DIY decorative plaster “Stripes”

Recommendation points

• Material selection and tool
• Preparing the walls
• Texture application
• Painting and varnishing of walls

In this article, we will tell you in detail and show how to independently decorate the walls in an original way using a starter acrylic putty. You will learn what materials and tools are needed for this, how to prepare the surface and how to work with the material correctly.

Material selection and tool

To make a Strix type plaster coating, you will need the following material:

• starter acrylic putty
• polymer primer for impregnating walls
• panel varnish glossy or semi-matt
• water-based paint
• pearlescent acrylic paint (silver, gold or other shades)
• painting tape
• water

Acrylic putty is used for the reason that it does not release its moisture to the wall so quickly and, accordingly, does not set so quickly, that is, within 15–20 minutes we will have the opportunity to fix something if we don’t like something. In addition, after drying, transitions and joints are practically not visible on the surface. To achieve the same result when applied with dry putties, a lot of experience is required..

The following tool will be needed:

• metal spatula 450 mm
• spatula 100 mm
• decorative trowel 200 mm
• brush with a hard bristle from a fishing line (for cleaning carpets)
• trowel
• trowel mesh No. 120
• wall primer
• paint brush 1.5-2 inches
• thread roller 180 and 100 mm
• cuvette (tray for paint and varnish)
• rags (a simple rag, not synthetic, preferably white, so as not to fade)
• bucket for water 10 l

Preparing the walls

Since you will be using a starter acrylic putty, the preparation of the wall should be done as for wallpaper, without major defects such as nodules, bumps and chips, only small risks and scratches are allowed. It is necessary to carefully examine the inner corners, in which often many flaws arise after preparation, they must be eliminated.

Before performing the main work, the walls are carefully primed and left for 3-4 hours until the soil is completely dry.

The frieze (baguette) must be sealed with masking tape, if it is already available. It is advisable to remove door trims, sockets and switches.

Texture application

The application of the “Strix” texture is carried out in the same way as all other decorative plasters – we apply from corner to corner in one step, that is, you cannot break off the application in the middle of the wall and continue the next day.

Putty is applied with a metal spatula 450 mm from the corner from top to bottom or from bottom to top, in strips of 0.8-1 m evenly with a layer thickness of 2 mm.

The brush that you will use to create the texture must be thinned out before starting work. Having cut out some nap of the fishing line with scissors at different heights, apply putty on a small section of the wall, stretch with a brush. Look at the wall and pay attention to those places where the strip turned out to be too wide, in such places the pile needs to be thinned again. And so on until you like the texture.

After that, vertical stripes are drawn along the putty with a brush evenly and without strong pressure. Small undulating movements can be performed.

Try to draw one line from top to bottom at a time, maximum 2 times. In order not to see the joints on the strips, do not cut off adjacent lines at the same height, make an offset of 20-30 cm. Putty, which will collect on the brush, throw off the putty, which will be collected on the brush, into a bucket of putty, after mixing it will be reused.

When sweeping with the brush, change its position 180 degrees. And then the adjacent lines will not be the same. After applying the stripes, you need to wait 5-10 minutes, then use a decorative trowel to go over the texture with light indentations to slightly smooth the entire surface.

It is necessary to work with a trowel in the same way as with a brush – from top to bottom, make adjacent breaks with an offset of 20–30 cm and regularly clean the accumulated putty from the tool. Otherwise, she can pull the putty from the wall with her, which is very difficult to fix. After an hour, this procedure must be repeated, but with great effort..

Application must be carried out on the same day on parallel walls, the adjacent wall is applied after the adjacent wall has dried. This is done in order not to accidentally get into the finished texture and it was possible to remove the putty that accidentally got from the dried wall.

After all the walls are completely dry, and this is not less than a day – the acrylic putty dries longer than dry, the walls will need to be rubbed a little with a trowel net to remove small influxes and protruding bumps after applying the texture, then sweep the entire wall surface with a dry cloth. The wall is ready for painting.

Painting and varnishing of walls

After choosing the paint color, you can start painting the wall. To do this, apply paint evenly over the entire surface of the wall with a 180 mm thread roller, paint in corners and hard-to-reach places with a brush. If necessary, apply the paint in two layers, the risks formed by the brush do not have to be completely painted over, in the future they will be painted over with mother-of-pearl. After painting the wall and drying it (at least 4 hours), apply a layer of panel varnish. This varnish is good because it does not have an unpleasant odor, is non-toxic and the drying time is much shorter (4–6 hours). We also apply the varnish with a 180 mm thread roller.

The last stage remains – the application of pearlescent paint. For this we use a 100 mm roller and a rag. Apply the water-based mother-of-pearl acrylic paint to the wall using a roller and a paint brush. It is advisable to pre-dilute the paint by adding about 20% of water by volume of paint and mix thoroughly. Thus, the paint will not form clear boundaries at the edges. Mother-of-pearl is applied in small areas of 0.3-0.5 m² and carefully hammered into all risks.

Immediately after that, we take a rag, moisten it in water, wring it out and remove the mother-of-pearl in the direction of the marks.

The surface is wiped until we remove the excess paint, for this it is advisable to rinse the rags more often in water and squeeze well.

In corners where mother-of-pearl is difficult to wipe off, simply slide the rag onto a 100 mm spatula.