Well, a decision has been reached. I went ahead and ordered the reversible rug pictured above (talked DH into it!). These rugs are called "Mad Mats" and are made from recycled soda bottles, and are a fair trade industry. I really like the fact that they're crafted from recycled goods in a responsible manner, and of course it doesn't hurt that the more I envision this particular design (the aqua side, especially) with my porch furnishings, the more I think it's perfect. Too, the rug can be here by the end of the week, and I'm not sure when I'll get around to painting one. I'm impatient. ;-) Anyway ... I'll post pics again when I get it pulled together with the rug and a couple more touches that I have in mind. The painted rug is still an option for later ... perhaps after we get some landscaping done and I feel like tackling another project, I'll give it some more consideration.

I just read an interesting blog entry on this very subject Here's cut/paste Readers Share Their Techniques for Perfect Stripes on Walls "I learned this trick when I worked in a museum painting walls and wall murals. The best way to get a crisp line is to first paint your lighter color on the whole wall and let dry for an appropriate amount of time (or, if you’re painting stripes over an existing paint job, make sure you have the original paint color, at least enough for touch ups.) Lay out your tape lines, then seal the edges of the tape with your original color using a brush or roller. Let dry, then paint your contrasting stripe color over that, and remove the tape while the paint is still a bit wet. Not only will you get a clean stripe, but the only seepage you’ll get is in the original paint color, and should blend in just fine." ~ Ginger elle decor striped walls Elle Decor "I have textured walls and I’ve done stripes and other patterns many times with success. The key is to apply a thin coat of caulk (the paintable kind that dries clear) over the edges of your tape (I just use my fingers). This keeps the paint from leaking underneath every time �" I promise it works! I’ve tried every brand of painters tape out there and they have all failed me. Caulk is the only surefire way that I’ve found to get those nice crisp edges on textured walls." ~ Sarah Bradburn of Sarah Elizabeth Design striped wall weedecor Wee Decor "For textured walls �" I can do stripes with no problem. HOW? Let’s say you’re painting gray and yellow stripes. First, you paint the gray, then you tape over the areas you want to tape off, then paint the gray paint OVER the tape, to "seal" it. Let it dry, then paint over it with the yellow paint. Pull the tape off when still wet.. your line will be PERFECT. It feels sooo good to peel that tape back once you’ve done all the painting and waiting…" ~ Elisa at What The Vita house beautiful striped foyer House Beautiful "A trick I use when painting stripes is after the tape is placed I roll over it with clear glaze to seal it. After that is dry then I paint the color on top and remove tape while it’s still wet. Hope that helps (if you have extra clear glaze)." ~ Dayna of Second Time Around Designs dining room apt therapyApartment Therapy "Perfect Stripes on textured walls? Okay I have done this many times and people can’t believe my stripes on our textured walls. Say it was your blue you had there and you wanted a white stripe. First, paint the wall blue. Let fully dry, then place your tape down. Now here is the trick. Paint over the edge of the tape blue again -and really get it in there. What happens is the blue goes into the (my technical term) bubbles or gaps where the tape is not adhering to the walls. Now let that dry a bit (not super much we wait about an hour or get sidetracked and make it two). Lastly paint your white stripe. We sometimes score the tape if we are worried about how many coats we had to do (only had to do this once when we had a dramatic color change). Sometimes there may be a tiny bit of touch up, but really if you get the original color in there good. You should be a-okay. That’s it!" ~ Stacy Zeigler stripes on walls coastal living Coastal Living (Design by Tracey Rapisardi) "I’ve painted stripes on textured walls! Textured walls are a pain to paint, but painting stripes *really* isn’t that bad. Promise! My tricks of the trade for texture is to jam down that tape. Literally. To paint the contrast stripes we put up the painters tape, made sure it was truly straight (did the "across the room eyeball test"), and then added some serious pressure over the tape to make sure it was adhered as tightly as humanly possible. Then, when we painted, we painted straight on. No angles, no edging brushes, straight on. It gives the paint less opportunity to slide under the tape. We let the first coat dry, then peeled the tape off while the second coat was still wet. Used latex paint, worked like a charm. No problems. I have also heard of people with textured walls putting a bit of caulking underneath the tape to seal it even closer to the wall. I wasn’t willing to deal with that cleanup, so I just pushed the tape down like the dickens. Worked for me!" ~ Sara @ House Bella the lettered cottage stripes The Lettered Cottage "A couple of gals mentioned using the other color paint to make straight lines when painting on a texture. I’ve done it, it works. Another option is using paintable caulking. I like doing this because it is fast and I think it is fun to use a caulking gun!" ~ TJ "The best way to get perfect lines using tape is to brush matte medium (avail at art supply stores) over the lines first then cover with your regular paint. It fills in the areas where it might bleed through and dries completely clear." ~ Rebecca K. More Tutorials on Striped Walls from Across The Web True Value’s Tips on Painting Stripes on Walls DIY Network Striped Paint Technique Songbird’s How To Paint Striped Walls (and why you should use quality painter’s tape) Subtle Stripe Technique via Young House Love (and why peeling tape when wet is key) Remodeling Center’s Expert Tips for Painting Stripes on Walls (and the importance of sealing tape with your base color) HGTV’s How to Paint Stripes on a Wall (and sealing tape with acrylic gel medium) swirl snip Is your head spinning with all these fantastic tips and tricks on perfect stripes? Well, you could just say ‘Fahgetaboutit’ and go for this look instead. uneven stripes via bellemaison23 via Belle Maison 23 Many many thanks to the readers who shared their tips and tricks, we are all grateful for your insight. Are you considering stripes on your walls? Do you have another tip or tutorial on painting stripes that you’d like to share? Leave it in a comment please! Happy painting friends ! . You might also like:

All the comments are excellent. If you prime and paint the walls first, how do you know where the studs are to hang the cabinets? I guess we could use a stud finder, but I (home owner) thought it would be easier to hang the cabinets before priming and painting. We plan to use a professional painter and will also seek his advice. I want to keep the project moving so I thought we could hang the upper cabinets while the drywall is being mudded and finished in other rooms. Any views?

I posted these pics on another thread about my dining room (it finally belongs!) but since this one got revived I thought I'd show a photo of the stripes we did. I used 10" and 12" alternating stripes. I ended up doing them twice; first time was flat wall paint; BM Quincy Tan, then used porter paint satin matched to BM Quincy tan. Not sure if the paint match was quite right or if the satin finish gave it a different look, but the color really turned very yellow/green once we added those satin finish stripes. So I painted over them with BM quincy tan eggshell, and I like it much better. It is hard to see the stripes in these photos, but you definitely see them IRL. The look is subtle but interesting. this shows the stripes in satin The last three photos are the flat/eggshell. I like the color match better. In general it was not a hard project, and I used the 3M blue tape and it worked fine. We also used the laser level which sticks directly to the wall, and it made taping the lines a breeze. Overall, it turned out well and was not really that hard to do.