Painting help

[Beemer30]

How can I paint a stripe like this on my wall? I can't work out how you would get the edges straight.

Complete amateur here but I would suggest marking it out in pencil using a spirit level then using masking tape for the edges?

Yep - straight line using spirit level and masking tape. Worth getting GOOD decorator's masking tape which will not bleed. Cheap stuff will just be frustrating. Paint the background colour first and then paint the stripe over the top.

Try the paint and tape out first on a bit of wall you can't see, or can easily paint over.

I did the masking tape and paint, and it took off some of the edge of the already dry paint. Even though the edge I had just painted was wet. It looked a right mess, and I had to use a child's paint brush to touch up the edges.

Ok thanks I hear what you see about getting proper decorators tape.

I have recently used frog tape - it was very good, stopped bleed through, but it did pull paint away from the wall when I took it off. I think our walls weren't painted properly to start with i.e using a mist coat.

I will be using frog tape next time I get the paint brush out but will go for the yellow one, which is meant to be for delicate/newly painted surfaces.