Creating A Modern Wood Accent Wall

Modern Wood Accent Wall

It all started with a client/old high school friend. If you’ve read my previous blog post https://busywithd.com/moulding-accent-wall-formal-dining-room/, this sounds very familiar. Another of my husbands high school football teammates wanted a modern wood accent wall in his new home and hired me to do the job. He showed a few inspiration pictures but in the end left all creative design decisions in my hand.

How to Create a Modern Wood Accent Wall

With almost all of my projects I like to sketch them first but this time I did something a little different. With the help of my husband, we used purple tape to map out ideas of where we wanted the wood boards to go. While it didn’t look the best, it gave my client and his wife a visual idea of what the wall would look like before we actually nailed anything.

Comparing the first picture to the second, you can see we definitely made a few changes. While our finial design did not end up like this but it was a great guide as we cut and nailed 1×2’s to the wall. The tape design was a little too busy and I wasn’t a fan of the small triangles. Seeing as though this room was being used as an office, we wanted to keep it from looking to cartoony.

Next, we located all the studs in the wall using a stud finder and marked them. It’s ideal for the wood to hit studs but it may not be possible for all pieces. If that’s the case, you can use wood adhesive to keep the boards in place. When adding the boards we measured to make sure they were spaced an equal distance apart. If you’re going for more of a freestyle look you can skip this step.

Next, we filled every nail hole and gap. This step is important because it makes the design look like one large piece which gives it a finished look. We used wood filler for the nail holes and painters caulk for the gaps between the 1×2’s and wall. When the wood filler is dry you can sand down the excess. Allow the caulk to dry for 30 min to an hour.

We used a combination of foam rollers and a trim brush to apply the paint. The trim brush makes it easier to get into the corners and along the sides of the wood.

DIY Modern Wood Accent Wall

DIY Modern Accent Wall

The client absolutely loved it! With two people, it took about 3 days to complete. It probably can be done in one full day but that weekend we were only available for a few hours per day. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to drop them below! See you in the next DIY!