DIY Wall Paneling never looked so good!

DIY Wall Paneling

When I first purchased my home, one thing that I always wanted to do was to paint some kind of accent wall in my living room. I have two big adjoining walls in there and I knew one of these walls would be perfect for it. So I decided to paint grey and white stripes on one of them.

DIY Striped WallAfter a couple of years of staring at it I realized that I needed a change, and that my 27 year old self wasn’t agreeing with my 23 year old self and feeling a little juvenile with a bland striped wall. So I decided to spruce up my walls with some DIY Paneling and man am I loving it.

Materials

Tools Used

Step 1: Paint the Wall

I first started off by painting the wall with my Behr Marquee - Butterscotch Amber. I had to do two full coats because of the striped wall. In order to ensure clean lines, I used Painters Tape to tape off the walls before painting.

Step 2: Attach Border Trim

Before you start getting into creating the wall pattern, you want to go ahead and trim the outside of your wall project.

DIY Paneled WallI opted to use this select pine instead of MDF, because the 1x2s were just the size I wanted and I didn't have to worry about cutting a MDF board down to strips. 

Step 3: Add Wall Paneling Pattern

I started off with the bottom corner first, and then went through line by line and added the diamonds, carefully, measuring each piece and making sure each piece was level.

DIY Wall Paneling Measuring ToolTo make sure the diamonds were equal, I made sure that the right and left corners were each measuring 70 degrees, using this handy angle finder. In order to make the 70 degree angle I had to make sure all of the pieces connecting the left and right sides were cut at 22.5 degrees.

It may be helpful to have a second person help make sure everything looks level. I secured the trim to the wall by applying a small amount of Liquid Nails and then shot a few 2" Brad Nails into the trim to secure it.

DIY Paneled WallI attempted to layout my steps for this trim to make it easier to understand. Hopefully this helps you re-create this wall.

DIY Wall Paneling project diagram

DIY Wall Paneling project diagram

DIY Paneled Wall

This wall cost me around $200 in materials and halfway through I could tell that I made the right decision. I was loving the look of the wall.

I was able to complete this project in one full day by myself, so I'm sure with some help you could definitely get this project knocked out faster.

Step 4: Fill Nail Holes and Paint

Once the trim was complete, I had to decide whether I was going to paint the trim a different color or the same color. At first, I thought about painting the trim white, but eventually decided to just paint it all the same color, and I think I made the right decision.

DIY Paneled WallHonestly, I probably could have left the trim without a coat of paint, it definitely looked good without it, but I went ahead and painted it.  I went through and used wood filler to fill all of  the nail holes and creases. This was probably my second least favorite part, aside from the caulking.

Dap Products to fill in holes for DIY Wall Paneling

Once I filled all the nail holes with DAP Wood Filler I went through with Dap Caulk and caulked the insides of the diamonds to ensure that I would have a clean finish once I painted over the trim.

When caulking, I try not to make it too thick, otherwise you can really notice it through the paint. I tried to get the caulk lines as thin as I could possibly get them.

Caulking wall panelingAfter I finished filling all the holes and caulking, I took my corner sander and sanded down the 1x2s, so they were smooth for painting and I painted over the trim for the final look.

Now, let's take a look at the before and after!

Wall Paneling Before and AfterI'm so happy with how the wall turned out, the diamonds really bring character to the room, and my friends always compliment me on this wall when they walk in and realize what's there.Wall PanelingIf you're looking for a quick way to bring some character to your home, wall paneling is a quick and easy way to do it.

DIY Paneled Wall

 I especially love that you can decorate the wall in many different ways and it always add character.

Wall paneling DIY

Whether you put a couch in front of it or a console table, this wall paneling will be the y’all of the space.

DIY wall paneling
It would even serve as a great bedroom feature wall.

DIY wall paneling

September 10, 2018 — Ashley Basnight