We recently revealed that we’ll be designing a Young House Love nursery — not for us, but for John’s sister Emily, who’s expecting a baby boy this October. We’re excited to create a functional, playful room and plan to share affordable DIY projects throughout the process. The first step in transforming Emily’s blank guest room was to put fresh paint on the walls.
Instead of stopping at a simple coat of soft blue-gray, we chose a cheerful, modern vertical stripe treatment to give the room instant personality. The look is lively without feeling busy, and it was an easy one-night project: tape, paint, peel.
The process began with selecting a harmonious color palette of four accent shades to pair with the base wall color. With the colors chosen, we mapped out randomly spaced vertical stripes to keep the design playful and fresh.
Next came the taping. We used painter’s tape to define each stripe, varying widths and spacing for a casual, modern effect. Careful taping is the key to crisp lines once the tape is removed.
Each stripe was filled in with one of the four accent paints. Because the stripes are intentionally different sizes and spacing, the finished wall reads as intentionally eclectic yet cohesive.
After the paint dried, we carefully removed the tape to reveal crisp vertical bands of color. The camera lens slightly distorts the straight lines in photos, but in person the stripes are clean and even.
We also captured the whole painting process on video with step-by-step details and paint color information, so you can follow along if you want to recreate this look in your own space.
John’s long arms came in handy while filming the tutorial — and yes, that’s an Oregon Trail icon on his painting shirt. The video includes additional tips on taping technique and the paint application we used.
We’ll be tracking project costs as we go. For this stage — a gallon of wall paint plus three sample cans for the stripe colors (we already had the white) — the room received a dramatic update for about $39. We’ll reuse leftover paint for more DIY accents around the room, which stretches the budget even further.
As a little preview, here’s a glimpse of our bedding and upholstery choices alongside the paint chip palette so you can see how the colors will come together in the finished space.
Those elephant accents are adorable — nurseries are such fun to design, even before baby arrives. What about you? Any nursery projects in the works or baby news to share? We’d love to hear about your plans and ideas.