Adding stripes to your walls is likely to give them instant personality. However, choosing the wrong size and colour combination and doing a poor job of preparation and painting might make you wish you had never started.
Getting all the elements right is essential when painting stripes on a wall. However, choosing the right colour palette is crucial. When you have finished painting the wall its what you and everyone else will notice.
To ensure you get it right, this guide embraces expert insight from interior designers, along with smart, must-know techniques to help you achieve your striped dream.
Article continues belowShop these tools to get crisp clean stripes
A durable 40mm seam roller with a premium silicone roller for a smooth finish and an ergonomic handle for a comfortable grip.
A professional masking tape that is engineered to provide sharp paint lines. It offers clean removal for up to 21 days after application. Made from 100 Percent PEFC paper and has a solvent-free adhesive.
When paired with an extension pole, this metal sander head has a long, wide, flat plate to sand large areas in one go. A flexible joint make sit an ideal choice for walls, ceilings and floors.
Helen Shaw is part of Benjamin Moore's UK division. Colour expert and international marketing director Helen, and her husband Craig, are the founders of Shaw Paints, which was acquired by Benjamin Moore in 2020.
Holla Design is a North West interior design studio founded by Holly Lamont, designing colourful, layered interiors that reflect each client’s personality and bring warmth, character and individuality to homes.
Gareth Davies is the Design Director at Classic Interiors. He oversees all designs created by the design team at Classic Interiors. His design philosophy is to keep it simple. At Classic Interiors, he ensures the design team puts a huge emphasis on understanding what the client wants to achieve with the space.
Vertical or horizontal stripes on a wall
The choice is yours, with both offering something different, but vertical strips are the popular choice. Holly Lamont, founder of Holla Design, points out the benefits of vertical stripes: “The real practical benefit of vertical stripes is their ability to manipulate perceived height.”
She adds, “By drawing the eye upward, they can make a ceiling feel significantly taller, a simple, cost-effective trick that works particularly well in bedrooms, dining rooms and entrance halls where a sense of space and elegance counts.”
While vertical stripes are the popular choice, you can go a little left field and try something different, as Helen Shaw, Director of Marketing (International) at Benjamin Moore, shares, “You can change the orientation of your stripe – horizontal or diagonal lines make for a bold and contemporary way to decorate.”
She adds, “You could even try blending the edges for a more casual finish. It’s a great way to take your walls from bland to bold and instantly uplift the room, making it feel brighter for a more playful look.”
Gareth Davies, design director at Classic Interiors, suggests options for horizontal stripes: “They are useful on walls in narrow rooms where extra visual breadth makes the room feel more comfortable. He adds, “They can also calm a long corridor or an awkward, stretched room by emphasising length in a controlled way, rather than letting the eye bounce around.”
If you have high ceilings, horizontal stripes also bring a few benefits. “They are also a good choice when the ceiling height is already generous, because you can afford to emphasise width without needing extra height.”
He adds, “If the wall has lots of interruptions, such as sockets, shelves, or artwork, horizontal stripes can help those items feel more connected as they sit along consistent lines.”
Whatever you choose, Lamont points out what you should bear in mind: “Before you commit: stripes repeat colour across an entire wall, which means they will intensify your palette more than a paint swatch suggests.”
She adds, “Always consider the wider scheme, flooring, furniture, natural light, before you start, so the finished result feels pulled together rather than overly busy."
How to paint stripes on a wall: A step-by-step guide
Before you start, you will need a few essentials aside from your chosen paint. Make sure you have blue painter's tape, a two- or three-inch paintbrush, and a short- or medium-pile roller.
1. Prepare you working area and walls
Start by moving furniture and laying down dust sheets to keep the area clear and covered. The next step is preparing the walls for painting. Wash down the walls with sugar soap if needed, fill any cracks or holes, leave to dry, and rub down the whole wall with a fine-grit sandpaper to improve adhesion and help create a flat surface.
Try a pole sander for a quick, ladder-free rub down. Finally, wipe down the wall with a damp cloth, leave to dry and vacuum up any dust.
2. Appy base colour
The base colour will be the lightest colour of your chosen colours for your striped wall. Start in a top corner with a two or three inch brush and work across and down and along the skirting board creating a three inch border. Now get out your roller, a nine inch short or medium pile roller and apply the first coat.
Leave to dry as instructed and then apply a second and leave to dry for at least 24 hours. If you don't leave the base coat to dry properly, the painters tape may pull off the base colour after you have painted the stripes.
3. Measure and mark out stripes
Before you start, you need to decide on your stripes, which means measuring up correctly, as Michael Rolland, MD of The Paint Shed, shares, “The most important step is measuring the space properly.”
He adds, “For vertical stripes, the width is the key factor, and for horizontal ones, it's the height. Make sure the wall is even and consistent along its entire length before marking anything out.”
Once you have measured up, it's a matter of how many stripes you want. Shares, Rolland: “Once you have the correct measurement, divide it by the number of stripes you want – either an odd or an even number.”
He adds, “If you divide the space into an odd number of stripes, the first and last stripes will be the same colour. If you divide it into an even number, the stripes at the edges will be different colours. This second option can work particularly well when the stripes continue across more than one wall.”
Start in one corner, take the first measurement, mark it with chalk or a faint pencil line, and continue until finished. Now get a long spirit level to mark out the stripes from ceiling to floor/corner to corner. A laser level like this Laser Level from Amazon and a long straight edge make marking out the stripes easier.
With The Paint Shed having evolved from painting contractors to retailers, Michael has years of experience within the painting industry, using this expertise to influence his own DIY projects using the best possible tools and materials.
4. Tape and paint stripes
Now get your painters/masking tape and start adding. Start by taping the short edges – top and bottom on vertical stripes and corner and corner on horizontal stripes. Now tape the long side remembering to place the tape on the outside of the line. Press down the edges with a seam roller, or a flat edge that won’t mark the paint such as a paint scraper with a cloth over the end.
Start by applying the stripe paint along the edges of the tape and finish with a mini roller. Make sure that you have an even coat across the whole stripe. Repeat for all stripes and leave to dry as recommended - at least 4 hours. Then repeat the process and add a second coat. After painting the last stripe, go back and start removing the tape. Gently pull the tape at an angle away from the stripe and dispose of.
FAQs
How wide should stripes on a wall be?
There are a lot of variations and options here, but there are a few rules to stick to for a stylish finish. Lucy Steele, senior brand manager and resident colour expert at Valspar, shares her thoughts, “Stripes between 10 and 30 centimetres wide tend to strike the sweet spot between boldness and balance.”
She adds, “Within this range, they’re wide enough to create a strong focal point, yet still feel considered and proportionate to the room. Typically, wider stripes sit around 20 to 30 centimetres, while thinner styles fall between 5 and 10 centimetres - anything narrower can start to feel busy rather than creating a space with structure.”
However, there are other considerations to factor in, continues Steele, “As with most home painting schemes, lighting changes everything, including how stripes are perceived on walls.” She adds, “In well-lit rooms, slightly wider stripes of 15 to 25 centimetres are ideal. Natural light enhances clarity and depth, so broader stripes help the room to look confident rather than overpowering.”
If a space is lacking light, Steele recommends narrower stripes, “Thinner stripes tend to work best in smaller, lower-lit spaces like cloakrooms or hallways, where they can add detail and personality without evoking an overcrowded look.”
Lucy Steele has a keen eye for the latest trends and a wealth of knowledge on colour selection, pairing, matching, and mixing. Lucy is a trusted voice within the interiors and decorating space.
How do you paint stripes on walls without bleeding?
If you have a nice new flat with recently plastered walls, then it is very much a matter of making sure that your masking/painters' tape is securely stuck to the wall. Use a seam roller to ensure the edges are nice and flat against the wall. Note, when painting new plaster, you first need to apply a mist coat. Do this before adding any tape or paint.
For textured wallpaper, it's not quite so simple. First, put up your painter's tape and secure the edges to the wall. Run your thumb or your nail down the edge of the tape to get a tight fit. Now paint the stripe the same colour as the base colour and leave to dry. This will fill any gaps on the tape edge, so when you add the stripe colour onto the wall, it won’t bleed.
How do I pick colours for a striped wall?
Picking a colour scheme for your stripes is a critical part of the process if you want to get a professional-looking designer finish. Steele says, “When choosing colours for a striped wall, begin with a versatile base shade that sets the tone for the whole scheme.”
She adds, “Neutrals like soft whites or greiges make an excellent choice as they’re versatile and allow you to experiment confidently with stripe colours, whether that’s soft tonal shades or something more contrasting.”
Steele suggests a few ideas, “To create a calm, cohesive look, select two or three tones of the same colour family for your stripes, ensuring there’s enough difference between them to create definition.”
She adds, “ For a stronger statement, choose a contrasting stripe colour that complements your existing furnishings or accents in the room. If you already have an established colour scheme, pick up on those existing shades in your stripes to refresh the space without completely redoing the room.”
To help choose the right colour combination and give you some inspiration a colour wheel like this easy-to-use tool from Canva is a good choice. Simply choose a colour close to what you want, then choose a colour combination to produce the desired colours. Paletton is another good colour wheel option.
Before you paint any make sure you check out our guide on preparing walls for painting. With your walls ready to go, check the paint trends for 2026 and have a look at our hallway paint ideas for inspiration.
