Nancy Golden shows a simple, fun-to-do method for painting a plaid design on walls. Before she tackles the entire room, she practices her plaid painting technique on a sample piece. The pattern is arbitrary and to personal taste. - Draw tick marks across the wall where the chair-rail molding will be, then use painters tape to connect the dots. Firmly press the painters tape against the wall so no paint will seep underneath it.
- Mark the horizontal plaid pattern (using tick marks) on the wall with a pencil (figure A). Golden advises that if you are uncomfortable painting freehand, you should sketch the plaid pattern with a chalk line first, tracing over the chalk with paint.
- Dip a flat, wide paintbrush into one color of paint, being careful not to put too much paint on the brush. Then dip the edge of the brush into the second color of paint (figure B). This technique is called loading your brush.
- Connect the tick marks on the wall with the brush (figure C). The technique of loading your brush with two colors gives a look of dimension.
Note: Allow the horizontal stripes to dry for two hours before painting overlapping stripes. Expert Tip: Decorative painter Gigi Turpin cautions to make certain the surface is ready before painting by filling in all nail holes and smoothing the area. The closets are now exposed without the doors, and Golden suggests painting the closet interiors a color that coordinates with the plaid pattern (figure D). Reminder: Allow the paint in the closets to dry for two to three hours.
Adding the Chair-Rail Molding - To add the chair-rail molding, measure and mark the wall for placement. Remember, most chair-rail molding is 36" from the floor.
- Slide a stud finder across the wall, marking the stud location with a pencil.
- Make corner cuts in the chair-rail molding using a miter box (figure E).
- Attach molding with finishing nails, making sure to drive the nails into the studs.
- Sink the finishing nails and fill holes with wood putty or spackling compound. Let dry, then sand until putty or spackling compound is flush and finish the molding with paint.
- While the putty is drying, fill the corner gaps with caulk (figure F) -- white paintable caulk works best.
RESOURCES :
Painting Skills
ISBN: 1842154109
Author: Mike Lawrence
Order this title from Amazon.com.
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