DIY Polka Dot Nursery Wall

When I was planning the baby’s nursery, one of the main things I wanted was a patterned accent wall. To make things a bit easier on myself, I decided to go the decal route to create a polka dot wall. Although I absolutely loved the way the finished product turned out, it took a bit longer than expected. So if you’re considering doing one of your own, hopefully I can save you some pain and frustration!

DIY polka dot wall - all the tips and tricks to make a polka dot statement wall! | bylaurenm.com

Because I’m not a very good “visualizer,” we started by eye-balling some dots on the wall to estimate the spacing. It did give us a fairly good idea of how the wall might turn out, but we wasted precious time cutting out the dots, taping them to the wall with painter’s tape, and changing up spacing. When it came down to it, I knew I wanted a more organized system for actually applying the dots, so we essentially had to start from scratch.

This time, we decided to grid the wall. We started off five inches from the top of the wall and spaced each horizontal string ten inches apart.

how to make a polka dot accent wall - must-have tips for a diy polka dot nursery wall | bylaurenm.com

diy polka dot wall - easy instructions for polka dot wall | bylaurenm.com

We followed the same pattern for the vertical lines. We measured five inches from the right side of the wall, and placed each vertical line ten inches apart.

DIY polka dot wall - how to make a diy polka dot wall | bylaurenm.com

polka dot wall instructions - easy diy polka dot wall | bylaurenm.com

I wanted a more staggered look to the dots. So instead of applying a dot to every line intersection, we staggered them for every other row. This created a more diamond pattern rather than a square box pattern. (For example, on the top row, we placed a dot along the horizontal line in the midpoint between the two vertical intersections. On the next row, we placed each dot at the intersection of every vertical and horizontal line.)

diy polka dot accent wall - easy instructions diy nursery polka dot wall | bylaurenm.com

The finished product? A perfectly polka-dotted wall! (And a sneak preview of baby’s nursery! ;))

polka dot nursery wall - polka dot accent wall instuctions | bylaurenm.com

Other details you may want to know?

I purchased my polka dot decals on GroopDealz, but you can buy identical ones here.

We used a total of 114 polka dots. Without the monogram it would have been 117, or nine rows of thirteen.

The gray paint color is Valspar’s Urban Sunrise in eggshell finish.

Share:

22 thoughts on “DIY Polka Dot Nursery Wall

  1. Anne

    I love it!! Such a pretty color gray for the wall, and the white dots are the perfect addition for adding interest without being over the top (so elegant with the monogram too). And I’m extremely impressed with how you put them up – definitely will have to remember this measuring technique as I’ve wanted to do something like this but just know I would be a complete disaster about spacing and straight lines!

    Reply
  2. Ashley

    I can’t get over how much I LOVE this!!! Y’all did a fantastic job. I might have to copy this idea for a room in my house. (Love the sneak peak!)

    Reply
  3. Liz @ I Heart Vegetables

    Oh my gosh, that’s so cute! I want this in MY room!! Haha I’m not sure Alex would do that project with me (because I’m totally the person that would be like, nah, let”s just eyeball it…. and then it turns out totally off haha)

    Reply
  4. Jenn

    Her room looks so sweet! I love the look of the accent wall! It was totally worth the early frustrations for such a great end product!

    Reply
  5. Kelsey @aslolife

    Wow, this looks amazing! I always seem to mess up projects like this, even with all of the prep work–sometimes my inner DIY just can’t get with the picture. The wall looks perfect though and can’t wait to see the rest of the nursery!

    Reply
  6. Kate

    I actually want to do this EXACT same thing in my guest bedroom/home office. Can you tell me how many dots you ended up using for that size wall? I have a place that sells 100 dots in the size I want (I think the same as here… like 1.5 inches) but I’m not 100% sure that one package is enough! Thanks SO much for this tutorial! It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for!

    -Kate
    http://www.theflorkens.com

    Reply
  7. Because Shanna Said So

    I can only imagine how long this took, BUT it was well worth it!! It looks amazing and will be there for many years to come. I remember how much fun Ross and I had designing the nurseries for our girls…this just makes me smile! So excited for your guys to bring her home!!

    Reply
  8. Pingback: Pink, Grey, and White Nursery | Pink + Gray Nursery | By Lauren M

  9. Liat

    Hi! Just read this because I’m looking to do a polka dot wall 🙂
    May I ask which size did you use? Do you still like it 3 ys later?! 🙂

    TIA!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.