Straight borders when painting the walls of a room

I will start painting our new place in the next few days, i have a fairly good idea of what i want the living room to look like and would like to paint a border on one wall, i can get the measurements right but am afraid that when i put the tape accross to paint, it might not be perfectly straight, and i will paint it without noticing, i know this might seem really stupid, but it's easier to mess this up than you would thinkg, my sister in law done something similar in her apartment, and she thought it looked fine, she asked me and i also thought it was straight, and when she took the tape off the border on one side wasn't straight, and the one on the other side was thick at the begining, thinner in the middle and squint at the end.

I was wondering if there was perhaps some sort of measuring device, maybe like a laser that can pinpoint where it would go.

Thanks
Sarah

If you can't see it's not straight with your own eyes, what's the point in using a laser? Just put the tape on the wall, take a few steps back, see if you notice anything, if you don't, nobody else should.

That's easy to say, but i don't want the same disaster she had, the tape looked perfect when she had it on, and it, and when it was off it was totally messed up, it can look straight when you are looking at it with the tape on.

You might like to try drawing the line with a


Spirit level

and a


pencil

first

The level will only work if your house is also level. Otherwise you might end up with a slanting line on your wall. You could go buy one of those laser thingies at the hardware store, or do something similar by casting a shadow on the wall. You can use an overhead projector, or rig up a home-made gadget using a bright lightbulb and placing a ruler in front of it to cast a line shadow on the wall.

Or take a gazillian measurements from the floor, then double check with measurements from the ceiling.
Cheers and have fun painting! (I've still got a few rooms to do, but I'm sticking with offwhite for everything 'cause I'm lazy)

1. get a nice thick piece of string,
2. hang something heavy from it,
3. put the top of your string at the ceiling with the heavy thing dangling just above the floor at the point you want your paint to end,
4. mark a series (say 4 or 5) points in pencil along the line the string hangs down,
5. join up the marks with your masking tape
6. away you go

The problems come with a plumbline when the room itself is not 'square', ie the ceiling and floor are not parallel or the skirting boards have not been applied straight.

Choose a datum line, ie skirting board or ceiling or dado rail and make your measurements from that line.

This will give you a visually straight line even if it's not straight using a spirit level or plumb.

Thanks for the tips

You need a "Schlagschnur" (Sorry only German Wiki available).
Basically it is a piece of string loaded with colored chalk. You pin the string to the wall making sure it is even with a spirit level. Then just slap the string on the wall and you got a perfect straight line you can use to apply your tape.

Thanks, do you know where i can buy one.

Sarah

Go to a DYI-shop like OBI, Praktiker or Hornbach.

Fisrt you get a spirit level and see if the skirting board is level.If it is then you measure up the same distance every 60cm along.Then you join up the lines with a pencil.Place masking tape along the line remembering to firmly rub it on.Do the painting and leave until totally dry before pulling off.