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Our Plaid Pantry DIY!

This post is in partnership with Scotch® Painter’s Tape and HGTV Magazine. We’re sharing the step-by-step tutorial for how we used Scotch Painter’s Tape to DIY a plaid pattern inside a kitchen pantry!

A detailed view of a DIY plaid paint project inside a pantry closet | via Yellow Brick Home

Scott and I are firm believers that a small space is always the perfect excuse to do something unexpected. Think: Wallpaper or a bold paint color or a unique wall treatment. You might say, But, Kim! Won’t pattern overwhelm my tiny bathroom-slash-closet-slash-insert-room-here? To which I’ll consistently remind you, small spaces are an opportunity to have fun – especially if it’s behind a closed door, and especially if it’s not a main living space. Why? Chances are, you’ll never tire of the risk because you’re not spending all of your time in that space.

And today, I’m excited to share with you a fun DIY we completed in the tiniest of spaces: The Two Flat pantry closet! It was a bare bones closet before we used Scotch® Delicate Surface Painter’s Tape to add the sweetest plaid pattern. The Delicate Surface tape was the perfect choice for our freshly painted closet (or any similarly delicate surface, such as wood floors, wallpaper or veneers), and the Edge-Lock™ Technology seals out paint for nice, sharp paint lines – great for our DIY plaid closet or any other decorative pattern.

We opted for a more neutral plaid, choosing warm grey colors over a higher contrast, such as black and white. I’ll say this: Taking a risk doesn’t have to be loud, but I’ll always encourage you to try something new!

Pantry Closet | Before

A view of the pantry closet before the painting project begins | via Yellow Brick Home

Pantry Closet | After!

A view of the pantry closet showcasing a painted DIY plaid pattern | via Yellow Brick Home

Tools + Supplies Used

Kim holding a stack of Scotch Delicate Surface painter's tape | via Yellow Brick Home

Here’s the kicker with this DIY plaid pattern: You will only need to make one measurement. More on that in a moment, but I tell you this to assure you that this design is not as daunting as it might look! You can easily change the scale by choosing wider or thinner tape, lighter or brighter paint colors. In our case, we used 1.88″ width Scotch® Delicate Surface Painter’s Tape with these 3 Sherwin-Williams paint colors:

Tip: When choosing your paint colors to create your pattern, selecting the lightest, mid-tone and darkest color from the same paint strip will ensure the most cohesive look.

1| Find the Center

The pantry closet was already painted with the main color, Heron Plume. The first thing I did was measure the center of the focal wall, and then I used a level and small poker to make a vertical mark every 2′.

Kim measures the center line of the closet's focal wall | via Yellow Brick Home

2| Measure Once, Tape Twice

Finding the center of the focal wall was the only time I needed to take out a tape measure! Here’s why. I knew I wanted my plaid pattern to have mid-tone stripes that were half the width of the main wall color. To create that look, I ran my first piece of Scotch Painter’s tape to the left of my center line, and I ran a second piece of tape to the right of the line. This gave me my starting point, which looked like two pieces of tape running alongside each other.

Using Scotch Painter's Tape, Kim creates vertical lines to start the DIY plaid design | via Yellow Brick Home

Once I had my straight center line (made up of two vertical tape lines), I used small pieces of tape as a ‘spacer’ between my next set of two vertical tape lines! Every now and then, I used the level to make sure I was staying straight. I continued this until I had my painter’s tape stripes on all 3 closet walls.

3| Paint the Vertical Lines

Next, I used the mid-tone paint color, Colonnade Gray, to paint two coats over the wall color. I always find that a 2″ angled paint brush is great for detail-oriented projects such as this one.

Kim painted the mid-tone paint color for the first line of stripes in the plaid pattern | via Yellow Brick Home

4| Remove the Tape While Wet

Once I made my way around the closet twice, I immediately removed all of the vertical tape lines. I’ve always found that removing painter’s tape right away will yield me the best results, although Scotch® Delicate Surface Painter’s Tape has a 60-day clean removal, leaving behind no damage or sticky residue!

A detailed view of a the first vertical stripes for the DIY plaid paint project inside a pantry closet | via Yellow Brick Home

5| Tape + Paint the Horizontal Lines

I allowed my first round of paint to dry overnight, and the next day, Scott and I tag teamed the rest of the pattern. Starting at the top of the closet, I used a level to ensure that my first pair of tape lines were nice and straight. From there, I continued to use small pieces of tape as a spacer, and I worked my way down to the baseboard.

A detailed view of the second set of tape lines for the DIY plaid paint project inside a pantry closet | via Yellow Brick Home

Then it was time to paint the horizontal lines! Again, I used two coats of Colonnade Gray. I allowed the paint to dry for the afternoon before coming back to tackle the last steps, but I did not remove the tape.

A detailed view of vertical paint lines for the DIY plaid paint project inside a pantry closet | via Yellow Brick Home

6| Tape + Paint the Center Squares

The Scotch® Delicate Surface Painter’s Tape would allow us to come back to this delicate, freshly painted surface without damaging our hard work to this point. With the previous tape still in place, We followed our first round of vertical lines with a final set of vertical tape lines. You can see below that Scott is eyeball-ing the vertical tape lines, which go in-between the lines we painted in the first round:

Scott tapes off the final set of tape lines for the center squares of the plaid pattern | via Yellow Brick Home

Then he used the darkest paint color, Pavestone, to paint the center squares. Just as we did with every other color, we applied two coats.

A detailed view of Scott painting the final color for the DIY plaid paint project inside a pantry closet | via Yellow Brick Home

7| Remove All the Tape!

Once the last square was painted, it was time to remove all the tape from the pantry closet! We might’ve had too much fun with this, but we were still careful to work slowly as we worked our way around the closet.

Scott removes all of the painter's tape for our DIY paint project! | via Yellow Brick Home

8| Enjoy!

Finally, we could step back and admire our DIY plaid! Because all of the lines were taped by hand, there is a character to the pattern that couldn’t be had any other way. I touched up a few small areas where our lines were off more than we would’ve liked, but other than that, we are in love. We find it so charming!

A detailed view of a DIY plaid paint project inside a pantry closet | via Yellow Brick Home

Plaid Pantry | After

Kim stands next to the DIY plaid paint project inside a pantry closet | via Yellow Brick Home

We’ll eventually add adjustable shelving to the closet, but before we did, we couldn’t resist taking advantage of this small storage space and turning it into something special. If you take on your own DIY plaid using Scotch® Delicate Surface Painter’s Tape, we’d love for you to share your own creation by tagging us @yellowbrickhome!

Thank you to our sponsors Scotch® Painter’s Tape and HGTV Magazine! You can find this plaid pantry project featured in the October issue of HGTV Magazine, available on newsstands today.

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  • Julie8.28.20 - 5:33 AM

    The preview in my reader was enough to make me smile. But when I started reading and realized you hadn’t wallpapered that closet, I was blown away! You two rock!ReplyCancel

  • Rachel L Allmen8.28.20 - 7:20 AM

    Wowsers! I totally thought this was wallpaper at first. Great work! ????ReplyCancel

  • Stacy8.28.20 - 7:36 AM

    This is so much fun! I was also shocked when I realized it wasn’t wallpaper – you nailed this!ReplyCancel

  • Sarah8.28.20 - 8:20 AM

    Definitely shocked this wasn’t wallpaper. Looks so good! I have a linen closet that could use this kind of treatment! ReplyCancel

  • meredith8.28.20 - 8:24 AM

    What a fun project! I was just thinking about doing something different in our small hallway between bedrooms, so I appreciate the inspiration :)ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.28.20 - 8:34 AM

      Small hallways are a perfect spot for something unexpected.ReplyCancel

  • Kelly8.28.20 - 10:35 AM

    I just love all of the special touches you put into your homes- especially rentals. I would be so proud to live in one of your spaces. What a gift y’all have! ReplyCancel

  • Julie8.28.20 - 10:59 AM

    I just love it so much! Nailed it.. again! ReplyCancel

  • Amanda McNutt8.28.20 - 12:28 PM

    This looks amazing! I am trying to figure out where I can do this design in my house. Definitely a perfect addition to a closet ????ReplyCancel

  • Tara C8.28.20 - 12:28 PM

    This is giving me the confidence to try a fun paint treatment on a wall! I don’t love the commitment of wallpaper, but something like this could work! Thank you inspiring me.ReplyCancel

  • Ana Maria De Mier8.28.20 - 1:47 PM

    I can’t believe this. I CAN NOT! I have been thinking what to do in my linen closet for ages! And I swear yesterday night I thought doing something like this. 

    …. But how?

    SERENDIPITY!!!! 
    Thank yoooooooouuuuu ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.28.20 - 3:05 PM

      Yay, I hope you do! Please let us know!ReplyCancel

  • Fiona Shapiro8.28.20 - 2:18 PM

    Love this!ReplyCancel

  • Wilma8.28.20 - 3:19 PM

    It looks cute.  I think adding some of the same pink colour from the bathroom (maybe with the shelves), would bring it to the next level :)ReplyCancel

  • Karen8.28.20 - 4:08 PM

    Hmmmmm, this has me thinking. I want to do something dramatic in my half bath, and this might be just the thing. And if I do a high fake board & batten, I could make a plaid on the upper part of the wall. 
    You know. Because I need another quarantine project!ReplyCancel

  • Diana8.30.20 - 5:16 AM

    I just love this! It’s just right for a small closet and the color you chose is perfect  ReplyCancel

  • lak8.30.20 - 6:46 AM

    I just love this look. You guys do the most interesting things, especially to small spaces!  I read the directions twice, and I believe I can do this!  Thank you, your directions are clear and concise, I may give this one a try!ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.30.20 - 9:55 AM

      Let us know if you do, we’d love to see!ReplyCancel

  • […] I debated how to add a plaid pattern to the room, I knew as soon as I saw this plaid painted pantry from Yellow Brick Home that it was exactly what I wanted to do to my wall behind my […]ReplyCancel

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Kim and Scott

We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

Join us as we renovate and nurture vintage homes across Chicago + SW Michigan!

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