DIY Rainbow Accent Wall
Yall. This project has probably been a year in the making. It took me awhile to get Duke warmed up to the idea of a rainbow shiplap wall. To be honest, I surprised myself that I wanted something so colorful & bold but I really want the girls' playroom to be a fun space that they love hanging out in. Duke, Tatum and I love how it turned out - it makes such a statement when you walk into the room and was so easy to achieve. I put all the materials below as well as a few tips to help if you decide to tackle a rainbow shiplap wall.
I think this accent wall would be so sweet in a child's room or play area and the best thing is there are so many variations you could do. If you don't love pastel colors, you could use primary colors. Or if you like a more monochromatic look, I think different shades in the same color family would look really cool too! Let me know what you think! Or if you have any questions, I'm always happy to help!
xo
-Annemarie
Tools/supplies
17 boards - 1x8x16 MDF tongue and groove shiplap (we have 10 foot ceilings so we chose a larger shiplap. I think 1x8 or 1x6 would look good on 8-foot or 9-foot ceilings).
17 BEHR paint samples - because we weren't using much paint for each board, we got samples. It was enough to do two coats and touch up paint after installation. We opted for the Eggshell finish because I didn't want much shine to the wall.
Table saw - we had to rip the last piece of shiplap in order for it to fit on the wall.
Tips
Paint the boards before you install them. We painted each individual board prior to brad nailing it to the wall. Since we used primed MDF boards, painting was super quick and easy. We did two coats on each board. The coverage BEHR paint gives is phenomenal.
When painting the boards we would pour out a trickle of paint the entire length of the board. From there we would use a paint roller to paint the board. This method was so easy and so much quicker than pouring the paint into a paint tray and going back and forth dipping the roller in it. We used saw horses to prop up the boards while painting.
Measure your wall for every single board. One thing I've learned after doing several home projects is that the walls in a home are not completely level. We found up to a quarter of an inch difference throughout the installation process. Measuring before you cut each board will ensure you don't cut too much or too little. I'll be honest sometimes we'd even measure, go cut the board, bring it inside and it would be too long to fit onto the wall. Always err on the side of caution when cutting. You can always cut more off, you can't add wood back.
Brad nail each board to the wall at the studs. As you can see in the picture below, we marked with a pencil where the studs were before getting started. This ensures that the boards are secure. After you have all the boards up, fill in all the brad nail holes with wood filler, let it dry, then touch up the paint.
When you're picking your paint and trying to find paints that coordinate, I suggest selecting colors in the same color family. For example, I'd find a pink I like and then pick the lighter shade above it and the darker shade below it and those would be my three pinks for the wall. This ensured that the paint would look good together up on the wall.
When getting the paint, I always tried to go late afternoon so I would be there at a slower time of day. I also bought the paint 6 at a time (I didn't want to ask a Home Depot employee to make 17 paint samples for me all at once). They were always so nice about making my samples and often times asked me what kind of project I was working on.
Colors we used from top to bottom
Beloved pink (S130-1)
Shy smile (S130-2)
Ballet rose (S130-3)
Carving party (M220-3)
Trick or treat (M220-4)
Roasted seeds (M220-5)
Corn stalk (M290-3)
Jackfruit (PPU6-07)
Charismatic (PPU6-14)
Jade tinge (MQ3-49)
Healing aloe (S400-3)
Azalea Leaf (S400-4)
Sea wind (S480-2)
Tahoe blue (PPU13-09)
Romantic poetry (S100-2)
Ancestry violet (S100-4)
Purple potion (S100-5)
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