We finally did it, we tried the whole wood accent wall trend! It took two days to finish this project (with a lot of multi tasking in between). We have a love hate relationship with white paint. It took a million layers (5-6) to get an even coat. That was one of the most time consuming parts of the project. We also got a crash course in using our Mitre saw because Home Depot cut our middle boards wrong (it was supposed to be 7ft and they were 1 inch longer). It was good practice though, we’re excited to do more projects with the saw! You’ll also need a table saw to “rip” the MDF boards.

Supplies

• (2) MDF Panel 3/4in x 4ft x 8ft
• Ryobi Airstrike
• Ryobi Mitre Saw
• Table Saw
• White Paintable Caulk
• Caulking Gun
• Wood Filler
• Sanding sponge
• Zinsser Primer
• Paint Brush Roller
• Paint Brush
• Paint Tray
• Frog Tape
• Putty Knife Scraper
• Large level
• Top Board (width of your wall)
• Bottom Board (width of your wall)
• Middle boards (Height of your wall minus the width of top and bottom boards)

Step 1: Measurements

Measure the height and width of your wall for your base measurements. Determine the width of the boards you want for your space. Anywhere from 2-4 inches will work for this particular design. In calculating the space, it made the most sense to cut our (middle) boards 2 inches wide. Next calculate the number of total (middle) boards across.

To figure out the numbers of boards, you subtract the width of wall minus the width of your first board. For us, our wall was 152 inches so we subtracted 2 inches (the width of our board) to get 150inches. At 150 inches wide, we decided to do 10 boards spaced at 15 inches each.

You will also need two boards for the top and bottom of the wall. We wanted to cut the width of these boards a little wider than our middle boards and also in a measurement that would allow the middle boards to be cut at an even length. The height of our wall is 93 inches, so we decided to make the top and middle boards 4.5 inches each. This would allow all the middle boards to be cut at 7ft.

So here’s a list of what we cut our MDF panels down to;

(10) 2x7ft
(4) 4.5 x 6 ft boards (Since the MDF panels we used were 8ft wide we used 2 pieces) MDF does come in larger pieces if that’s preferred.

Step 2 Paint Boards

If you know what color you want to paint your wall/boards you should do that now. We didn’t paint the boards before we secured them to the wall but it probably would’ve been easier! We used a paint + primer in one since we used white.

Step 3 Secure The Boards

Secure the boards to the wall using your nail gun. We started with the bottom boards first since they’re lined up against the baseboard, followed by the top boards. You wont need a level for the top and bottom boards since theyre lined up with your baseboards and ceiling. For the middle boards, we lined them up approximately where they would be secured. The large level is critical in this step to make sure the boards are straight before being secured. Run the level up and down the middle board to make sure its straight before its secured. Even though we lined the boards up, we still measured the 15 inches between boards to confirm they were in the right position. We don’t use any real method for putting the nails in just make sure the board lays flat and there’s no wiggle, putting nails every few inches.

Step 4 Caulking & Wood Filler

After the boards are secured to the wall, you’ll want to fill any holes with wood filler. Our nail gun didn’t make very many impressions in the wood so we didn’t have too many to fill.

The easiest way to caulk is by using your painters tape along the wood to catch the excess caulk. You put the painters tape similar to how you put it before painting except you want it to be about a 1/4 inch away from the seam of the wall. We didn’t start using this method initially but switched to it and it was much easier to clean up the excess caulk. Next use your caulk gun and paintable caulk to trace the edge where the wood meets the wall. Pay extra attention to the seams where the top/bottom and middle boards meet and fill those with caulk. We used our finger to smooth it out and make sure it really gets in and fills the cracks. Once it dries peel up the tape. We used a Putty knife to scrape any excess caulking and also your sanding block to smooth it out. Be sure to also caulk the sides and top/bottom of the wall!

Step 5 Paint Your Wall

The final step is to paint the wall (and boards if you haven’t done it yet). We used white so it took about 5-6 layers of paint to make it look even.

That’s it!!

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