How to Paint Stripes on a Wall for a Playful Whimsical Design

Painted wall stripes are back in a huge way! If you love whimsical, fun and bold interior design, you’re probably looking at stripes for your next room makeover. I painted stripes in my son’s storybook room makeover and LOVE the results. It’s playful and classic, and easy enough that any level of DIY can do this, even beginners. With the right tools, a little bit of patience, and a few tried-and-true tricks, you’ll be painting stripes like a pro in no time.

This guide is for real people—not just seasoned DIYers—so whether it’s your first time holding a paint roller or you’ve got a couple of home projects under your belt, I’ve got you. I’ll walk you through exactly how to paint stripes on your wall, step by step, sharing my mistakes and what I wish I had done differently.

Step 1: Start With a Painted Wall

Before you can get to the fun striped paint, your wall needs to have a base coat of paint. If your wall is already painted and in good shape, great—you can skip ahead. If not, here’s what you need to know:

For your base coat you should opt for either a satin or eggshell finish. Avoid high-gloss or semi-gloss finishes. These tend to be more slippery and may cause the paint for your stripes to bleed under the tape. Once your base coat is applied, make sure you let your wall dry for at least 24 hours before taping the stripes.

Think of this base coat as your blank canvas. It’s the color that will peek through in every other stripe. I opted for white, but later on thought it would be been really cool to do a two toned look in a dark and light teal.

Step 2: Plan Your Stripe Layout

Now comes the fun part—figuring out what kind of look you want. This is your moment to get creative!

Ask yourself:

How wide should the stripes be?

The width of the stripes is essential to the overall aesthetic. Thinner stripes give you more pattern on your wall, but visually it can look busier. Thicker stripes give you more of a dramatic look and bonus, they are also easier to apply.

Will you use only the thickness of the tape as spacers for the stripes, or would you double it up? I used the tape as both the stripe and the space, which helped keep things consistent.

Will you go for something more interesting and alternate the thickness of the stripes?

Grab a piece of paper and sketch it out if that helps. Having a rough idea will make the next steps a lot easier.

Step 3: Choose the Right Painter’s Tape

This is one of the most important steps—and also one that can totally make or break your results.

Here’s what to use:

If your wall has been freshly painted (within 1-2 weeks), I would suggest going with the yellow Frog Tape. It is much gentler and it won’t pull your paint off, when you remove the tape.

If your wall has been painted for a while and is fully cured, use green Frog Tape. It’s stickier and gives cleaner lines on fully dry surfaces.

I would also recommend getting the thicker width tape. It is easier to work with forgiving when you paint.

Painter’s tape is your best friend for this project. Trust it. Expect a little bit of bleed, it’s not going to be perfect, but we will get close.

Step 4: Use a Laser Level to Mark Your Stripes

This step might sound high-tech, but don’t worry—it’s super doable and makes your life SO much easier.

What you’ll need:

• A laser level (this will save your sanity)
• A helper (optional, but very handy)
• A small piece of painter’s tape to use as a spacer

Here’s how to do it:

1. Start in one corner of the room.
2. Use your laser level to shine a straight vertical line down the wall. I started in the very most left corner of the wall because I’m right handed and it’s easier to apply this way
3. Place a strip of painter’s tape right along that laser line.
4. Next, take a small piece of tape and stick it next to that line—this will be your spacer.
5. Move the laser level over to the edge of the spacer.
6. Tape your next line.
7. Repeat all the way around the room!

This part is a little time-consuming, but it’s also oddly satisfying—especially if you have a friend helping. Take lots of breaks because it will make your eyes bug out.

Step 5: Seal the Tape for Crisp Lines

A few important steps to seal:

1. Pressing the tape down really well before painting. Grab a credit card or a plastic scraper and run it along every single piece of tape. This helps seal the edges so paint won’t sneak underneath. It only takes a few minutes, and it makes a huge difference in how clean your stripes turn out.

2. Apply a coat of the base paint on top of the painters tape. It helps to seal the tape and prevent bleeding when you paint the alternative color

3. Roll your paint vertically (up and down) using a roller. Do not paint horizontal. You’ll risk pushing up the tape

Optional – if you have textured walls, use caulking over each edge of the tape. It’s very time consuming, but textured walls have more bleeding. So it will help a lot.

Step 6: Time to Paint the stripes!

You’ve planned, taped, and prepped—now it’s finally time to paint your stripes!

Start by cutting in the edges with a brush around the top, bottom and corners This will ensure you don’t miss any spots. Then grab your roller and paint vertically (up and down).

Do not paint horizontally, or you will risk pushing paint under the tape.  An 18-inch roller is very efficient for speed, especially if you’re painting a large wall. Apply two coats of paint for solid coverage. Ensure you don’t wait too long between coats of paint. Just let the first complete coat of paint dry for a couple of hours before you start on the second coat.

Warning! My tape started to crinkle and I almost had a panic attack, after all the time and care I took to tape and paint my walls. But I kept going. It was totally fine when I peeled the tape off. In fact, many of my IG followers told me they had a similar experience, but still got crisp painted stripes on their wall.

You’re almost there!

Step 7: Peel the Tape (While It’s Still a Bit Wet)

This is where the magic happens.

Once you’ve finished your second coat, don’t wait for it to completely dry. Instead, start peeling the tape when the paint is still slightly wet—not dripping, but not bone dry either.

Peel slowly, pulling the tape back at a 45-degree angle. Watching those sharp, perfect lines appear is chef’s kiss.

Why not wait until it dries? Because fully dried paint can sometimes peel along with the tape, which ruins your lines. Slightly wet is the sweet spot.

Step 8: Tidy Up Any Little Bleeds

Okay, real talk: even with the best tape and careful technique, you might get a little bit of bleeding here or there. Totally normal.

If you have a really steady hand, use a tiny craft brush and touch up your base paint color to fix the small areas. But, the perfectionist in me would never do that. I would rather apply a small piece of tape for a crisp line. Then, use a small craft brush for that spot.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. From a normal standing distance, no one will ever notice.

To recap: to get the most crisp painted stripes on a wall

To get the crispest painted stripes on a wall ensure the following steps:

• First, make sure your walls are flat and smooth, as texture can cause paint bleed and other obstacles to come up.
• Use a matte or eggshell paint as your base wall paint.
• If the room was recently painted, it’s best to wait 1-2 weeks before applying tape to ensure the paint is fully cured, and use green frog tape.
• When taping your stripes, press down firmly on the edges using a credit card to prevent paint from seeping underneath.
• Paint a basecoat of the paint on top of the tape for extra crisp lines.
• Finally, peel the tape while the paint is slightly wet to avoid peeling or rough edges.

Painted stripes make a room look so much more designer!

Step back and admire your work—your painted stripes look amazing! Whether you went bold and graphic or soft and subtle, you just pulled off a project that looks custom and designer-worthy. plus, it’s on a smaller budget than applying wallpaper.

Is painted stripes on a wall easier or cheaper than using wallpaper?

The most common question I got were related to cost, time and sanity:

From a cost perspective, painting stripes is generally more budget friendly. I used seven rolls of tape at $14 each and two gallons of paint (one for the wall paint and one for the stripes”, bringing the total to around $300. In contrast, the wallpaper I liked would have been significantly costlier, at $90 per roll. Another benefit of painting is that you get to pick the perfect custom color to match your room décor.

In terms of time, it depends on your level of expertise with wallpaper. Wallpapering might have been faster for me, as I have done many projects with wallpaper. Having two people for the taping process, one to apply the tape and the other to line up the laser level, can speed up the process.

When it comes to mental energy, taping stripes can be intense. The process is repetitive and overwhelming. The stripes are mentally and visually hard to look at. It did make me question my sanity at times. I took a lot of breaks just to keep my sanity intact.  

Final Thoughts for First-Timers

If this is your first time painting stripes on the wall, give yourself a little grace. No DIY project goes exactly as planned, but with the right prep and a little bit of patience, you’ll end up with something you can truly be proud of.

If this guide on how to paint striped walls was helpful to you, make sure to pin this post!