44 Checkered Nail Design Ideas for You To Hop on the Trend
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You must have definitely noticed it. Everywhere you look, you see cool checkered patterns!
They are one of the hottest looks this season. They’ve made their way into clothing, shoes, accessories, and yes, even manicures!
These days, you can’t scroll #nailstagram without coming across awesome checkered nail designs. It’s no surprise to many nail enthusiasts, given how versatile they are!
Checkered patterns can be incorporated in various ways into your mani, and they allow you to play around with a wide variety of colors.
Deep and dark nail colors can give you a luxurious, dramatic look, while bright, vivid ones can create a fun and playful vibe.
So whether you love bold, fully painted checkered nails, unique checkered French tips, or checkered florals, there is a checkered nail design perfect for everyone.
44 Checkered Nail Designs You Have To Try
Checkered nails are definitely a trend you’ll want to hop on. And despite them looking complex, they are pretty straightforward to DIY.
So grab your favorite polish colors and nail art kits and give these gorgeous checkered nail designs a spin. Soon you’ll be living out your Queen’s Gambit-, Vans-loving dreams.
Bold and Chic
Checkered nails are playful, but they can be refined with the right palette.
Try combining striking hues like nude and black, deep teal and emerald, purple and red, and brown and tan for a perfect sophisticated checkered nail design.
Cool vs. Warm
Do you prefer cool tones or warm tones? Get the best of both worlds with this amazing manicure featuring warm colors on one hand and cool colors on the other.
Add extra fun with colored French tips, hearts, cherries, and flowers on the accent nails!
Groovy Neon
Opt for bright neon polish this summer and go for groovy checkered nails that combine colorful checkered patterns, vibrant checkered French tips, pretty summer swirls, and lovely flower art.
Long Checkered Nails
A classy checkered mani with deep, muted shades of purple, orange, and blue-green looks gorgeous on long almond-shaped nails. Play around with the number of checkers per nail for added depth.
If you have a hard time growing your nails long naturally, achieve this design with acrylic checkered nails instead.
Cherry Cotton Candy
Red and pink make a romantic manicure when paired together. Cherry red and cotton candy pink checkered nails make for a sexy and sweet mani.
Brown and White
Brown and white is a classic combination that looks even cuter when combined in a versatile checkered design on perfectly sculpted mid-length nails.
Fab Fall Mani
Looking for the perfect mani for autumn? Checkered patterns are perfect!
Use beautiful deep-hued fall-themed colors in checkered prints, and you’re ready for the season!
Beautiful Bright White
A bold white manicure is always a stylish choice. Make your bold white mani pop by adding cute nail designs with checkers to some of your nails.
White goes beautifully with all colors, but we especially love how dark blue, turquoise, and pink go with it in this nail design.
Sleek Black and Colorful Checkers
Checkered patterns look stunning with a sleek black manicure.
Soften your edgy black nails with pastel-colored checkers on the accent nails. It still looks cool but flirty and feminine too.
Sky Blue Checkered Nails
Try vintage summery sweetness for your manicure with soft sky-blue-and-white checkered patterns.
Pair these with solid sky-blue nails for a delightfully refreshing manicure!
Cafe Au Lait Nail Art
Create super cute checkered nails, swirls, smiley faces, flowers, French tips, and hearts in a café au lait- and espresso-inspired palette with browns, creams, and whites.
It’s chic and cute at the same time!
Checkered Stripes
Give your glowing, dewy pink manicure a transformation by painting a classic black-and-white checkered pattern in a single thin stripe down the middle of each nail.
It’s so unique!
Pink Checkered Tips
A flirty way to create charming checkered nails is to use hot pink and white to make perfectly imperfect checkered French tips.
They are eye-catching, and the tips’ irregular patterns are just part of the appeal.
Bold and Beautiful
Make your checkered nail design stand out by using bold, vibrant colors to paint big checkered squares.
Try a different color combination on each nail for more visual interest.
Tiger Checkered French Tips
If you want a fierce and fabulous checkered mani, use electrifying color combinations like tiger-orange and black.
These colors make a striking contrast when used for checkered French tips on a pale pink base.
Bright Pink and Green
Pink and green look so amazing together.
Utilize this bodacious color combination to create a bright and lively pink and green manicure featuring a variety of gorgeous checkered patterns and French tips.
Awesome and Unexpected
Put an unexpected twist on your checkered-pattern nails by creating big, bold checkers on each nail and mixing and matching bright shades of blue, yellow, pink, orange, green, and purple.
It’s loud and a lot of fun.
Beautiful Brown
If you want a cozy mani, use rich deep brown and velvety hazelnut colors to create checkered patterns on creamy light nude nails in a round shape.
Rainbow Fun
Vibrant colors and unique patterns make for cute checkered nail designs.
This rainbow-colored mani creates all-over checkers along with checkered patterns in a swirl and rainbow-inspired French tips on a pale pink base.
Something To Smile About
Checkers in pale orange and bright pink colors are highlighted in this checkered nail design. And they’re complemented with a yin-yang design and a super cute smiley face!
Black-and-White Accents
Instead of traditional black-and-white checkered nails, create a standout mani by painting your nails with lime green polish and using black-and-white checkers along with a black-and-white outline around a nude base for your accent nails.
Nude and Brown
You don’t need super long nails to create checkered patterns.
Even short round nails look cute with minimalist checkered designs. This combination of brown and soft nude-pink is classy and timeless.
Checkers and Nail Art
More is more with this pink, purple, and white mani that combines graffiti-inspired smiley face and flower nail art with flames and checkered nails in purple and white.
Checks on Squoval
Keep your checkered mani subtle by opting for a nude neutral palette. The soft colors come together to create a final look that’s classy and chic.
Hip To Be Square
Checkered nails stand out even more when your polish colors go together beautifully.
Warm pink and bright blue is a fantastic combination that creates the perfect pops of color for your nails to stand out.
In Black and White
This checkered gel nail design combines black and white checkers with solid black nails in an edgy and fashionable look that goes perfectly with every outfit.
Free-Form Wavy Checkers
Cinnamon and white checkers look even cooler when painted in free-form wavy patterns that play peek-a-boo all over your nails.
You can have fun with this design and make the patterns different on each nail.
Black and Brown
Who knew black and brown could look so stunning together?
This glossy mani features a rich chocolate brown as a base color and uses black polish to make delightful checkered patterns, with the addition of an apt ying-yang nail.
Sky and Moss
Bring together sky blue and deep bluish-green in a creative mani like this checkered nail design that combines these colors with white heart, flower, and star nail art and blue-and-white checkered accents.
Just Do It
Who knew Nike’s signature Swoosh could look so pretty? It absolutely can if you use lilac nail polish to paint it on your white nails.
You can also combine the iconic logo with checkered nails and fresh and fab swirly French tips.
Sunshine Daisy
Try these cheerful yellow checkered nails if you want a fabulous mani!
Pair them with sunny yellow nails, pretty daisies on nude nails, and a cute smiley face on white nails!
Rich Red
Rich red and pale pink combine perfectly to create an attractive and eye-catching checkered manicure.
To add more dimension to this look, paint half-red and half-pink French tips on select nails.
Checkered Grafffi
Brightly colored checkered nails are the perfect canvas for some eccentric nail art.
Draw artistic designs like eyes, triangles, snakes, smiley faces, and yin-yang symbols all over your nails with nail polish pens, or try using nail stickers to achieve this captivating look instead.
Vivid Blue
Achieve beautiful checkered nails with vibrant cobalt blue and pale pinkish-white polish.
Switch up the number of checkers on each nail and complete the look with a glossy top coat.
Funky Purple and Black Nails
Want something retro?
These lilac-and-white checkered nails get a funky makeover with the addition of glossy black ’70s-inspired flowers.
Wonderful White
If you want a subtle but beautiful checkered nail idea, take inspiration from this white-and-nude mani.
Elevate a glossy nude manicure by using white polish to create checkered patterns, outlined French tips, sophisticated lines, and melted smiley faces.
Gorgeous Gold and Black
Highlight your gorgeous gold-glitter-and-white checkered nails by combining them with nails that feature yin-yang art in caramel and white.
Add more drama by adding a velvety black to your brown, gold, and white polish, and use these to a luscious swirling design on select nails. It’s rich, extravagant, and beautiful.
Swirly Red and Black Checkers
Give your red-and-black checkered nails a literal twist by creating a swirly checkered pattern paired with glossy black nails that have subtle thin red lines in the middle.
Diagonal French Tips
An exceptional way to showcase red-and-white checkered nails is by painting your checkered pattern in a unique diagonal French tip style and adding a pretty gold rhinestone to each nail.
Fab Floral Blue and Green Nails
Blue and green nails are a perfect combination!
Make them even lovelier by adding checkered patterns and fabulous white daisy designs.
Loving Lilac
Lilac is always a good nail color choice.
Keep your mani dainty by pairing lilac nails with white ones and creating lilac-and-white checkered nail designs on select nails.
Orange Checkered Nails
Pair dark orange with sweet pastel orange to achieve a cheery checkered mani. You can add a sweet checkered French tip to the mix too.
Race Day
Give your hot pink mani a cool “race day” feel by adding a black-and-white checkered flag nail design to your accent nails.
It’s a simple way of making a glossy mani even more fun.
Lavender and Dark Magenta Nail Art
Checkers work with every color!
These beautiful lavender and dark magenta nails are perfectly put together in a stunning mani that combines checkered accent nails, French tips, and nail art like lightning and smiley faces.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Colors Look Good for Checkered Nails?
If you want a classic look, the best choice is to stick to reliable black and white. For a bold look, combine bright and vibrant shades that really pop.
And if you want something sweet, pastels are your go-to.
You can add more depth to your checkered patterns by opting for different finishes like glossy, matte, and glitter.
How Do You Achieve Checkered Nails?
Checkered nails are gorgeous and can be easy to create.
Here is a simple step-by-step guide to making simple two-toned checkered nails.
- Choose your two polish colors.
- Prep your nails by cleaning, clipping, buffing, and filing them to your desired nail shape.
- Apply your base coat.
- Apply your initial coat or the base color for your nails.
- When your initial coat is dry, apply small strips of tape to your nails to create a checkered pattern, covering the parts of the nail you don’t want to be painted over by your second polish color.
- Then use your secondary color and paint over the areas not covered with tape. Let the polish dry.
- Once your second color polish dries, carefully remove the tape, ensuring beautiful sharp, and clean lines on your checkered manicure.
- Finish with a clear top coat to seal in the colors.
Check out this video tutorial to see it done:
Perfect Cool and Fun Mani? Check!
Nowadays, wherever you look, you’ll find checkered patterns! And that’s not going to change any time soon.
Whether it’s in your wardrobe or on your nails, gorgeous and versatile checker designs are definitely here to stay!
So get ready to find your perfect checkered nail design and interpret this fun nail trend in your own way.
You can try any of the colorful inspirations here or pick and choose elements you’d like to combine to create a mani that’s uniquely you!
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