Need some accent wall inspiration?? I have put together a list of seven beautiful accent wall ideas to add character to your home.
Little fact about me… I have never been one to limit myself to one style in my house.
In fact, I didn’t even realize I had seven different types of accent walls in ten different places in my house until I went to write this post…
Guess you could say my house is a perfect showroom for people looking for accent wall ideas.
I have three shiplap walls, two board and batten styles, wainscoting, two grid walls, a pallet wall, and a faux brick wall all in my house.
If you asked me which one is my favorite- I might actually say board and batten.
And based on my recent obsession with putting that accent wall as many places as possible in my house in the last eighteen months – you would probably say so too!
You can actually find my blog post on how to DIY board and batten yourself here!
But honestly- I do love them all!
Seven Beautiful Accent Wall Ideas
Painted Accent Wall
The first type of accent wall I ever put in my house was to paint one wall in a room.
This is a very budget friendly way to add character to a room – which is the main reason why I used this idea A LOT!
Most of my painted accent walls were a much darker color than our house paint color.
And as I have been making bright and light changes to my home the last couple of years, those darker colors just needed to go.
You can see in the photo below what I am talking about (this photo was taken around January 2020…)
When the Covid pandemic started in March 2020, I was pretty much just wandering my house with either a paint brush or a measuring tape…
I ended up painting this accent wall to match the rest of the walls in the room as I was just craving lighter and brighter EVERYWHERE!
But I would still suggest using paint to make an accent wall in any of your spaces if you aren’t able to add any of the other more entailed suggestions below!
Pallet Accent Wall
About five years ago, I had seen a pinterest photo of someone taking wood pallets, ripping them apart, and installing them on a wall.
I have always loved the look of wood and figured- why not try this on one of my walls?
In case it didn’t turn out though- I decided to do it first in a room that guests rarely see.
So my first victim was my master bedroom.
I should clarify at this point – that we did not do this ourselves!!
We have a good friend that is a very talented handyman and painter… and he was game for trying this new project I had schemed up for him ;).
To be honest, we added a clear sealant to this wall that I regret doing.
It brought out more of the yellow in the wood than I would have liked.
And it looked a nice light gray color before we sealed it.
If you remember- 2020 is the year of light and bright in our house.
Soooo – in June 2021 – we actually changed this pallet wall to be a grid wall ;).
Nonetheless, I knew I liked it enough to do this accent wall idea on the side wall of our entryway.
For some reason, the deep tones on the pallet wall when you first walk into our house do not bother me nearly as much as my bedroom did.
Moreover, It looks really good next to our rustic maple front door!
Funny how that happens- right?
Faux Brick Accent Wall
My third accent wall idea is in my husband’s office which is to the right of the pallet wall in the above photo.
It’s funny- as I am typing this I am realizing wow my house is quite busy 😂.
But somehow it all seems to flow together.
Some may beg to differ (especially a professional interior designer) but hey- the whole point of owning a house is to make it a home right?
Your own home :).
This accent wall in our home office is faux brick panels from Home Depot that we put a white schmear on and then rubbed off in some places to give it a more worn look…
Beadboard
We have a powder bathroom below our stairs which was actually the very first room that we did an accent wall in when we moved into this house in 2003.
I have always loved the look of beadboard and pretty much any type of millwork so this was a great place to start with this feature!
Shiplap Accent Wall
About five years ago, I, along with the rest of the world was introduced to shiplap.
Well actually I imagine it came out much earlier than that but that’s when I finally started watching Fixer Upper and noticed this fun wall feature that Joanna Gaines says should be a staple in any modern farmhouse.
So of course, I looked around and found three different places to put this staple in my house!
My family room was the first place I found for a shiplap accent wall…
Then we added it to the hallway between my girls’ bedrooms…
And lastly, we added it to our upstairs laundry room 💙.
If you want to know how to stencil a tile floor (which is what we did in this laundry room) – you can read that DIY post here!
Board and Batten Accent Wall
I mentioned above that board and batten is my favorite type of accent wall.
I seem to be drawn to straight crisp lines and board and batten certainly fits that bill!
It is also a type of accent wall my husband and I have gotten pretty good at doing :).
See my blog post with how we learned how to add board and batten in our kids’ bedrooms in summer 2020 and then again in our main bedroom the summer of 2021.
Here is our son’s room which was the first room in our house to get board and batten. Our handyman friend was the one that did this project a few years ago.
Then we had him add this accent wall feature to our front entryway…
The photo below is the before picture of our entryway.
As you can see – board and batten really adds character to a space!
We did floor to ceiling board and batten in my oldest daughter’s room.
And then 3/4 board and batten in our upstairs loft space…
Grid Wall
Summer of 2020 was the year we bought a saw…
And instantly jumped into this grid wall project in our youngest daughter’s room.
You can read my tips on how to do a grid wall in this blog post.
The accent wall in my daughter’s room turned out so good, I kinda wanted it in my own room too!
Soooo summer 2021, my husband and I changed out the pallet wall in our room to be a grid wall…
I really only have one more wall that I could make into an accent wall in my house and that is in my daughters’ bathroom…
And trust me – I am thinking hard about what to add there! Maybe some vertical shiplap or should it be another board and batten wall??
I hope this post gave you some ideas and inspiration with my seven beautiful accent wall ideas!
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[…] put shiplap on this wall – this shutter completed this space. Do you know I did a post on all the accent walls in my home btw? I have a lot of them […]
Oh, my goodness!! I love this sooooo much! Thanks for sharing!