plenty of reference points to ensure a straight line.
Using a long flopper ruler and the same light pencil, draw your vertical (or horizontal) lines onto the wall. Next, you’ll need good quality edge lock painters tape. Tape up the lines you’ve drawn and firmly run over the tape with a plastic putty knife pushing the tape into your existing paint.
My hot tip for creating a razor-sharp edge when painting stripes is to paint the first coat the existing wall colour and in my case, this was Dulux Lexicon. This ensures any bleed under the tape is the same colour as your wall and it also seals the tape ready for your coloured stripe.
Using a foam roller, paint 2–3 coats of your topcoat (depending on your colour) and viola! Once dry, peel the tape off ensuring you don’t pull the tape straight out from the wall,
angle up or down. If you’ve taped onto a cornice, skirting and architrave that has gloss paint, you may need a Stanley knife to help cut the edge of the tape without your gloss paint going with it.
This room has provided hours of entertainment for children and adults alike, and has become a favourite place to gather for an afternoon with the kids or with friends after a dinner party. By adding a colourful striped wall, a photo gallery and some framed pop art it has become a fun and inviting space that is well used in our home.