Washed Out Stripes Bathroom Accent Wall

This isn’t your typical striped accent wall. Instead of bold, solid stripes, these are toned down, washed out stripes to create a gorgeous blue accent wall. You can easily recreate this look with any colors of your choosing and have your own gorgeous bathroom accent wall in a day’s time. 

As you guys well know, if I see a pattern/design/look, etc. that I fall in love, I’m usually going to try my best to mimic that design with paint and Frogtape. There have been countless times where I’ve scared Grunt Labor to death jumping out of bed to pause the television so I could snap a picture of it because I saw a design I knew I could pull off with Frogtape.

There have also been times when I come to an abrupt halt on the sidewalk to snap a photo of the same kind of thing.

I’ve also slammed on my breaks for the same thing.

I think one reason why I’m so drawn to pulling off these patterns and designs with paint and Frogtape is because it’s such a huge bang for your buck. Huge. Often times, those designs I see are completely made out of wood mouldings. Don’t get me wrong, I love a room full of beautiful mouldings (and have some plans for that in my own dining room), but that gets pricey quick, plus there’s a lot of work that goes into installing moulding. A great striped accent wall, or any kind of painted and patterned accent wall for that matter, though might set you back $50 at most. Bang for your buck.

When I was looking around for inspiration and ideas for the guest bathroom, I stumbled upon this image. I fell in love with the shiny finishes and the blue stripes on the walls. I loved how they weren’t completely solid. From what you just read above, I’m sure that you can figure out what my first thought was – “I can do that with Frogtape.”

And so I did.

I did opt to do two smaller stripes per section, rather than larger ones as I wanted these stripes to mesh really well with the rest of the space and not take over the show. I also opted for a lighter shade of blue as well. This bathroom accent wall turned out to be perfect for this space because it brought just the right amount of color and pattern into the room.

The actual painting of the stripes takes no time at all, it’s the measuring and taping that does take some time, but it’s worth it. All in all, these were started and finished in the same day.

DIY Washed Out Striped Walls

This post is sponsored by Frogtape, however all opinions are 100% my own. Affiliate links included in this post.

Materials and Supplies Needed: 

• Frogtape – 1″ and 1.5″ sizes
• Measuring Tape
• Level (the longer the better)
• Pencil
• Plastic Putty Knife, Credit Card or something to smooth down edges of tape
• Paint Color of Your Choice – My striped walls have Sleek White as the base color in a satin finish and the stripes are Peaceful Blue in satin. I only needed a sample size pot of the blue for this.
• Paint Brush
• Scrap Piece of Cardboard

Step 1

The first thing you’ll need to consider is the base color for your striped walls. I had already painted this bathroom in a slightly off-white color called Sleek White.

If you’ve already got a paint color on your walls that will work well with your stripe color, then proceed to step 2. If you want to switch out that base color though, do so first. Wait at least three days after painting before taping off the walls for the stripes, so that the paint on the walls have enough time to cure.

Step 2

Time to start measuring and taping off the walls! For reference, my walls from floor to ceiling in this space were 82.” Even if your walls are a little taller or shorter than mine, I think you should still be ok using the measurements I’ll give you, as I measured down some before even starting the pattern.

Measure down 5″ from the ceiling and mark it. Do this several times along the length of your wall.

Place your level on the wall along the marks you made. Make sure you’re level, adjust if needed, then draw a line along the level over the entire wall.

If you look closely, you can see my line in the photo above. The line doesn’t have to be dark or heavy, just enough for you to see it.

Run 1.5″ Frogtape along this line. The bottom of the tape should be on this line – therefore the tape is in part of that 5″ down measurement and not below it. Make sense?

Step 3

Measure 2″ down from the bottom of the tape you just applied to the wall and mark it. Do this several times along the length of the wall.

Place the level along your marks. Make sure it’s level, adjust as needed, then draw a line along the level just as you did before.

Apply the 1″ Frogtape along this line over the entire length of the wall. The top of this tape should be at the 2″ mark.

If you placed your tape correctly, you should have about 2″ between both strips of tape.

Step 4

Measure 2″ down from the bottom of the piece of tape you just applied to the wall and mark it with your pencil. Do this several times along the entire length of the wall.

Place the level along the marks, get it level, then draw a line with your pencil along the level.

Apply 1.5″ Frogtape along this line. The top of this tape should be along the line you just drew.

Again, the measurement between the pieces of tape here should be about 2″.

Step 5

Measure 6″ down from the top of the piece of tape you just applied and mark it. Do this several times along the length of the wall.

Place your level along the marks, level it, and draw a line along the level.

Apply 1.5″ Frogtape along this line. The bottom of the tape should be along this line.

Step 6

Repeat steps 3-5 working your way down the wall.

I know it sounds a little tedious and complicated, but it’s really not all that bad. Once you get those first couple of rows completed, then you should have the hang of it pretty well.

Step 7

Once you have all the tape applied to the wall, place a piece of tape on each of the thicker stripes. You will not paint these areas.

Also, remember to run some of the 1.5″ Frogtape along the corners of the walls to keep the blue from getting on the connecting walls.

Step 8

Use a plastic putty knife or credit card and firmly press along all edges of the tape to completely seal it.

Painting Stripes on Walls

Step 9

Grab the paint for the stripes, a paintbrush and a piece of cardboard you can use to wipe paint on.

To paint the stripes on the wall, you are going to use a dry brush technique.

Dip the paintbrush into the paint. Wipe the brush on both sides along the edges of the paint jar/can as you bring it back out, then brush the excess paint off on the piece of cardboard. Just do a few swipes on the cardboard until you see that the color isn’t as “solid” as it was when you first swiped it on the cardboard.

Brush your paint onto the outlined stripes on the wall.

The beautiful thing about this way of painting stripes on walls is that you don’t do multiple coats and you don’t have to worry about brush strokes. It’s perfectly fine if the paint is heavier in some places and lighter in others – that’s how it’s supposed to look! On top of that, if you didn’t get your stripes perfectly level, you really don’t notice because the paint isn’t super bold.

If you decide you want it darker in some places, add more paint. If you put the brush on the wall and it’s too much paint for your liking, then have a wet cloth on standby and just wipe it right off.

Step 10

Immediately, after painting the stripes, remove the Frogtape from the wall.

You will probably have some pencil marks along the wall. Lightly take a Magic Eraser to those and they will come right off. Just don’t rub too hard, because those things will take off paint. If it takes off a little paint, that will be fine as you won’t even notice since these are washed out stripes anyway.

Chrome Ring Pulls / Oval Knobs / Faucet / Mirror, Similar Here and Here

The blue accent wall is the perfect compliment to the white cabinetry, shiny fixtures and hardware.

I especially love how it worked so well as the backdrop for the mirror.

Faucet / Mirror, Similar Here and Here

The blue really helped to bring out the color and pattern in the mirror frame.

Ginger Jar + Fern Art Print / Frame

I didn’t want to get too much going on in here against the wall, so I opted for a small art print in a frame that compliments the mirror frame nicely. And every room needs some touch of green too, right?

Do you see a bathroom accent wall with washed out stripes in your future?

You might also want to see…

The Complete Blue and White Bathroom Remodel

Wall Painting Ideas and Paint Designs Anyone Can Do