How to Do Pinstripe Walls

Move your personal items out of the room to be painted. Any furniture that can't be removed should be moved to the middle of the room and covered with plastic sheets or drop cloths.

Cover the floor by the walls with drop cloths or plastic sheets. Tape off the edge of the ceiling that borders the wall so the ceiling isn't painted inadvertently. Tape off the edges of any trim that isn't being painted. Remove any light fixtures.

Pour the lighter of the two colors into the roller tray. Attach the roller extender to the roller. Roll the roller in the paint, then roll over the patterned area of the roller tray.

Paint a solid coat of paint onto each of the walls. Roll the paint onto the wall in a "w" pattern, then fill in the spaces. Paint one wall at a time, working from the top down. Allow the paint to dry completely.

Tape off your pinstripes. If you're doing a dark stripe on a light-colored wall, use painter's tape and tape each side of the stripe in a line from the ceiling down, leaving a space between each line of tape that's the width of the desired pinstripe. For example, if you want a 1/2-inch stripe of gray on a white wall, put one line of painter's tape from ceiling to floor, measure 1/2 inch, and do a second line of tape that begins 1/2 inch away from the other line of tape. Repeat for each pinstripe, spacing them evenly (8 to 10 inches apart, depending on the look you desire). If the pinstripe is the lighter color, apply a single line of painter's tape from the ceiling to the floor for each pinstripe. The painter's tape should be the width of the pinstripe you desire. Repeat the painter's tape stripe evenly along the wall.

Apply the second color. If you're painting a dark stripe, use a paintbrush. Dip the brush into the paint, then brush off some of the excess paint onto the textured section of the roller tray. Paint the stripe within the painter's tape stripe, working from floor to ceiling. If the lighter paint is the pinstripe, use the paint roller, and apply the second, darker coat of paint over the painter's tape, using the same "w" pattern.

Allow the paint to dry until it's no longer wet to the touch, then slowly remove the painter's tape. Touch up the paint as needed.