The metallic paint has to begin with an undercoat in a specified color. Since I have a paint discount at Pittsburgh, I picked up the undercoat, "Freshwater," there. I painted the upper and lower half of the pub room before getting the metallic paint. Then Saturday we went to Lowe's to get the paint, and the clear flat top coat that would provide the subtle stripes. However, all that was on the shelf was the clear coat in satin. Since the metallic paint is shiny, I knew satin wouldn't be the sheen needed for the stripes. I asked, and was told that Lowe's no longer carries the flat protector. WHAT? I based my whole room around this!! Needless to say, I was not happy, but thought I should try just painting stripes of metallic and alternate with the Freshwater that was already on the wall. I was assured I could return the paint if it didn't give me what I want. After all, their instructions told me to use a product that doesn't exist!
So started the long process of painting metallic stripes. I've never done vertical stripes, but it was surprisingly much easier than I thought it would be. It just took a lot of time and patience. So, here's the room so far. I'm not totally excited about the effect. I wanted the whole wall to be the metallic color, with very subtle stripes. The end result is not quite so subtle. I'm thinking that once we get art up on the wall, and our bar built, and the pool table in there, I will be happy with it. For the record: the metallic paint is so pretty and looks awesome! I would definitely use it again!
