Dash Accent Closet Wall + Ikea Closet Design | FrogTape

This post has been sponsored by FrogTape

Adding a little pattern and whimsy to a closet is one of my favorite additions to a kid’s closet! It’s such a small area, it’s the perfect place to have a FUN and be creative. With FrogTape, we created this fun dash design. It has a crisp line from FrogTape’s paint block technology and also a hand painted line from applying with a paint brush. Let’s get started!

I showed my son several designs and he kept coming back to the pattern in his brother’s room, so we went with that! Check out that room HERE. We modified by shortening the dashes to 6″ and spacing them closer together.

We installed Ikea’s Pax system years ago when we did his nursery. Overall, we love the system, but the backings are horrible – flimsy with a seam down the middle. That lower bar, yep they use it as a jungle gym and run up the backing. It hasn’t broken yet, but it’s just a matter of time. We decided to replace it with 1/4″ birch plywood. Being solid, it’s so much more stronger!

 

Super simple material list:

BACK PANELS  (if you are replacing yours)

1/4″ birch plywood, preferably cut at home, but most hardware stores will cut for you – Note: this tends to be less precise.

DESIGN

FrogTape Delicate Surface Tape – I opted for the delicate surface because I just painted the backing. I believe the multisurface tape would work well as well.

Hand held level

Metal ruler

Scissors

Fine, firm, round paint brush (test a few before you get started)

Base paint / dash paint (I used SW Extra White and SW Gauntlet Grey) Make sure to use a primer if you are painting over a base coat or raw wood before you get started.

 

If you’d like to replace your closet backing – here’s a few quick tips. Trace the backing on 1/4″ birch plywood. Make sure to trace any holes for brackets, etc.

Cut with a track saw, table saw, or method of choice.

Paint with desired main color. We went with white. Once dry, start laying out your pattern! To get started, we measured where the middle shelf was in our closet. This helped us layout the pattern since the most visible pattern would be above the center drawers. Note, the line below is to mark the shelf, it will be removed later.

For the pattern, it’s easiest to cut several pieces of tape at one time. The fastest way I found was to place the tape at the end of a ruler, measure to 6″ and cut. I placed all pieces on a plastic bin.

Decide on pattern placement, you could measure a precise distance between dash groupings OR go freeform and create a random pattern. Freeform is faster and remember, it’s easy to reposition the tape if you don’t like the placement! I decided to create random spacing.

For the first line, level the tape with your eye, press one point on side to hold the tape, use a level to make sure it’s straight. Once straight, press down and secure all edges of FrogTape Delicate surface. 

 

For second line, use two small pieces of tape as a spacer. This make the spacing even and keeps it level. Repeat a second time for the third line.

Once the pattern is laid out and FrogTape is smoothed out, start painting. It works best to thin down your paint slightly. I used a small cup of water and paint and dipped my brush in the water and then paint to thin it down slightly. Do a few test runs before you start to get the paint consistency correct. You want your brush to glide smoothly, but you don’t want the paint to drip.

Once done, remove the FrogTape. I love the mix of the super crisp line from the FrogTape paint block technology contrasted by the  handprinted exterior line!

That’s it! Once you remove all the tape install panels on the back of the closet and install closet system.

We’re in the process of transitioning this room into a big boy room. We currently just have the mattress on the floor for their safety – the boys are  in that destruction phase now (mattress raised so the photo would look normal). But we look forward to building a bed and continue to refresh this room soon!

 

 

Love the subtle pattern that it adds!

Overall, we’ve been really happy with the closet system – it provides great storage and adding simple trim on the front makes it look custom. I may add shelves and baskets to the left side since that would meet our current storage needs.

Hope you love this one! I know the boys do 🙂

ROOM SOURCES

end of bed blanket // rug (vintage) // toss pillow // closet system // baskets (purchased in store Michaels, several years ago)

Thanks so much to FrogTape for sponsoring this post. As always, I only share brands and products that I have had a good experience with (and would buy myself)!