Wall Stripes Tutorial

As mentioned on my “about” page, I’m in the middle of decorating my townhome. When I moved in after the wedding, it was a completely blank canvas. My husband’s excuse was that as a bachelor, he wanted to make sure his wife was able to decorate the way she desired (so thanks, hun). I’m sure other newlywed wives experience this too! What was or will be your first project to make your house more homey?

The first project that I embarked on was painting the white walls. My living room is navy, and there is a highlight wall stenciled with yellow (see first blog post background).

Next, I painted the study. Ming-Gih works at home, so he is in the study all day. Since it’s the work room, I wanted it to be a bit modern. I looked into wallpaper, but not only is it costly, it can be such a pain to put up. Instead, I decided to paint stripes.

Stripes are currently a very popular wall design. Here’s what you need:

  • Ruler
  • Laser Level*
  • Double sided foam tape
  • Painter’s tape (I like Frog Tape)*
  • Rag
  • Tarp
  • Paint roller
  • Angled paint brush*
  • Small touch-up paint brush
  • Paint*
  • Paint tray

*Product info below

This is really important. PLAN out how thick your stripes will be! Measure the height of your wall and then figure out how thick you want your stripes to be. Here is a layout of the colors and measurement of my wall.

Keep yourself sane: If you are 0.5 – 1.5 inches off of the ideal measurement, the naked eye cannot see it! You’ll notice that I have random measurements in between lines.

Wall Layout

TIPS:

1. Use your ruler and measure out the thickness of each stripe on the left and right side of the wall. Mark the measurements out with a pencil.

2. Next, add a strip of foam tape to the back of your laser level so that it sticks on the wall. Take your laser level and start leveling out each of the pencil marks (make sure the level passes through the left and right pencil marks to ensure the line is straight).

3. Once the laser level is in place, start taping along the laser line. When the tape is put into place, take a wet towel and wipe the tape. The water makes theFrog Tape sticky which helps with the lines and less touch ups later.

4. Use little pieces of tape to mark stripes that will not be painted so you do not get confused in the painting process.

5. Paint the edges of the tape with your paint brush first. Brush along the edge of the tape towards the middle, then swipe left and right to even out the paint. I had to do this twice for the color to be even. Then use a roller to paint the entire stripe.

6. Only wait 10 minutes before you start to peel off the tape. If the paint becomes too dry, the paint will peel with the tape.

7. If you are doing two different colors, wait one day for the first color to dry. Then tape the wall up again for the second color.

8. No matter what, there will be paint seepage. Just take a small paint brush, and touch up the stripes.

Wall StripesThis is such a fun project, and it will brighten up any room!

Do you like stripes? What colors do you want to paint your house?

Happy Painting,
Jay

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Click on the product to find out details:
Laser Level
Frog Tape
Angled Paint Brush
Valspar Paint:  Red: Bright Red in Eggshell, Grey: Drizzling Mist in Eggshell

Weekend Picnic

My college roommate Sarah is in town! What better way to remember our college days than to go drink, obviously grown up style now…

I threw a picnic party with some close friends. We spent the afternoon at Concannon Vineyard, picnicking on the lawn. Lots of food, lots of drinks, and more importantly lots of great conversation and laughs.

The wine tasting room charges a $10 fee to taste the reserve selection. I was not going to taste since I already went the weekend before, however, after sweet talking an older employee, I somehow ended up with a glass and a full flight! Free for me (and does that mean I can still charm older men?)!

I ended up buying the Cabernet Sauvignon (highly recommended), so in the end I guess he won and I spent some $$$!

Here are a few fun pictures of the venue, the food, and the gang. I love these guys!

Picnic FoodIn our tummies:  ham and turkey sweet rolls, pigs in a blanket, chocolate chip brownies, cheeses, and caprese sticks.

We also had strawberries, cherries, watermelon, chips & salsa, guacamole, and Reese’s Pieces cookies (not pictured but definitely in our stomachs).

What are your favorite foods to bring on a picnic?

FriendsMe and my Sarhair

Picnic 2

Picnic Gang

What did you do this past weekend?  And do you have any recommendations for picnic spots in the Bay Area?

Love, Jay

—–
venue: www.concannonvineyard.com
photography: myself and www.estop22.com

My sweet friend, Jeremiah

I met Jeremiah through a really good friend of mine!  Initially when I first quit my job, we were going to take up blogging together. I told him my plans. He told me his. Then he bought a cup to kick start my ideas.

After a few months of mulling over ideas for content, I gave up… I didn’t want to think about it anymore, and day after day, I laid in bed until noon because I was somewhat in a depression mode – didn’t feel like I was useful.

Then I thought about the cup I had gotten from Jeremiah. It gave me hope, and I didn’t want it to go to waste. So I picked up blogging again, laid out the content I would write for the month of August, and now I’m writing.

Jeremiah, thanks for the encouragement to keep going.

There are days when you just need a small pick me up, and a good friend can do just that!

Thanks Jeremiah!

The cup is from Jay Mart (a perfect cup for my blog!). And it has a kitty!

And so it begins…

My very first blog post.

I wanted to take up blogging but my biggest worry was how do I launch and what would be the content of my very first post. After a weekend getaway, I’ve decided that there is no “right” time and that I just need to put something out there and see where that leads me.

Start somewhere and do not let excuses get in your way.

I’ll be posting about DIY projects, trips, food and recipes, and of course my beloved cat. There may be a few inappropriate things along the way, but that’s half the fun! What subjects are you most interested in?

A Lam family portrait.  And, here we go!
Lam Family

Cheers,
Jay