Create a striking striped feature wall

Layer gorgeous colours for a striking blurred stripe effect.

To create this bold effect, you’ll need:

• a base colour of your choice (we recommend a neutral hue)

• your chosen colours to create the stripe effect

• a medium-sized paint brush

• some string

• a piece of chalk.

1. Create a base

Paint two coats of your chosen base colour. This will give you a great canvas to work from.

2. Measure your design

Use chalk to mark out the width of your design – this is where you’d like your striped design to begin and end on the wall. Your design can be as large or small as you like – we’ve used the width of the bed to base our design around.

Mark out these two horizontal spots on the wall with chalk (we recommend you use the same colour as one of your paint colours – this will make it easy to paint over).

3. Prepare your string

Now, here’s the clever trick. Once you’ve marked your two horizontal spots, measure enough string to stretch between these marks on the wall. Run your chalk along the length of the string and then tape each end to the spots on the wall.

4. Create a guideline

Give the string a good pluck – you’ll find that you’re left with a chalk mark along the wall. This will give you a guideline to follow and make the painting a bit easier.

5. Mark out your design

Repeat steps two to four, creating lines with chalk at 50 cm intervals down the wall until you’ve got the size of the design that you want.

6. Start painting

Now, you’re all set to begin painting! Use a small amount of paint on your brush, and paint in long, sweeping brush strokes, following the chalk guidelines you’ve made. You don’t need to apply too much pressure, as the idea is to get a beautiful wispy effect.

7. Create your design

You can add as many colours as you like, and use different sized brushes to create stripes in different widths. The only rule is to keep the lines horizontal.