Painted Striped Ceiling

Another wild paint job? Why not. This blue bathroom originally had a plain old white ceiling (actually, it originally had plaid wallpaper but that’s a story for another day). A white ceiling, white cabinets, pale blue walls, white and blue tiles, blue bathroom fixtures, chrome finishes, and and a light blue and gold floor. I thought that was enough for one room.

But a few months later, Neil Young got involved. My husband and I were going to LA for a weekend to see him and his beautiful sad harmonica. I was looking for a hotel. We spent our first 3 years of marriage living in LA across the street from the Avalon Hotel, an adorable remodeled mid century apartment building, so I looked in to staying there. Sometime in the last decade, Kelly Wearstler had apparently remodeled the building. (And someone had torn ours down.) What does this have to do with my bathroom ceiling? Well, the Avalon’s lobby and bar area is an incredible sight with a staggered blue and white cabana striped ceiling, aqua blue speckled floor and pops of gold everywhere. Possibly one of my favorite spaces that I have ever been in. I suddenly knew that stripes were this bathroom’s destiny and the Avalon’s ceiling was shamelessly, 100% the inspiration. And so a few days later it was done. The whole thing only took a few hours and a little measurement math. If only I could afford a gold Platner chair in there, I’d be living.

source

While looking at Avalon photos I came across this post, which gave some good stripe painting tips and another beautiful Avalon inspired ceiling.

source

My stripes had only 2 rows since my bathroom is substantially smaller than these other two spaces. My first step was to divide the ceiling in half. I measured both walls, marked their center point and then looked all over for our chalk line. It was buried in a garage pile so instead I ran a piece of masking tape across to use as a guide line. Then I worked along this line to tape off alternating stripes 6″ wide down one side and then I repeated on the other side, making sure to press the tape down firmly to prevent paint bleeding. I also marked the stripes that should not be painted with tape because it gets pretty disorienting up there once you start going at it. I used a small foam roller and a brush to cut in the edges.

The actual painting was really quick (2 coats) and I only had a few places to touch up once I removed the tape. I admit that initially I wasn’t sure about the end result. The stripes were so heavy and busy and crushing compared to the previous plain white ceiling. It felt a little fun house. After living with it for a few days, I loved it. The funny thing is that most people who come over to our house don’t even notice, so it can’t be as circusy as I imagine.