Bye-Bye Stripes, Checkerboards Are Back on Trend for 2026 With a Chic Glow-Up Top Designers Approve Of

A kitchen with a checkerboard tile backsplash, lower blue painted cabinets, an island with a wooden top surface and red painted drawers, a vase of flowers on the island, and a pendant light hanging from the ceiling.

We've all seen the checkerboard pattern before – perhaps as the floor in a retro kitchen or as the upholstery on a trendy, Gen Z-approved accent chair. It's a pattern that's been reused, adapted, and reimagined in seemingly every way possible. And for 2026, it's had a grown-up, glow up, returning as a top interior trend for 2026, and it's chicer than we've seen before. More nuanced than in decades past, the softer colors and interesting textures being put with this print are making this timeless look very on trend.

‘Checkerboard has always existed at the intersection of order and expression,’ Joelle Kutner and Jesse Rudolph explain, the creative duo behind design studio Ome Dezin. ‘Its resurgence feels less about maximalism for maximalism’s sake, and more about adding a familiarity and visual interest.’ Since the checkerboard pattern has been used in design for centuries, there's some sense of comfort that surrounds it. And now, it's developing into a pattern with maturity – one that can create interior spaces that are timeless, expressive, and elevated for modern life.