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If you've been following along, you'll know that we bought a mid-century family home full of quirks and oozing with character. A big kitchen remodel was first on the list (think tile and grout countertops, no storage, no dishwasher, and peeling linoleum), but a close second was to bring some life into an aged-cream living room.
We scoured the internet and filled up Pinterest Boards with accent wall ideas, and ultimately landed on our own variation of a 3D feature wall that turned out STUNNING - even better than I imagined!
Before I get ahead of myself, though, let's take a look at some before photos:
The room/decor before we moved in:
The blank slate after moving in:
The goal was to make our gorgeous but currently muted fireplace stand out, so we knew we'd end up going with a dark color. And after spending an enormous amount of time finding the perfect color for our kitchen island, it seemed like a great way to integrate design features from the kitchen into the living room and use the same color from the island on the feature wall (Behr Premium Plus Interior Matte Rock Bottom).
For the 3D effect, we purchased plenty of 1x2s and cut to our desired lengths. We opted for the overlap to be right about at the 2/3 mark, drawing more attention to the fireplace mantle. Each 1x2 is separated by 9.5 inches (4.75 inches where they overlap). We nailed and caulked the nail holes and around the edges of each 1x2 (tip: push caulk gun up, don't pull down! It will smooth out as you go).
After putting a few up, we realized that the boards were creating an awkward shadow, so my husband cut each of the boards at a 45-degree angle at the top like this:
You can't tell at all from a distance or even up close, but it made a huge difference with the shadows.
After securing all the boards, we caulked the edges and painted the boards and wall behind.
Since the whole wall was full of straight lines, we opted for a beautiful gold-trimmed 36" round mirror to hang above the fireplace. The final touch was a gallery wall full of fun family photos made with Photo Tracks.
Viola! The completed project:
Maybe it's the green undertones in the paint, but the living room is especially magical at Christmas time, with little decor needed.
Since completing the project, we switched up our Photo Tracks design:
It's amazing how transformative a fairly easy DIY project can be!
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