I am FINALLY sharing not one but TWO accent walls! I’ve been getting so many questions on how to do these walls. Sorry it’s taken me so long!
We had a huge blank wall in our loft and the main wall in my office that I wanted to do something different with. I considered wall paper or wall art but I kept coming back to accent walls. I saw something similar on Janene Crowsley’s page which became my inspiration. Thanks, Janene! Thankfully, my husband and my dad are super handy so they made my vision come to life. Sorry, Judd for the mile long to do lists. 😉 The accent wall in my loft I wanted white…simple, beautiful, and a perfect backdrop for pictures! Cute backdrop, right? 🙂
For my office, I wanted the same color in our dining room (right across from my office). This blue is called Storm Cloud by Sherwin Williams and it is PERFECTION! Blue with a hint of gray, beautiful and classy!
Though, each wall looks a little different (color and pattern), the process was nearly identical. So, without further ado…
What You Need
- Pre-Constructed MDF Boards (we used 2.5 inch MDF Boards)
- Paint and Supplies
- Nail gun
- Mitre Saw
- Liquid nails
- Caulk
- Measuring Tape
- Level
How to Build the Walls
- Measuring-The first step is measuring the wall, height and width.
- Figure Out the Design- I recommend first drawing out the pattern you want on the wall. Now, you need to figure out the measurements based on your drawing and the measurement of the wall. For our loft wall, I wanted evenly divided rectangles that were in a staggered patterned but aligned by the center, every other column is the same. For my office, I wanted squares that were not staggered and it would be 3 squares high by 3 squares wide. When figuring this out, don’t forget to calculate the measurements based upon the side of the boards! This might take a little trial and error. Make sure you do this prior to cutting the wood! Here are the measurements for our walls, in case this might help you:
Loft Wall: This wall is 8 feet high x 127 inches wide. Each rectangle is 12 ¾ inches wide x 20 ½ inches high.
- Vertical boards- cut 12 boards at 93 inches.These boards go from the top of the baseboard to the ceiling. 2 of these boards go on the left end and right end. The other 10 boards have 12 ¾ inches between them.
- Horizontal boards/cross members: Cut 39 boards at 12 ¾ inches. These boards fit between the risers. Cut 2 boards at 86 inches (these pieces will create the top border).
Office Wall: This wall is 103 3/8 inches high x 149 ½ inches wide
- Vertical boards- cut 6 boards at 103 3/8. These boards go from the top of the baseboard to the ceiling. 2 of these boards go on the left end and right end. The other four boards have 26 7/8 inches between them.
- Horizontal boards/cross members: Cut 15 boards at 26 7/8 inches. These boards fit between the risers. Cut 2 boards at 75 inches (these pieces will create the top border)
Note: Make sure you plan around switches and outlets.
- Paint the blank wall
- Cut the MDF boards based on the measurements you need
- Paint the MDF boards
- Frame the wall with the MDF boards. Put liquid nails on the back of the boards, stick on (use a level to make sure everything is straight) and then use a nail gun to secure it more.
- Put up vertical boards (use same method as above)
- Put up horizontal pieces/cross members. Note: We didn’t paint most of the boards in the office until the final coat.
- Caulk where the boards weren’t flush on the drywall and any nail holes.
- Do one more coat of paint over the wall and boards!
- Enjoy your new wall!! 🙂
Cost
The total cost per wall was around $150-$200. Amazing, right? $120-140 for the boards, $30 for the paint, and $20 for miscellaneous (nails, caulk, glue).
Stay tuned for our next DIY project that I’ll be sharing, redoing a fireplace!!
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Amazing DIY instructions for accent walls! It really helped me decide what to do on my wall. Love the colors too!
Thank you so much!
I love the colors you chose in the office! Would you mind sharing which ones they were? Thank you!
Thank you! I love the color too! 🙂 It’s Storm Cloud by Sherwin Williams
They are gorgeous and perfectly executed! They really add a touch of class and interest to the room. Well done and thanks for showing us the step-by-step, it’s very interesting.
What a beautiful accent wall. I love how much this one wall adds to the room. I love that it’s a bit of style with texture for that added OOMPH whenever someone walks into the room. I bet it was a fun project too, I’m keeping this in mind for when we have a home to call our own.
Thank you so much! I can’t take credit for the work (my husband and dad did that) but I did design it. 🙂
Oh wow. This is something we are seriously considering for our home. An accent wall is a beautiful way to make-over a room and give it life. I like that you added texture instead of just changing the wall color too.
Thanks so much! It’s crazy what a difference it made!
You’ve done such a beautiful job with your accent wall! It really does add a beautiful focal point to the room, and make it look that much prettier!
Thank you!!!
i love what you did with the accent wall. are you planning on adding artwork and photos to the wall? looks great!
Joy at The Joyous Living
Thanks! We did in the office but not in the loft, it’s such a large wall and has such a big design that we decided against it!
I’m obsessed with your accent walls. They make such a difference! I can’t wait until we buy our home. I’m definitely going to try this!
Thank you!! Good luck with your new home!
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I love the accent wall! I am having to work from home now indefinitely thanks to the Coronavirus. I’m redoing my son’s old room so this gave me a good idea for a different look.
I have 2 additional questions:
Do you only use Twitter? I only have Facebook, but I would love to follow your ideas. My kids have all moved out and I’m trying to revamp so to speak.
The other question is where did you find that beautiful desk? I’m thinking about using a lime green and black color scheme in the room I am fixing up.
Thank you!! I use Instagram and Facebook 🙂 @Adventuresofatwinmom and The Adventures of a Twin Mom Blog on Facebook. I got the desk a couple of years ago at Ashley Furniture. 🙂
What color are the side (off white) walls in office? I love it!
Jodi klaiss
Interior designer
Agreeable Gray. It’s actually not my favorite, I’d recommend repose gray before using agreeable 🙂
For your office horizontal boards you said ‘Cut 15 boards at 26 7/8 inches. These boards fit between the risers. Cut 2 boards at 75 inches (these pieces will create the top border)’. Looking at the pic (beautiful!) it appears you only need 10 shorter boards. Correct?
Hi Mark! I think so…I looked at the photo and counted 10 too! It’s been so long since we made this that I’m trying to figure out why I said 15….hmmmm!!
Hello!
LOVE the accent wall. Ill be doing the same exact thing in my office! Any idea where you got the beautiful chandelier!?
Hi! It’s been a bit but I got it on Wayfair 🙂
Can I ask where did you find the desk?
It was from Ashley Furniture. They don’t make it anymore 🙁