Want to do an accent wall in your home but don’t know where to start? Here are more than 15 gorgeous DIY accent wall ideas to get your inspiration flowing!
I love a good accent wall. There’s just something special to me about taking one little ol’ wall in a space and transforming it into something else that’s so satisfying.
Accent walls always make such a big impact for such a little amount of effort – and it’s generally really affordable too!
I was working on an accent wall in our home just this morning (it’s #2 on the list below!) and I was thinking about all of the other accent walls I’ve done over the years and I figured it was high time I round them all up in one place! If you’ve been wanting to try an accent wall in your home but are lacking inspiration, this post has you covered. I’m sharing 7 accent walls I’ve done in my own home, along with 10 more accent wall ideas from some of my favorite bloggers!
Gorgeous DIY Accent wall ideas
paint just one wall
Probably the most common way to do an accent wall (and what I’m sure most people automatically think of when an accent wall is mentioned) is to just paint one wall in a room a different color than the rest of the room.
This is such a great way to try out a new color in a space or dip your toes into a bold color for a room if you aren’t sure you want to go all the way in. Personally, I tend to prefer to add something to the wall rather than just painting one wall a different color, but this was such a great technique for us when we were selling our last house and left one wall dark blue. I always recommend this approach to anyone who says they want to paint a room in their house a bold color but they’re afraid they’ll hate it. Start with one wall and see what you think – then, you can either leave it alone or add more later! Or, if you really do hate it, it’s only one wall to paint over!
wallpaper one wall
I just finished adding wallpaper to the staircase wall in our entry, and it’s such a fun and impactful (and easy!) way to add a lot of pattern and fun without taking over the whole space.
Peel and stick wallpaper is easy to remove if you change your mind, it’s affordable (this stuff is about $45/roll and I used two rolls), and it’s honestly pretty simple to install. It took me about three-ish hours to get this entire wall done, and the first hour was spent on the first row and finagling the wallpaper around those weird angles. After that, it was a breeze!
Here’s a link to the exact wallpaper I used for this space but, obviously, the world is your oyster when it comes to adding wallpaper! My biggest recommendation is to not cheap out – you want your wallpaper to be thick and high-quality or it’ll be difficult to work with. I wrote a blog post all about installing pre-pasted wallpaper as well, and let me assure you it’s not as difficult as you might expect.
Stencil a wall
Waaaaaay back in our first home I got a wild hair and stenciled the staircase wall – it made such a huge impact in the space and was one of those things that eeeeeeveryone commented on when they first visited our house.
I have since lost my touch (and my patience) for stenciling and I haven’t tried it again, but it’s such an affordable way to make a big impact. A stencil and paint is far cheaper than adding wallpaper, but it gives you the same look. It’s also easier to fix any mistakes, hah!
My biggest recommendation with a stencil is to embrace a little bit of imperfection and just go into it knowing that you may not have all perfect lines but no one will notice. There were plenty of mistakes in that big stenciled wall I did but even I couldn’t find them once the whole wall was done!
Paint a mural
Another favorite project from the archives is this giant map mural that I painted on one of our walls! You can click over to the post to see the full tutorial, but I just used a projector and traced this image on the wall and it was so easy and made such a fun statement in the room.
This could be applied to just about anything you want – you could add words to the wall, trace a map or a pretty landscape scene…anything! Or, you could skip the projector and freehand some stripes or a fun pattern. It’s becoming more and more popular to do imperfect, freehanded murals on the wall and I’m here for it.
I’ll share a few more favorites at the end of the post to get your inspiration flowing!
Add wood planks
We’ve all seen a shiplap accent wall, but what about some beautiful natural wood? I did this charred wood accent wall in our first house (right before we moved – OF COURSE) and I loved it so, so much. It added so much warmth and texture to the room and was such a unique statement
You could do this with almost any kind of wood. Obviously you can go the “traditional” shiplap route and paint it white, you could do raw wood like this (cedar would be fun!), or you could paint it a fun color. Lay them vertically, horizontally, or even in a herringbone pattern.
The sky is the limit, my friends.
BOARD AND BATTEN
One of my very favorite spaces in our last home was Grant’s room, and the easy DIY board and batten accent wall I added to it was one of the main reasons!
I did this project while largely pregnant in the middle of Vacation Bible School week (I was volunteering) and it only took a few days to knock out…so if I can do it under those circumstances, anyone can do it.
I mean, have you ever volunteered at VBS? It’s no joke. Especially when you’re a thousand months pregnant.
If you’ve been following on my Instagram stories you’ll also know I recently did a board and batten wall in our garage – it only took me a few hours to put it up! This is such an impactful way to elevate an entire room and I’m a big fan.
Add a plant wall
Sure, I did this DIY living plant wall outside in our last house but there’s no rule that it can’t be an indoor project! If you’ve got a weird small wall that you aren’t sure what to do with, something like this would be so perfect.
In fact, as I’m sitting here typing this I’m staring at the short wall between my dining room and kitchen and the wheels are turning, folks.
Stay tuned for more on that once I’ve had a chance to think it over!
This project was really easy and fun to put together, and I was so pleasantly surprised with how big of an impact it made without having to spend a ton of money or put a ton of time in. I’ll definitely be re-creating this outside at this house…you know, if I don’t decide to do it inside!
And, since I just can’t stop with the accent wall ideas, here are a few more of my favorites…
Even more accent wall ideas
- This wood accent wall (which was alllllmost what I did in the garage.)
- I also seriously considered this stunning wall for the garage. SO GOOD!
- I love this adorable rainbow – so simple to paint and would be precious in a kid’s room.
- I’m always so impressed by this paint-by-numbers mural.
- This fun pattern was done with just a paint SAMPLE can!
- I just stumbled on this wood slat accent wall and I HAVE to try it sometime.
- Who wouldn’t love a buffalo check accent wall?!
- This fun pattern was done with a paint pen and I’m so, so impressed.
- Don’t wanna splurge on wallpaper? This looks just like the real deal, but it’s just sharpie!
- And this stamped accent wall is so genius and so, so beautiful.
My challenge to you this week is to find a spot in your home that needs an accent wall and GIVE IT A SHOT! Tag me on Instagram (@loverenovations) if you do – I’d love to see.
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