[ej19403]

I have borders in the rooms that I will be painting with new latex paint. Can I paint the room over the existing borders and then repaint the borders with a different color paint to highlight them, to make them seem that they are a new border without the detail and just a new paint color? I will 'blue tape' the repaint of the border to only paint them and NOT the walls that are now a different color.

[dave_s]

I have borders in the rooms that I will be painting with new latex paint. Can I paint the room over the existing borders and then repaint the borders with a different color paint to highlight them, to make them seem that they are a new border without the detail and just a new paint color? I will 'blue tape' the repaint of the border to only paint them and NOT the walls that are now a different color.

The latex paint might cause bubbles in the border. Can you try removing them first.

[1badchoice]

I think painting over any wallpaper is a bad idea. Only do this if there is NO other option. It's easy enough to remove the borders and leave said amount of space if you want to paint a new "border" of a different color. Wallpaper/border paper can easily buckle, cause bubbles, ripple, cause drips, etc. It's worth the extra time to take care of it first.

[Clough]

I also would suggest removing the borders. I don't know how perfect you want your paint job to look, but I would also recommend using the type of masking tape that is perfectly flat and has no wrinkles in it if you do want your paint job to look perfect. It costs a little more for the perfectly flat masking tape, but is worth the extra price if you want your paint job to look perfect. Any paint tends to "creep" under the edges of regular masking tape.

Also, if you do remove the border and clean up any adhesive that remains because of the border, using the perfectly flat masking tape will enable you to create a really crisp and neat border outline if you decide to paint a new border.