Designers Are Using This “Drenching” Trend to Make Cramped Spaces Look 10x Larger

Many interior designers are indeed looking towards neutral colors and “warm” minimalism in 2026, as reported in Apartment Therapy’s annual design industry survey, the State of Home Design. But there are a few maximalist design trends that refuse to fade into the background this year — namely, room drenching, and, more specifically, stripe drenching. This pattern drench has design pros leaning into colorful, dizzying stripes from wall to wall. 

Our editors forecasted the rise of stripe drenching back in 2025, as part of our first-ever New/Next List, with designers sharing how this striking and energetic wall-to-wall look has become more popular than wood drenching. After all, color drenched rooms dominated social media feeds for over a year, with gorgeous interiors bathed in swaths of bold colors across the spectrum (from bright jewel tones to cool, earthy hues). Stripe drenching just makes sense, as designers are creating new ways to embrace maximalist looks in living rooms, bedrooms, and even cramped half-baths.

This new take on a beloved trend involves more than just matching a room’s trim and ceiling to its walls. Unlike color drenching, design pros are layering complementary (or deliberately contrasting!) stripes in varying lengths and widths across entire spaces. Plus, these stripes jump off walls and right onto upholstery, textiles, framed art, and other accessories like pillows and curtains. 

Loving what our Executive Home Director Danielle Blundell coined as “circus chic”? So are we! Read on for a few tips from interior designers on how you can start to stripe drench in your own home this year. 

At its heart, stripe drenching is taking a leap of faith and literally dousing a room with multiple clashing stripe patterns of different sizes and colors. Like other maximalist drenching trends before it, stripe drenching works best when you don’t stick to just one repeating pattern — interior designers say reusing the same stripe motif across ceilings, walls, flooring, and decor just doesn’t create the same visual draw. 

That’s not to say that you have to pack in 10 different contrasting colors in a single room, or that you can’t use similar widths of stripes across surfaces. Our editors have seen designers sneak stripe drenching into minimalist homes by going tonal; a muted color palette can still create a dramatic effect in a cozy bedroom. 

Keep in mind these stripe-drenching rules for stunning interiors as you plan your transformation.

• Start small: If you’re unsure if your chosen stripes and colors are going to enhance your space, focus on pops at first. Select curtains, wallpaper, or a single piece of furniture with similar tonal striping patterns. This creates a look of continuity, and although it will start to shift your space towards a maximalist vibe, you can decide if adding more will only enhance the look. 
• Focus on high-contrast: Some of the chicest spaces our editors have seen from designers involve stripes that are a riot of colors and patterns. Dial up the intensity of colors (use color psychology to find beautiful contrasting hues!) and you’ll find that even the smallest of rooms (even closets!) command more attention than they did before.
• Try layering stripes of different sizes: While it may feel safe to stick to pinstripes, the best striped drenched rooms make use of more than one type of pattern. Feel free to liberally mix cabana stripes, Bengal stripes, candy stripes, and horizontal bayadere stripes among wallpapers and upholstery (or freehanded paint, if you so please!). 

The smallest of spaces in our homes — closets, powder rooms, hybrid home offices, scullery kitchens — often make for wonderful places to go loud with color and pattern. But stripe drenching in particular makes sense for cramped, tiny rooms that you’re hoping to make look 10 times their size without a formal renovation. Why? Vertical stripes trick the eye.

Designers have long employed vertical stripes (pinstripes included!) to help draw eyes towards the ceiling, which helps make a room feel larger than it is. Stripe drenching can transform smaller layouts into cozy rooms that feel more lofty than they actually are.

And because bright, bold, electric hues are finding their way into stripe-drenched interiors, these bands of colors also create more depth than neutral white walls. It’s truly tough to find a striped drenched design that feels unfinished, due to the sheer movement the pattern creates. 

In any case, trendsetters have started incorporating this head-turning trend into many different spaces with major results. No matter how you choose to interpret the latest drenched trend, the result is playful, cheery, and more versatile than you’d expect