" How do you get these lines so straight all the way across the room?"

" Well, Bob, I carefully measure my lines and I use a little template to help me keep my lines in order so that no matter where I check along the wall, they're in the same place."

" I suppose that."

" And then."

" That really works for those lines. You've got a nice new ceiling that's perfectly flat."

" That's right. But if you have one of these wonderful old sagging ceilings, this is isn't really the right design for a ceiling like that."

" Yeah. A straight line up against the sagging ceiling would just accentuate the sag."

" That's right."

" Okay."

" Then I use painter's tape and I tape in my pencil line."

" Now how is that different from masking tape?"

" Well, it gives a cleaner edge. Masking tape can tend to pull off wall paint that's existing on the wall, and it tends to bleed less when you're painting along the edge. There tends to be less of an underbleed. But to make really sure that I don't have an underbleed, I seal after I've taped along my pencil line, and I've, you know, rubbed it in place really well and make sure there's no gap. I seal it with an art product that you can find at any arts or crafts store. It's a matte medium. Basically, it's just a clear, milky liquid."

" That I apply and."

" Is that actually sealed to the space within the paint on the wall?"

" I seal. That's right. So that you don't get that underbleed and you get a good clean tape. You get the clean line so that when you lift that tape, it's just straight as an arrow."

" Excellent."

" Now I've already sealed these 2 upper lines. Our next step is to apply the paint for the striping itself."

" And you're using a brown color that again is picked up from this cottage furniture."

" Right. And once again, the kind of paint I'm using is acrylic paint."

" It can be found in any arts or crafts store and it's important to know that you cannot apply this paint to an oil-painted wall, but most walls are painted with latex anyway."

" And I use a sponge brush and I just kind of dab it in here."

" You don't really pull the like when you paint it with a brush."

" No."

" You dab."

" I dab."

" Yeah."

" It's more like the old way of stenciling. It gives more of a traditional look to it, but with more precision. And I mixed all my paint and a meat, found some meat packing. I saved them from."

" [unk]."

" Right."

" Just right from the supermarket."

" They're wonderful. They're disposable. You're recycling and they're lightweight."

" Very clever."

" So we dab this in, getting right up to the tape line, but because it's sealed, we won't have that underbleed."

" Beautifully crisp. Now how long do you usually wait before you take the tape off?"

" About a half an hour. It depends on the humidity."

" Oh, yeah. That's so nice."

" Yeah. It's a really clean nice line."

" Now are you using a stencil to do this kind of a detail here, this fluffy flowery thing that?"

" No, I'm not. I chose my design, which I drew from a design on the headboard and I transcribed it onto contact paper."

" So this is where the artist comes in you."

" Right. I drew my design."

" From a piece that was on the contact paper and then I cut it out with kitchen scissors."

" And you peel the back and the thing you'll have to do before you set it on the wall, is you have to remove some of the stickiness, and I do this with the assistance of Bob by sticking it onto his shirt. There's a little bit of nap on t-shirts and sweatshirts, and that just takes that little extra stickiness off so that you don't pull any paint off of your wall."

" That's a great tip."

" Yeah."

" And then you just put it."

" And then I."

" Right in place."

" Place it right in place."

" Along my line that I've marked at and measured."

" Tap it into place and you've got. Nope. Actually, we need to feel it now."

" Oh, that's right."

" I feel this and then, I follow up with the dark paint."

" And then I'm noticing over here, you've added a little gold highlight."

" That's the final touch."

" Yeah."

" I take enamel, gold enamel, and I pour off most of the liquid that's on the top, leaving that dense, creamy paint at the bottom."

" And using an artist brush, I just do this final highlighting touches to give it a really special finish."

" Margo, it's beautiful. Thanks a lot."

" Thanks."