How We Transformed Our Master Bedroom With a Plank Accent Wall

Here's the room before we got started.Measure multiple times. You’re going to want to measure the height and width of your entire wall a couple of times if you want to avoid an argument in the plywood aisle of Lowe’s.With that measurement, figure out how thick you want your plywood planks to be and how many of them will evenly fit within the height measurement of your wall, accounting for the tiny gap between each plank (we used a penny for this as an indication of how small a gap we’re talking about between each of them.)For us, our planks were 9.5 inches thick and we needed 10 of them to fit in the wall height measurement. Our wall is 171.5 inches wide so one single piece of plywood wouldn’t stretch that whole way across.Cut your planks, then sand

A table saw would be ideal for cutting your wood planks, but we used a circular saw and it got the job done. We measured out the lines to cut, then held up our circular saw blade to the line, measuring the distance between the blade and the edge of the base plate then we clamped down a straight piece of wood to the plywood as a guide so we could keep the saw straight while we cut.We ended up with 20 planks that were 9.5 inches tall and 85.75 inches wide to make 10 rows when assembled on the accent wall.After that, sand them down so they're smooth and can be painted easier.Glue, nail, repeat

We started with the planks closest to the ceiling and worked our way down, under the assumption it would be more noticeable if we got to the end and needed to fill in or cut off part of a piece at the top than it would be at the bottom where our bed and nightstands would hide the problem anyway.The nailing step will probably require two people unless you’re good at multitasking and are steady-handed. One person held the wood panels in place while the other was on a step ladder with the nail gun. You don’t need too many nails to hold it in place but if you see a spot where it’s not laying flat then shoot one in there for good measure. Don’t be shy about it.Wood fill the gap in the middle

If your wall is small enough you don't need to do two halves with a seem in the middle, that's great!For us, we needed to use wood fill between the gaps in the boards to make it look like one long piece across.Leave the gap between the top and bottom of the boards, though.Sand wood filler down

Once the wood filler is dry, sand it all down flat (while wearing a mask) and wipe down the whole wall with a cloth to get rid of the dust that will most certainly be stuck to your walls and ruin your paint job.Add primer

Next, put on a coat of primer to ensure even, smooth coverage of the paint – another step that’s worth your time for the end product.Paint

Once that primer is dry (you might need to coats) it's time to finally paint.Whether you go bold or something neutral your last step is to paint the panels. Then you can decorate your room and enjoy!

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