DIY Herringbone Accent Wall
Last updated August 21, 2024
Shara's blog Woodshop Diaries showcases her remodeling projects, DIY furniture building tutorials, and plenty of other DIY projects she comes up with along the way.
A Note From The Home Depot
Shara McCuiston of Woodshop Diaries created a gorgeous herringbone barn wood accent wall in her home. Read more to find out how to get this look for your home.
Table of Contents
How to Install a Barn Wood Accent Wall in Herringbone Pattern
Step 1: Determine How Much Barn Wood Is Needed
Step 2: Paint the Accent Wall
Step 3: Mark the Center and Studs
Step 4: Attach the First Two Boards
Step 5: Continue Adding Boards Across the Wall
How to Install a Barn Wood Accent Wall in Herringbone Pattern
Barn wood is so trendy right now. One great way to use it in your home is for an eye catching accent wall. While a barn wood accent wall looks great in any pattern, herringbone is one of my favorite patterns and it’s much easier to install than it seems. This step-by-step guide will show you how to use these awesome Weaber Weathered Wall Boards to install a herringbone pattern barn wood accent wall.
Step 1: Determine How Much Barn Wood Is Needed
First you need to determine how many boxes of Wall Boards you will need to cover your wall. Find the square footage of the wall you are covering. Each box of barn wood boards will cover 10.5 square feet.
Divide your wall square footage by 10.5 and round up. For a herringbone pattern, add at least 15-20% for waste from cuts.
Step 2: Paint the Accent Wall
Before you start attaching your boards, be sure to paint your accent wall a dark color. Don’t skip this step! Due to the rustic and weathered nature of the boards, it is possible to have some small gaps between boards during installation. Painting the wall a dark color will help mask these gaps.
Step 3: Mark the Center and Studs
Measure and mark the center of the wall. Using a long level, draw a vertical center line from floor to ceiling.
Do the same for the studs. Use a stud finder to mark all the studs in the wall and use a long level to draw these vertical lines all the way up.
Step 4: Attach the First Two Boards
Now to the fun part…attaching the boards!
Grab two boards from the box and mark the centers of the board ends. Line the boards up on the wall along the center line like shown in this diagram. Make sure to use a speed square to ensure 90 degrees between the boards.
Cut 45 degrees off the ends where it will meet the baseboard. It’s easiest to cut these so the boards are as long as possible. Mark and cut out with a jig saw around any outlets the boards may run into. Remove the plates (be careful to turn off power before doing anything with the outlets and covers!) and cut so that the cuts will be covered with the plates when they are placed back on.
Once you have your boards in place and all cuts made, use a nail gun to attach the boards to the wall at the stud marks. Make sure you nail into the studs.
Note: For more secure boards, use liquid nails AND brad nails. We chose to skip the liquid nails to make removal easier later if we ever decided to remove them.
Step 5: Continue Adding Boards Across the Wall
Add boards to the wall working your way outward. Make sure to nail the boards into the studs you marked earlier.
During installation, we found that some boards may be slightly longer or shorter than others, so it was best to lay a few at a time on the wall to make sure they fit together well before nailing. Take note of the herringbone pattern and double check occasionally to make sure you are staying square when two boards butt together.
All cuts (besides cutting around outlets and other obstacles) should be 45 degrees. So when you get to a baseboard, cut a 45 degree angle. When you get to an edge, cut another 45 degree angle.
Cutting all boards to fit helps prevent any large gaps on the edges. Just hold the board in place and mark where to cut. When in doubt, cut too long and you can always trim down.
Mark and cut around obstacles like TV mounts and outlets using a jig saw.
Work your way across the wall before moving up. Once you finally get to just finishing out your corners, you can start using up some of your scrap pieces so you don’t run out of boards.
Step 6: Replace Outlet Covers
If you had to remove any outlet covers to cut around, replace them now. If the screws will not reach, you can install outlet extenders (sometimes used in tile applications) on these outlets.
In this case, we also had a wall mounted TV to replace.
And now, step back and admire your gorgeous new weathered wood herringbone accent wall!
Follow our Living Room Ideas board on Pinterest for more inspiring decor ideas.
To create your own weathered wood accent wall, shop barn wood and other appearance boards at The Home Depot.
This post was created in partnership with The Home Depot. The author may have received compensation for this article and associated images or video, potentially in the form of products and/or services. All expressed opinions and experiences are the author’s own words.
