Create a dynamic accent wall

This might be the easiest way to totally transform the look of a room. Once you’ve created your design, using this simple glue-and-stick application, you can finish it up in a weekend.

Tools

• Table saw
• Mitre box or mitre saw
• Finish nailer
• Putty knife
• Laser level
• Speed square

Materials

• 2400mm x 1200mm x 12mm sheet of MDF
• 4 litres of paint
• Spackling compound
• Fast-tack construction adhesive
• Brad nails

Make a scale drawing of your wall and draw different designs until you’re satisfied. The internet is a good source of inspiration. A CAD program like SketchUp makes this process easy and accurate, but pencil and paper is fine.

Choose your paint colour and paint the entire wall. It’s easier to paint it before the strips are attached, and the results look better too.

Find out how to paint a room.

Using your design plan, estimate how many linear metres of strips you’ll need, and rip them to 30mm wide on the table saw. We used 12mm MDF because when ripped into thin strips, it’s thick enough to create a shadow yet flexible enough to follow minor wall irregularities.

These are the 10 most common woodworking mistakes beginners make.

A sharp corner doesn’t hold paint well, so sand the sharp corners on the faces of each strip with a sanding block. It doesn’t take much – just enough to turn the sharp corner into a tiny bevel.

Discover genius sanding tips you need to know.

Spread out the strips on your work table and roll on a coat of primer. This is an important step with MDF; paint causes it to get really rough. Shellac-based primer is a good choice because it dries fast and sands very smooth. When the primer has dried, sand the strips with a 220-grit sanding sponge. Wipe off the dust and paint the strips. They’ll probably require two coats.

Find the studs and mark them with tape. We relied mainly on adhesive to hold the strips in place, but it’s helpful to know where the studs are. If a strip needs a little more convincing to stay put, you can shoot a brad nail into a stud.

Learn these basic finish nailer tips.

Set up a laser level to get the long lines accurate. We used a self-levelling cross-line model. It doesn’t shoot a 45-degree line, but if you use a large Speed square and the level’s locking mechanism, you can set it at 45.

Running a mitre saw in the house is a bad idea – it blows dust all over. But running to the workshop for each cut doesn’t make sense either. So, we made this simple “mitre box” for a pull saw. First, make accurate 45- and 90-degree cuts on a 2×4 using a mitre saw. Then, glue and nail these pieces to a scrap of plywood, using the saw’s blade as a spacer. Now just clamp the mitre box to a sawhorse right in the room where your accent wall is and make your cuts. No airborne dust, and no running back and forth to the workshop!

Follow these tips for tighter mitres.

Cut the 45-degree angle on one end of the first strip, and then glue the back. Apply glue sparingly so the glue doesn’t keep the strip from sitting fully on the wall. We used a fast-grabbing construction adhesive for this project. It has a fast initial tack, so it stays put as soon as you press it into place. If necessary, you can still shift it until it cures.

Learn more about how to glue wood.