Easy DIY Herringbone Wall Tutorial

The herringbone wall in my office is done!! My husband was such a trooper and got it done in super quick. And I LOVE it. I can’t believe how much it changed the look of this space. Now all we have left to do is decide on the paint color. I keep back and forth, but I’m thinking about mixing things up and going for a pop of color. Either a dusty pink or a soft blue-ish green?! I can’t decide. Anyway, I had a lot of requests on Instagram to share our easy DIY herringbone wall tutorial, so let’s jump into it. It was actually much easier than we anticipated! Here’s how the wall looked when we started:

This back wall in my office is about 14 feet long, 8.5 feet tall. No windows, so it’s the perfect spot to do an accent wall! To start we got MDF boards that were .5″x 3.5″ x 8 feet. They were already primed and ready to go!

Easy DIY Herringbone Wall Tutorial

The first step to build a simple frame around the wall, which sat on the existing trim. Once that was in place, the vertical boards went up. My husband measured the length of the wall and put in a center vertical board, then measured from that board to the end of the wall to place another vertical board evenly on both sides. We ended up with three vertical boards.

Then for the herringbone pieces, he used 30 degree angles, with each board 12 inches apart. He started and worked his way down. He used liquid nails, then also nailed the boards into place with an 18 gage brad nailer. He had also previously marked all the studs in the wall, so when he tried to nail along those lines when he could.

He did have to cut around the outlets, so that party was tricky!

And that was it. Super easy over all, but what a difference it made on this wall!

Well I hope this easy DIY herringbone wall tutorial is helpful if you want to create this same look in your home too! Now I have to decide what color I want this wall to be. I was thinking gray (lots of pretty gray paint colors here) but I’d love to go bold and do a pop of color here. Yesterday I actually picked up a gallon of the Magnolia Home paint in the color Ella Rose (dusty pink) and Emmie’s Room (soft mint blue). Now I just have to decide which one to do!

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The Comments

  • LORRI RAUSCHER
    February 11, 2021

    Oh that is so nice.. my vote goes for sage green…you have alot of accents to go with that colour. I know you shop yr house. You are so lucky to have a handy husband.. 😍

    • Sarah
      > LORRI RAUSCHER
      February 12, 2021

      I think that would be beautiful too!

  • Noreen Hicks
    February 11, 2021

    It is beautiful Sarah.
    How wonderful to have a husband that is interested and able!

    • Laurena Wright
      > Noreen Hicks
      February 11, 2021

      I love it! It’s so beautiful!! I’ve always wanted a wall like that!! 💕

      • Jill
        > Laurena Wright
        February 11, 2021

        I am in Love and know the bext project I want to do now in my bedroom. I would never want to be personal, but can you ball park me the price of the wood? We have a wood cutter and nail gun already! I also just painted our mudroom and used Magnolia paint for the first time and Love it!

        • Sarah
          > Jill
          February 12, 2021

          Happy to share! The wood total was only about $150.

    • Sarah
      > Noreen Hicks
      February 12, 2021

      Yes, so grateful for him!!

  • Mollie
    February 11, 2021

    yeah I would agree a brighter color rather than gray but honestly it’s your choice! and yes I love your style of decor 💞

    • Sarah
      > Mollie
      February 12, 2021

      Yes!! That’s the plan.

  • Tammy Ganci
    February 11, 2021

    Hi…either color will work beautifully. My daughter suggested just painting the wall and not the added wood so to speak this way a 2 color wall.

    • Sarah
      > Tammy Ganci
      February 12, 2021

      Ohhh that’s a fun idea!!

  • Maribel Albino
    February 11, 2021

    I will go with the sage green, you always do a great job. I will be doing my small office similar to yours, thank you for the inspiration.

    • Sarah
      > Maribel Albino
      February 12, 2021

      oh that’s awesome, go for it Maribel!

  • Jena
    February 11, 2021

    Wall looks great!! He done a good job!!

    • Sarah
      > Jena
      February 12, 2021

      thank you so much Jena!

  • Candy
    February 11, 2021

    Hi Sarah!
    Wow, I love the wall and your hubby did a fantastic job. I thought it would be harder but thanks to your tutorial I am going to write this down. I would love to do our master bedroom wall in this pattern. No windows and door on it. You and your hubby are adorable

    • Sarah
      > Candy
      February 12, 2021

      We thought it would be harder too. But actually a pretty simple project! Give a try! xo

  • Kayla Berry
    February 11, 2021

    I LOVE this so much! What a great idea for an accent wall!

    • Sarah
      > Kayla Berry
      February 12, 2021

      Right?! I want to do this on all the walls now. Haha!

  • Sara
    February 11, 2021

    Looks awesome! A dusty pink would be gorgeous!🌸

    • Sarah
      > Sara
      February 12, 2021

      thank you Sara!

  • Amy
    February 11, 2021

    Sarah, this is beautiful!! I love it. You guys are so talented! I actually think this design would be considered chevron or zigzag. Herringbone is a little bit more intricate. Love following you!

    • Sarah
      > Amy
      February 12, 2021

      yeah Amy, you might be right about that!

  • Rachel Harper
    February 11, 2021

    Sarah,
    I love how this looks. I’m sharing a link back to your blog about this post on my Sat. Dirt Road Adventure. Plus I pinned for future reference.

    • Sarah
      > Rachel Harper
      February 12, 2021

      thank you Rachel!! xo

  • Connie
    February 11, 2021

    Looks so good! I am wondering why you guys added a second piece of trim horizontally across the bottom when you already had a piece of molding there? Figure it must serve some purpose! Cant wait to see which color you chose!

    • Sarah
      > Connie
      February 12, 2021

      Good question! My husband wanted to frame it in, so it was sitting not the trim. That way when we paint it, we will leave the trim white! You can totally do it either way.

  • Carolyn
    February 12, 2021

    That is ridiculously awesome. Wow what a great idea!

    • Sarah
      > Carolyn
      February 12, 2021

      thank you Carolyn!

  • meesh
    February 12, 2021

    I think your house is stunning I wouldn’t change a thing ! Wow I wish I could fly you to illinois to do mine 😊

    • Sarah
      > meesh
      February 12, 2021

      Oh you’re so kind, thank you! xo

  • Shelbi
    January 11, 2023

    this is one of my favorite blog posts!!! I am getting ready to do this to my daughters (12 yo) room – are your walls textured? Our walls have a slight orange peel to them so wasn’t sure if it would look weird to have smooth boards on the textured back wall?