Can anyone give me some advice on the best way to paint polka dots
onto my living room wall?

(Strange request - I know!)

I'm absolutely clueless at any sort of DIY, including painting, so I
want to find the easiest and most effective way of doing this...

My living room walls are a fairly vibrant red, painted a few years ago
with one-coat emulsion. I now want to paint black polka dots onto the
walls (probably dinner-plate sized, or maybe a bit smaller).

I'm guessing the best way is to use a stencil, but then I have the
following questions...

- What's the best way to make the stencil? I'm guessing it's going to
be hard to find a ready-made dinner-plate-sized-polka-dot stencil.

- What's the best way to fix the stencil to the wall without it
slipping? Will masking tape do it? My feeling is that masking tape
won't hold it securely. I've got some gaffer tape, but that will
probably ruin the walls.

- What sort of paint should I use? Will black emulsion do it? (Can you
even get black emulsion?)

- How should I apply the paint? With a brush? If so, what type of
brush? A sponge? A roller? Some sort of spray-device?

- Can I use spray-paint? Is that a good idea?

I'm hoping to get started on this in the next day or so, so any advice
you can quickly give me would be appreciated!

Thanks.

Davey wrote:
Can anyone give me some advice on the best way to paint polka dots
onto my living room wall?

(Strange request - I know!)

I'm absolutely clueless at any sort of DIY, including painting, so I
want to find the easiest and most effective way of doing this...

My living room walls are a fairly vibrant red, painted a few years ago
with one-coat emulsion. I now want to paint black polka dots onto the
walls (probably dinner-plate sized, or maybe a bit smaller).

I'm guessing the best way is to use a stencil, but then I have the
following questions...

- What's the best way to make the stencil? I'm guessing it's going to
be hard to find a ready-made dinner-plate-sized-polka-dot stencil.

- What's the best way to fix the stencil to the wall without it
slipping? Will masking tape do it? My feeling is that masking tape
won't hold it securely. I've got some gaffer tape, but that will
probably ruin the walls.

- What sort of paint should I use? Will black emulsion do it? (Can you
even get black emulsion?)

- How should I apply the paint? With a brush? If so, what type of
brush? A sponge? A roller? Some sort of spray-device?

- Can I use spray-paint? Is that a good idea?

I'm hoping to get started on this in the next day or so, so any advice
you can quickly give me would be appreciated!

Thanks.

Get stick-on dots ?
Bound to look neater that the slightly fuzzy edges you will get with
paint.
Simon. (who likes to minimise work).

Do you want a regular grid of dots, or randomly spaced (randomly
sized?) dots?
Mark out carefuly what you want with little pencil marks or bits of
masking tape, figure out what you will do in difficult bits around
doors and windows etc.

Whatever you do, practice on some old paper first. For sharp edges on
stencils, I find spraying works well (any cheap black spray paint
should be fine). Not sure about the template, try thick card?

Or you could find some paper in the colour you want, cut out dots,
stick on with wallpaper paste.

sm_jamieson wrote:
Davey wrote:
Can anyone give me some advice on the best way to paint polka dots
onto my living room wall?

(Strange request - I know!)

I'm absolutely clueless at any sort of DIY, including painting, so I
want to find the easiest and most effective way of doing this...

My living room walls are a fairly vibrant red, painted a few years ago
with one-coat emulsion. I now want to paint black polka dots onto the
walls (probably dinner-plate sized, or maybe a bit smaller).

I'm guessing the best way is to use a stencil, but then I have the
following questions...

- What's the best way to make the stencil? I'm guessing it's going to
be hard to find a ready-made dinner-plate-sized-polka-dot stencil.

- What's the best way to fix the stencil to the wall without it
slipping? Will masking tape do it? My feeling is that masking tape
won't hold it securely. I've got some gaffer tape, but that will
probably ruin the walls.

- What sort of paint should I use? Will black emulsion do it? (Can you
even get black emulsion?)

- How should I apply the paint? With a brush? If so, what type of
brush? A sponge? A roller? Some sort of spray-device?

- Can I use spray-paint? Is that a good idea?

I'm hoping to get started on this in the next day or so, so any advice
you can quickly give me would be appreciated!

Thanks.

Get stick-on dots ?
Bound to look neater that the slightly fuzzy edges you will get with
paint.
Simon. (who likes to minimise work).

Sorry, I hadn't read the size !
The usual way to apply paint with a stencil is to use a pad and kind of
drag it into the paint area, so you don't push paint under the stencil
edges.
I would probably try and mask of the area with something better than
masking tape,
i.e. applying pressure to the wall in order to get sharp edges.
Simon

wrote:

Whatever you do, practice on some old paper first. For sharp edges on
stencils, I find spraying works well (any cheap black spray paint
should be fine). Not sure about the template, try thick card?

Paint gets onto the edges of the stencil and needs to be wiped off
between each application. Its going to be difficult to get off with
card. Card will quickly deteriorate and disintegrate if the paint
includes any water.

I think I'd use flat sheet plastic, eg the side off a storage box etc.
Draw the cirle then cut it out 4mm under sized. Trim and tidy with a
scalpel until perfect.

For the cleanest edge, spray paint. Advisable to make sure you've got
some spare red emulsion. Might be worth tapering the template hole to
prevent paint creeping.

Never seen black emulsion, blackboard paint is the usual thing. Some
types of paint can hold more pigment than others.


NT

Davey wrote:
Can anyone give me some advice on the best way to paint polka dots
onto my living room wall?

(Strange request - I know!)

I'm absolutely clueless at any sort of DIY, including painting, so I
want to find the easiest and most effective way of doing this...

My living room walls are a fairly vibrant red, painted a few years ago
with one-coat emulsion. I now want to paint black polka dots onto the
walls (probably dinner-plate sized, or maybe a bit smaller).

I'm guessing the best way is to use a stencil, but then I have the
following questions...

- What's the best way to make the stencil? I'm guessing it's going to
be hard to find a ready-made dinner-plate-sized-polka-dot stencil.

- What's the best way to fix the stencil to the wall without it
slipping? Will masking tape do it? My feeling is that masking tape
won't hold it securely. I've got some gaffer tape, but that will
probably ruin the walls.

- What sort of paint should I use? Will black emulsion do it? (Can you
even get black emulsion?)

- How should I apply the paint? With a brush? If so, what type of
brush? A sponge? A roller? Some sort of spray-device?

- Can I use spray-paint? Is that a good idea?

I'm hoping to get started on this in the next day or so, so any advice
you can quickly give me would be appreciated!

Thanks.



Asa one who reguarly paints roundels on toy planes there are three
approaches worth considering.

1/. Get some sticky backed vinyl and a set of compass cutters, cut disks
and apply.

2/. Using above compass cutters, cut holes in suitable mask, and use as
stencil. Always hard to avoid creepage though. One way is to appley
clear first, to seal teh setncil edges, then color, then rip off.

3/. Get a bow (ink) compass and draw the circles in paint. Harder on a
vertical wall 6than a flat wing, but possible. Then use artist brush to
make up indside, than larger brush to fill.