The master bedroom... the one room in our home that was completely untouched design wise. I have been dying to do a fun accent wall to make the space not so boring. I was inspired by Lacie's grid wall and just had to do it! Her Instagram handle is @loveresideshere, go check out her wall too!
So this is what we were starting with... pretty plain. We decided to switch the room around and put the accent wall and bed on the other side of the room because that wall is a bit bigger since that side is without the closet.
First thing we did was remove the baseboard on this wall. I wanted the new baseboard to have flat edges instead of beveled so it would be more cohesive with the boards on the wall. We used a utility knife to score the top of the baseboard to avoid ripping the paint. Then we used a hammer and pry bar to gently pull the baseboard from the wall.
We used primed MDF boards to make the grid pattern. Exact measurements of the boards will be different for everyone as it will depend on the size of your wall. But we used two 1x3's for the trim on the top of the wall, two 1x6's for the baseboards, and ten 1x3's everywhere else. To be honest, calculating the perfect spacing for each board was the hardest part of the whole project. We were trying to avoid outlets, light switches, and smoke alarm in the midst of it all. Our squares ended up being 20in x21in.
**Tip: When calculating your measurements, make sure you calculate the width for the vertical boards and horizontal boards.
Use a nail gun to attach the baseboard and trim at the top of the wall first. After that, mark where each vertical board will go on the wall. Measure from the top to bottom where you marked because each vertical board will most likely have a slightly different measurement. (Because your wall most likely is not perfect even). We used a miter saw to cut each board down to exact size.
Once all vertical boards are nailed into place, measure the size your horizontal boards. This is about to get a little complicated, but stay with me... It'll start to make sense. You need to measure each individual horizontal board because again... they will be slightly different measurements.
These were all of our measurements for the horizontal pieces. We labeled the back of each board after it was cut to size with 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, etc. That was we knew exactly which piece went in which spot. Then we used a nail gun to nail into place.
After all the boards are up, we used white wood putty to fill in all the nail holes and cracks between the boards to make for a more finished look. Then we used a caulk gun to fill all the cracks between the boards and wall as well.
Side note: this is the most time consuming, tedious (and super annoying) part. But... i promise it's worth it and it'll make it look much more professional when it's finished.
Now for the paint! We used a little foam brush to get all the tiny corners and creases, then a foam roller for everything else. The paint color I chose was Taiga Spruce by Valspar and I love it. Its the perfect moody blue/green color.
And here's the finished look! We are loving it, it's made such a huge difference. As you can probably tell, i'm almost always a neutral decorator but this was the perfect pop of color. What do you think?! Feel free to leave me a comment if you have any questions!