How about this DIY modern focal wall, folks! We don’t have an office in our house, so I figured I would chop up our long living room into sections so that we could have an office area.
***Tip, tip, tiparoo: If I were to do this again, I would have painted the wall and the boards first. Then, after attaching the boards, I would have just had to touch up paint here and there. I like to make things 10x harder for myself though, sooooo…..
Read more: Modern focal wall*This area is 12′ 8.5″ from wall to wall and 8′ high
Here are the tools and supplies I used:
- (12) 1×2’s @ 8′ I used select pine boards from Home Depot. They were $4.42 a piece @ my local Home Depot
- Miter saw
- Nail gun
- 1 1/2″ brad nails
- Square
- Wood filler
- 120 grit sandpaper
- 220 grit sandpaper
- Paint brush
- Paint roller
Cuts:
- (7) 1×2’s @ 93 1/4″
- (20) 45 degree angle decorative pieces. Measure as you go
When shopping for wood, make sure you take a good look at each piece. I used to be a willy nilly and just grab whatever and I would end up with curved wood…nobody wants curved wood. 😏
I started by cutting (7) 1×2’s @ 93 1/4″
I made a mark on the wall every 19″ starting from one side of the wall and the last mark only had 16″ between it and the wall. I’m not even trying to do the trigonometry, geography, astronomy to figure out those sections so they’re all even. You may be surprised to find out that I’m no Al Einstein.
I lined the middle of the board up with the mark and pushed it flush against the ceiling
I put one 1 1/2″ brad nail in the top to hold it in place and at the bottom I used my square to make sure it wasn’t all cattywampus and attached the bottom with another nail.
Then add a few more nails to keep the board in place. Continue like this with the rest of your vertical boards
I cut one end fo the rest of my 1×2’s @ a 45 degree angle
You’re going to be crazy impressed with this next move. It’s a pretty advanced technique, but I am still gonna share it with you because I think you can handle it 💪
I lined the board up on the 45 degree angle and then “popped” it out with my other hand. I made a mark at the spot under the board you just popped out right where it hits the vertical board because that is going to be your other “long point.” You want to be dealing with “long point to long point” with all of these and notice that your long points are on the opposite sides of the board on each end.
To make them in a straight line, I used my square to make a mark and lined the short end of the next board that is cut @ a 45 degree angle up with that mark and again did my ninja “pop” move.
Continue down the wall till you get to the bottom
I measured one wrong and just tore it right off the wall and reattached it where it was supposed to be. Easy peasy
Some of the pieces I ended up having to piece together because there wasn’t a board long enough to fit that space and I wasn’t about to buy more wood!
Fill the nail holes with wood filler and sand with 120 grit sandpaper to make a nice smooth surface. Now, stand back and stare at your DIY modern focal wall!!! You did it…hopefully without me confusing you too much. Welcome to my brain! It’s typically taking a hard left when everyone else is taking a right. 🥴
I did not caulk around the edges of each board, but if you decide you want to, this is the time you would do that.
I put about 3 coats of “Naval” by Sherwin Williams
Heck if you aren’t getting a sneak peek of my DIY floating desk! You lucky dogs. Stay tuned cause that’s my next post. Pin away and please make sure and tag me on Instagram or over on Facebook when you get your wall all finished!
