Strie

Strie Techinique is the process of creating a soft vertical striping texture.  It tends to be more formal and very popular in English and French decorating.

The Where~ Just about anywhere but I do shy away from using this in a stairwell because of the angle of the stair risers tend to make the edges look a little sloppy.  I probably do this technique mostly in living rooms and behind bookcases to give dimension and interest to the room. It's also a nice technique to use if you have wallpaper above a chair rail and want to use a color below the molding.

The When~ When the room needs to be dressed up a bit.  It tends to be more of a formal look but I have used this technique in children's spaces as well.  It's a great way to blend colors which will give you a color that doesn't exist in any fan deck.

The How~ It's important to have a steady hand while doing this technique so don't over do it with the coffee before attempting this!  I like to limit this technique to the standard ceiling height.  Any wall height over 8' tends to be difficult to achieve the continuous brush stroke.  I always start with a light base coat and tint the glaze darker.  If you want very distinctive lines the glaze should be tinted considerably darker.  The base coat should be in an satin finish but if the walls are plaster, eggshell finish will work as well.

I always have someone roll out the glaze so I can focus on getting a straight line.  I also have the person who is rolling out the glaze make sure the laser level is moved every 12" so I can get a straight line.

Bedford Living Room- BM 1205 Base with Burnt siena tinted glaze

 







Master Bedroom  BM 1660 Base with Blue, Fushia, black tinted glaze

Family Shelves- BM 2088-30 Base; Glaze tinted with 2088-10

                                   

Manhattan Foyer- Metallic paint was tinted to strie over base of BM 1657

NYC Girls Bathroom- Metallic paint tinted and done in a loose strie to give it a playful look

Larchmont Living Room

This is what the walls look like prior to glazing.

Walls~ White Dove Satin Finish Basecoat.

Client wanted a subtle strie affect to give some depth to the room and to give just a hint of lavender color

Same wall as above but with a slight hint of color

Lavender is a pretty color but not typically seen in a living room so we wanted to be very subtle with the amount of pigment.

The fabrics in this room are linens and oatmeals with a quiet suggestion of the lavender in accent pillows.

 The walls keep the rooms light and airy but warms up the space with the hint of color.

Notice the glass bowl on the coffee table is the same color as the walls and the cording on the pillows have a deeper lavender.

Basecoat- BM White dove, Satin finish

Glaze-polyvine contractors glaze, zar poly acrylic satin finish; tint- mixol violet #9