Hand painting stripes with a laser level
ad - this review is in collaboration with Lasgoo but all thoughts are my own
Don’t miss my discount code at the bottom of the review!
This corner of our landing has been crying out for wallpaper ever since we’ve moved in. It’s been on my ‘non-essential’ to do list for so long and I guess the reason why I’ve actually never done it is because a) everything else in the house has broken and needed our time and money to replace, and b) the more I look at those angles, the more I feel it’s a job I don’t wanna do!
I’ve always felt more confident with paint than wallpaper, so I’ve decided to paint some stripes instead, as inspired by a few inspo pictures on Pinterest. This way I won’t be battling with trying to stick the paper around all the curves and I can take the pattern on to the ceiling for maximum impact! I also don’t want to use a paper mountain of decorators tape like when painting the stripes in my son’s room, so this time I am going to try loose free-hand stripes with a rough painterly edge rather than a straight crisp one.
With the Lasgoo LG-3D Laser Level, I felt like the brain-scratching side of this job is done for me, so I can start painting stripes without spending hours on measuring and drawing out lines, feeling confident I can get everything parallel even within this awkward space and going on to the ceiling too. With this looser style of stripe, if the angles start going off it will begin to look a hot mess, so it’s even more important everything is just so!
I have never used a laser level before, instead faffing around with spirit levels and tape measures, but I found this tool very easy to use. It ‘self-levels’ so as long as the light on the top is green (the laser flashes and the light is red when you’re out of self-levelling reach) you’re good to go. It has three 360 degree lasers, two of which are vertical and one horizontal.
I really wanted to put it through its paces before reviewing and I certainly did, as this project, like all my projects, took a lot longer than expected! It came fully charged and I was very impressed with the battery life, having used it for about 8 hours or so, it’s only used up half it’s battery life, which is easy to keep track of as it has four lights on the top which disappear as the battery power reduces. It comes with a charger and remote control too although I haven’t used these yet. There is a button to change the brightness of the lasers too and reducing the brightness will increase the battery life.
It has a rubberised protective layer around the laser level itself, giving it a very sturdy feel and it comes in a smart black zip up hard case with interior protection too. The only thing that isn’t included is a tripod, which you will most probably need for your project. It is possible to use the laser level by resting it on a surface, but a tripod (it fits a standard camera tripod) will be super helpful especially if you’re using the laser level for multiple angles or lines like I was.
Whilst not necessarily the first item in your tool box, I think once you start using a laser level like this one from Lasgoo, you will never go back. I am already thinking of all the ways it would have made my life easier in the past. From ensuring wallpaper is straight, to hanging pictures, putting up shelving or tiling, and my most recent panelling project in which I had to drawer out and measure a line all the way around the room - this clever bit of kit really would have been a game changer.
If you enjoy colour blocking or painting a half wall or doing any kind of panelling, I would say this really is a must as well - I know I’ll be coming back to it again and again.
Get 10% off using my discount code: NVXNSFEU
The End Result:
If ‘trust the process’ were a project, this would definitely be it. It felt a bit too wild for me at the start, and I really didn’t know whether to carry on or not, but I actually found the more stripes I anxiously painted, the more I liked it. It’s also amazing how painting the radiator in the darker colour helps to ground the stripes and recede their boldness a little. Having spent a few days with the stripes now, I am loving how they have brought this forgotten corner to life.
Let me know what you think! Would you paint loose hand-painted stripes in your home?
(If you do, make sure to check out the Lasgoo Laser Level - I could not have done this project without it!)