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Fluted Accent Wall
Fluted Accent Wall
This wall was so fun to make! It looks great and adds such a fun texture to the wall! For fluting, you need several individual pieces of half-round wood. You essentially attach these to the wall, side-by-side until the wall is covered.
Option 1 (Beginner Friendly)
One option is to buy half-round trim from a home improvement store. This is the easiest, but most costly option to achieve this exact look. To maximize your materials, you can cut the 8' lengths in half and get two 4' pieces per trim. Whenever shopping for something like this, I dont rely on the printed widths of the boards but rather use a digital caliper to get a precise measurement, to the nearest .01"
How to Measure
Measure the overall width of the wall you want to cover. Take that number and divide by the precise width of your wood. This is how many segments you'll need. Divide by 2 if you are cutting your boards in half, then round to the nearest whole number, and add one or two extra for good measure. This is how many pieces you'll need to buy!
Option 2 (Advanced & Budget Friendly)
I achieved the same look as buying half-round trim, however it was much cheaper, but also much more time consuming. Instead of buying pre-milled half-round trim, I bought inexpensive 1"x2" furring strips and routed them myself (using a fixed router, router table, and table saw), getting 6 segments per board! Doing so allowed me to keep the entire wall under $50. See my process HERE in my Instagram stories.
Option 3 (Beginner & Budget Friendly)
Not everyone has the tools above, or the budget to buy dozens of pieces of trim, so a great alternative to achieve a similar look is to buy a beadboard panel from your local home improvement store. A 4'x8' sheet costs roughly $20. Orient it with the 4 foot height and figure out how many 8 foot panels you'll need based on your wall width. Say you have a 13 foot width to cover, you'd buy two panels and cut the second one to 5 foot width, with 3 foot left over. The store can make this cut for you! They can also cut the first one in half if it helps you get it home. Just make sure that cut happens on a seam, so you can camoflague it later!
You'll also need to buy a match for your baseboard (as close as possible) enough for the width of the wall. Oftentimes you can buy this per linear foot. I needed just over 8 feet, so instead of buying two boards, I cut 9 linear feet in the trim section and purchased that way. You are turning this piece upside-down and attaching at the top of your fluting or beadboard. Measure 4 feet up the wall (or your exact height) and use a level and brad nails to secure this piece into studs.
Attaching this board first is best, if you get the height precise. Then you can top align your fluting pieces and save yourself from having to caulk this crack later.
I attached all my pieces with a pin nailer instead of a brad nailer. The holes are so small that they don't need to be filled, and I needed 5 holes per piece times dozens of pieces, and they are lightweight. Periodically check with a level to make sure your pieces aren't getting installed on a slant.
A brad nailer would work well for the beadboard panelling. In fact you need the strength of the brads to hold the panels up. In this case, find studs to nail into, and fill your holes with wood filler.
Remove outlet covers from the wall, and when you come to an outlet, cut your trim pieces to the apprpriate height to surround it, You'll the find you've got space between your old outlet box and the new face of your wall. For electrical safety I use these outlet box extenders. They adjust to any depth and close the gap safely. First you unscrew the outlet from the box, add the extender, line up the holes, and re-screw the outlet in. It's ready for the faceplate after you paint. (Shown here is just a phone jack the we covered with a blank plate.)
Next, attach a rectangular trim piece to top it off. I'm referring to this piece as a "mini-shelf", but its not for holding anything. It makes for a clean look. I used 1"x2" primed mdf becasue it had a nice rounded edge that I used on top. I put the 1" side against the wall. Shoot brad nails straight down from the top into the foot of the baseboard. Additionally, I added pocket holes to attach it to studs for extra security, just because it's going above my crib. The pocket hole jig is a worthwhile investment for DIY projects.
Lastly attach a piece of shoe molding or quarter round between the upside-down baseboard and the mini-shelf. You should brad nail this directly back into the baseboard and wall. Don't forget to wood fill all of these remaining holes from the brad nails and the pocket holes.
Use caulk where the various trim pieces meet. I did not caulk between my fluting. I also caulked where these trim boards met the adjacent walls. I prepped my wall with a coat of primer, even though my paint was a paint & primer in one. Primer is less expensive, so a coat of each is more cost efficient than two coats of your paint & primer in one. I keep this kilz primer on hand and use it for many projects. The paint is Sherwin Williams "Extra White" (un-colored) in semi-gloss. It's the same as the trim paint throughout the house. Painting is the final step! I use my favorite angled brush to get in these grooves. I also taped off the adjacent walls, so I wouldn't have to be so precise there. The trick is to pull of the tape before the paint is dry, and you are ready to enjoy this gorgeous textured accent wall!
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