DIY Beadboard Wall
A project you can complete in a couple hours, this DIY beadboard wall can be your next feature wall!
I’ve been itching to have somewhere to put beadboard and when we finally decided to tackle Josiah’s room makeover, I knew that’s exactly what I wanted.
What I wasn’t expecting was how RIDICULOUSLY easy beadboard is to put up, but I still wanted to offer you a step by step if you’re looking to create your own beadboard accent wall!
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Supplies Needed
- Beadboard
- Trim piece for top (this is a personal preference, but we chose this wood casing which a lot of people use for door and window trim)
- Sanding block
- Caulk
- Wood filler
Tools Needed
SHOP TOOLS NEEDED
Steps to Make a Beadboard Wall
Measure your wall.
For reference, our wall is just over 11 1/2 feet wide. We used 3 panels of beadboard for this beadboard wall.
If you need to cut a piece to make it fit, you can use a large table saw, but our preferred way is just to cut it with a circular saw because it’s way easier to manage.
PRO TIP
Learn more about the differences between a miter saw and a table saw here
Before securing your beadboard to the wall, you need to use a stud finder so that you know the location of studs so you can secure your beadboard with nails.
Should beadboard be nailed or glued?
Great question, I’m so glad you asked!
This depends on how permanent you want your beadboard to be.
If you don’t anticipate taking this down for the duration of your stay in your home, you can use a type of construction adhesive which looks like caulk but is actually glue.
However, it should be noted this can be a beast to take off, taking chunks of your drywall with it.
Because of this, our preferred method to install beadboard on drywall is to use a nail gun and nail it into studs.
Make small vertical lines where each stud is all along the length of your wall.
Using your big ol’ level, use it to make a longer vertical line on the wall where you’ll need to attach your beadboard to the drywall with your nail gun.
Technically I guess you don’t have to do this, but it makes it a lot easier when you put your beadboard up against the wall to be able to visually see where your nails need to go.
Start by placing your beadboard in the far corner of your wall.
Because his door is to the left in this photo, we decided to start in the far right corner of the room, but it’s really up to you.
PRO TIP
Many walls do not have perfect 90 degree corners, so make sure you use your level during install to make sure your beadboard is installed correctly.
Using your nail gun, shoot nails into the beadboard using your previously drawn vertical lines as a guide.
If your beadboard ends in a spot that does not have a vertical line don’t fret!
You’ll want to simply use your nail gun on the edge and make sure to shoot your nails in at an angle rather than straight on. This will ensure that the nails will hold in the drywall and you won’t have to worry about it coming out.
If you have an outlet like we do, you’ll want to measure to cut around it as well. Beadboard is fairly easy to cut so even if you need to do this by hand, it won’t be too bad!
Finishing Work
Now is the time for the not so fun, way more tedious finishing work.
Using your wood filler, fill in all the nail holes from your nail gun.
A good rule of thumb is that if it’s nail holes or a place where wood meets wood, you need wood filler. Anything else you can use caulk!
Caulk all your seams where the beadboard meets the wall, where beadboard meets another piece of beadboard and where your top trim meets the beadboard.
Your New Favorite Tool
I seriously don’t know what took me so long to get on this bandwagon, but I can tell you that this caulk tool is my absolute new DIY bestie.
It was perfect for this beadboard wall because beadboard is pretty forgiving so I was able to “test it” out with this and I’m IN LOVE.
The most annoying part about caulking is getting it all over my fingers and under my nails. I HATE it.
But I came out of this with nothing on my hands and vibes in my soul.
Use a sanding block to sand everything once both the caulk and the wood putty are dry.
You want to make sure it’s all dry so that the sanding dust doesn’t get into your caulk. Because that’s extremely annoying and nobody likes that.
Lay down and take a nap cuz you’re done and you deserve it! (Also if you’re wondering what it’s like to DIY with kids, this is it).
You have your very own DIY beadboard wall and it wasn’t that hard and didn’t even take you that long! Hooray!
