Traditional bedroom accent wall

My bedroom needed a traditional accent wall. Yes NEEDED. I love accent trim walls. I’m not much of a person who loves art. I’d rather make a classic trim wall than hang art.

I saw this style of wall from @inhonorofdesign. I was smitten. A perfect mix of classic and modern.

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What you need

• Mitre saw
• Measuring tape
• Clamp
• Level (or use a level app)
• Picture frame molding. I used 10 boards of these (8ft long each)
• Ladder
• Nail gun and 1 1/4″ nails
• Caulk
• Dap Drywall filler
• Scrap cloth
• Sandpaper
• Paint

Cut list

This is based on my wall which is 145″ long and 9ft high. Please adjust based on your wall. All measurements are to the long edge of the cuts. You will need to do some high school math to figure out the size of all your cuts

Here’s the math (I’ve included my measurements to help guide you):
What you need to know:
– the length of the room (145″)
– the height of the room (108″)
– the number of boxes you want to make (30)
– the spaces between the boxes (8″)
– the space between the ceiling and top of the box (6″)
– the space between the floor and the bottom of the box (6″)
– the length and height of the step design (6″)

1. Determine the height of the box
Height of the room – (space between ceiling and top box) – (space between the floor and bottom of the box) – (the height of the step x 2)= height of the box
108-6-6-(6×2) =84″

2. Determine the length of the horizontal pieces
The length of the room – (the spaces between the boxes x (the number of boxes you want to make + 1)) – ((the length of the step x (number of boxes x 2)) / the number of boxes= length of the horizontal pieces

145- ((8x (3+1)) – (6x3x2) / 3
145 – (8×4)-(6×6) / 3
77/3 = 25.6
I rounded to 25.5 because it’s a lot easier to cut

• A- 6 trapezoid pieces that were 84″ long with 45* angles
• B- 6 trapezoid pieces that were 25.5″ long with 45* angles
• C- 12 parallelogram pieces that were 6″ long with 45* angles
• D- 12 parallelogram pieces that were 6″ long with 45* angles (opposite angles from C)

I cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure that each set is the exact same size. Don’t measure and cut. No!! They won’t be perfect. Use a stop block!

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A stop block is a clamped off block that every since piece nudges up to to ensure they are all the same size. See the video below on how to set up your stop block.

Start building

1. I started 8 inches away from the wall so that you could still see the trim with the curtains fluffed out. Start with the bottom and start building.

2. Use a level on every single piece. I even used a level app to get into the small spaces. Nail in at each edge and middle of each piece of trim

Tip: don’t nail the top edge of one of the long pieces. You will need to squeeze it in to close any small gaps (I was 1/4 inch off but I was able to squeeze in the 7ft piece)

3. I built the two outside panels first. Then I built the middle, centering it. By building the centre box last, you can adjust the spaces between the boxes in case there were any errors in measuring

4. The finishing touches are so important. You need to fill all the holes and seams on the wood with drywall filler. I use LESS filler and wipe off after a few min. That way I don’t have to sand.

5. Caulk the seams. Make sure the tip of your caulk is cut as small as possible. Run the caulk and then wipe off excess with a damp finger.

6. Paint the trim

Now that you’re done, enjoy your new bedroom accent wall!

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