We recently installed this beautiful green accent wall in my son's room. I have received many questions about the process so I put together a simple "how-to".
This is absolutely not professional advice, but a simple layman's tutorial for non-handy people who want a cool looking wall :)
We are by NO MEANS handy people over here. However, we finished this project over a weekend and worked on it during nap-times AND keeping 3 small humans alive. All that to say, it is super easy!
I had been eyeing this type of wall and pinning it for months and finally decided to just go for it! I have been wanting to start completing many DIY projects in our home so this was the start of *hopefully* many this year.
For this project we did buy a nail gun because we will be needing it for many of our upcoming projects and I have had my eye on one for YEARS! That being said, I have seen many people use a regular hammer and nails or liquid nail adhesive to install the boards so you do NOT need a nail gun!
Supplies:
Paint and paint supplies (tape, brush, roller, drop cloth)
PAINTABLE caulk and caulk gun
Caulk finishing tools or sponge
1"x2" MDF boards (We used about nine 8-foot boards for this wall)
Wood filler- to fill in nail holes (not needed if you use adhesive)
Sanding block
Level
Speed square
Saw- we used just a regular ole hand saw
Tape measure for cutting boards
The total project was under $100 (not including the nail gun we purchased). However, if you already have some of these items at home then you could easily do the project under $50. *We bought pre-primed boards for $3.29 each, but you have a few cheaper options for the 1"x 2" boards if you don't mind doing some sanding work before you get started* We needed it to be a quick project so we opted for the pre-prepped boards.
The total project was under $100 (not including the nail gun we purchased). However, if you already have some of these items at home then you could easily do the project under $50. *We bought pre-primed boards for $3.29 each, but you have a few cheaper options for the 1"x 2" boards if you don't mind doing some sanding work before you get started* We needed it to be a quick project so we opted for the pre-prepped boards.
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| BEFORE |
1. Prep the wall for painting with your painter's tape.
2. Paint the entire wall the color of your choice. It is much easier to paint BEFORE installing the boards. Leave the painter's tape up until the entire wall is finished. I wasn't sure if we should leave it up, but was glad we did when I started painting the boards.
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| TAPE AND PAINT |
3. You can map out your wall on a piece of paper and make a "plan" for the look of the boards, or you can "wing" it like we did. haha! We started by deciding where our main diagonal line would be and installed that one first. That is the longest board and most difficult one to place. Use your level to make sure it is at a 45 degree angle before nailing or gluing it to the wall. From there, you will start placing the smaller "branches" from your main diagonal line. We did most of ours in pairs of two parallel lines branching from the main line. We just kept adding "branches" and then deciding where on the wall needed more as we went. You can always use painters tape and tape out the look to get a good visual before you start hammering in boards.
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| OUR MAIN LINE. (WE HAD TO REDO THAT TOP CUT TO MAKE A 45 DEGREE ANGLE) |
4. Where the boards meet the ceiling, they will need to be cut at a 45 degree angle. It is SUPER easy to do this using a speed square. Place it on the end of the board and use a pencil to mark the perfect 45 degree line. Saw along the line and your boards should fit nicely up against the ceiling.
5. Once all your boards are installed on the wall, you need to calk around all boards and seams. Don't skip this step! This makes everything look beautiful and seamless. Use either a large wet sponge or a caulk finishing tool to smooth out your caulk lines, but don't feel like it has to be perfect because it will be painted over!
5. If you used nails to adhere the wood to the wall, fill in the nail holes with wood filler.
6. Let the caulk and wood filler dry. You can look at the drying time on the caulk tube (as it will vary), or let it set overnight and start up again the next morning.
7. If you used wood filler for your nail holes, use a sanding block to sand those spots down so they are smooth for painting.
8. Finally, paint over all the boards to finish up the wall. I used a mini roller to do the first coat of paint on the boards. Then I let that dry and did a second coat with my brush.
9. Let everything dry then take down the painters tape. Use a small touch-up brush to fix any areas you see after taking down the tape. We had two spots I touched up, but everything else turned out perfectly.
10. ENJOY your beautiful new wall and the fact that YOU DID IT!!!
The paint color we used was Sherwin-Williams "Retreat" in a satin finish.
Do you have any other questions about our wall installation?
*Make sure to take a BEFORE photo before you begin painting!*
