DIY Network

Tape Decor Accents Accent your world with sophisticated tape stripes. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-304

Dress up your domain with tape.

Michele Beschen can fix just about anything with the right tape—including boring rooms. But she doesn’t just tape off areas to paint, she embellishes furniture and even walls with tape. Learn how she does jazzes up a footstool, a stately desk and a formerly boring wall it in this B. Original how-to.

The next time you redo a room, try painting first – then bring out the tape. It’s a fun way to B. Original with your decor. Scroll down for the projects.

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Tape stripes add interest and energy – without visual clutter.

Tape-Striped Walls

Materials:

laser level or string level
chalk line
duct and/or electrical tape in desired colors and widths
glossy paint and painting supplies (if needed)

• If the room’s paint finish is flat, the tape will tear the paint off if you remove it. If you have a flat-finish wall, Michele Beshen recommends painting it with a glossy finish.

• Use a laser level or a string level and chalk line to get tape lines or grids even.

• If taping a full wall or other large area, have at least one person helping you pull and apply the tape.

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D

Tape-Embellished Furniture

Materials:

furniture to stripe
deglosser or liquid sander
sandpaper
scissors
sharp craft or utility knife
electrical tape, rubber splicing tape and/or pinstriping tape
polyurethane

• Prepare the piece for tape treatment by removing any glossy finish. Sand the piece, then wipe it down with a deblosser or liquid sander and let dry completely (figure A). Also sand down any jagged areas and clean up any waxy or greasy spots.

• Choose tapes that suit the furniture being modified. The best tape to wrap around round pieces is electrical tape: It’s slightly stretchy, it conforms well to different shapes and it comes in several colors.

• When starting to apply tape, pick a spot on the piece where the starting end of the tape will be concealed. Apply one starter loop and cut the end where it won’t be seen. Then start again over that piece, rolling the tape on at a slight angle.

• While applying tape, keep pressure on the tape and smooth it town as much as possible (figure B). Don’t reposition the tape pieces; they will lose their stickiness.

• Try to wrap each section with one continuous piece of tape leaving as few seams as possible. Trim around any embellishments you don’t want to cover (figure C).

• Mix up the tape colors on different areas of your piece.

• Use a sharp craft knife to cut shapes from the tape, opening up a world of possibilities for your design. Apply the tape, then immediately make the cuts and remove the excess. Otherwise, the excess tape will be hard to remove and will leave sticky residue.

• If you don’t want to wrap an entire piece of furniture, you can still add some pop with tape: Add accents and color with tape stripes, or just wrap one section of the piece and leave the rest natural.

• Rubber splicing tape has décor advantages all its own: Found near the electrical tape at home stores, it is very stretchy and has no adhesive backing. This makes it a good choice for furniture with intricate shapes or a finish you don’t want to sand and degloss. To wrap a curvy table leg, start at the top of the leg and wrap the splicing tape tightly so that it anchors itself (figure D). Then, wrap the rest of the leg and anchor the trailing end with a piece of electrical tape.

Auto Pinstriping Tape

Michele Beschen says pinstriping tape is excellent for creating grids and intricate lines. Mix up different types of tape for different finishes, textures and colors; seal the final product with a couple of coats of spray polyurethane.