Want to convert an ordinary room into something quite extraordinary?

A quick and simple way to reinvent your environment is to add stripes! If you want your walls to appear higher, think vertical stripes and to make the room appear more spacious, think horizontal stripes. Stripes are a clever decorating technique that bring a sense of style to any room!

1. Apply a base coat of paint and allow 48 hours to dry. The base color will be the color of one of your stripes.

2. Keep the stripes between 4 and 12 inches (not too narrow/busy and not too wide/heavy).

3. Measure all four walls and divide the approximate width of the desired until it fits evenly.

4. Start measuring opposite the least seen corner and adjust as necessary. (When working around windows/doors, treat them as you do with wallpaper).

5. Mark around the top of the room with a pencil and ruler. Accurate straight lines are important -- use a plumb line and lightly mark with a pencil every 12 inches down to the baseboard.

6. Using low-tack tape, press tape down along the pencil marks on the outside perimeters of each stripe to be painted. You will have two different widths of stripes -- the wider is the one to be painted.

7. Mark each thin stripe with a light "X" -- you can erase it later but this will help you remember not to paint in this area.

8. Using a roller, paint the stripes a second color or deeper tone of the base color.

9. Remove the tape immediately and with a damp paper towel wipe away any paint that has seeped beneath the tape.

You now have beautifully striped walls!