The idea to paint stripes on wood panelling came as a sort of rescue mission. I was giving a demonstration once on how to paint stripes. One woman there was especially enthusiastic. The whole taping and plombing and levelling thing didn't seem to phase her at all. Then she remembered that the room where she wanted the stripes was panelled. It was like sailing out of a hurricane and into a dead calm. She had no idea what the walls were like under the panelling "And besides," she said "I just can't deal with ripping all that stuff down."
Crestfallen, she was about to leave, saying, "I'll have to think of something else" when a light went on and what seems like an obvious idea was born. Panelling comes with the lines already done for you. It's like making bread with a bread machine.
She came back a month later to another demonstration raving about her stripes. She used Adams Gold and Blair Gold, two Benjamin Moore colors.
Here's what you have to know.
Last month we talked about how to get paint to adhere to panelling.
A lot of lines and open spots will magically appear in the wood as soon as it has paint on it. This is gremlin sorcery and has to be dealt with. You'll use a lot of caulk. The lighter color should go on first. Paint the entire roon with special attention to the seams between stripes. These are sometimes roughly cut and should be caulked if they look a little ragged. The darker color would come next.
Another approach is to strie the panels. Paint them with an eggshell finish paint. Let it dry overnight. Then make up a glaze in a darker color, paint it on one stripe at a time and run a dry brush through it, top to bottom.
You can buy clear glazing medium in a paint store. Mix it four or five parts clear glaze with one part flat latex paint. Voila-you've got glaze.
Experiment with colors. Glaze is very translucent so you may need a surprisingly dark glaze to get the effect that want.
Running a piece of #1 coarse steel wool VERY LIGHTLY through the glaze has a pretty cool effect.
Stop by Grouchy Gabes in Croton. I have an exhibit there of some decorative painting ideas, as well as a couple of approaches to striping.
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Have fun painting
