Custom Accent Walls
One wall, done properly, changes a room more than anything else you can buy for the money. It is the work we are known for.
The styles, and what each one suits
Accent wall is a broad phrase. These are the treatments we build, and the rooms they belong in.
- Applied molding and picture-frame trim. Rectangles of molding laid out on the wall and painted with it. Classic, quiet, and the most forgiving of a room with doors and windows breaking up the wall. Dining rooms, entries, primary bedrooms.
- Board and batten. Vertical battens with or without a top rail. Reads modern at full height and traditional at chair height. Very good in hallways, mudrooms and kids' rooms because the lower section takes abuse.
- Fluted and slat walls. Vertical reeded panel, usually floor to ceiling. Makes a low ceiling read taller and softens the acoustics of a hard room. Behind a bed, behind a TV, in an office on camera.
- Full panelling. The wall treated as one composition rather than a feature. Studies, formal dining, primary suites.
- Venetian plaster and limewash. Depth and movement without a single hard line. Suits a wall with an arch, a fireplace, or an odd shape that trim would fight.
- Backlit and light walls. Panelling or slat with LED behind it. The wiring, transformer location and switch have to be planned in from the start.
- Tile, stone and brick. Heavier, permanent, and the right answer behind a range, a fireplace or a bar.
What separates a good accent wall from an amateur one
The design is the easy part. These are the things that decide whether the finished wall looks built or looks glued on.
- The layout starts from the centre. A pattern set out from a corner runs out of room at the other end and finishes on a sliver. We set out from the room's centre lines and the sightline you actually walk in on, then balance the ends.
- Walls are not flat, plumb or square. Almost none are. Trim gets scribed to the wall and the ceiling, and the gaps get caulked properly rather than filled with a bead you can see from across the room.
- Outlets, switches and vents are part of the design. They are drawn into the layout before anything is cut, so a batten does not land half over a switch plate.
- Nail holes and seams disappear or they do not. Filled, sanded, primed, then painted. Skipping the prime step is why a lot of DIY walls show every joint once the light rakes across them.
- The sheen carries the whole thing. Higher sheen makes shadow lines crisper and also shows every imperfection. Matte forgives texture but flattens the relief. That choice belongs to the design, not to whatever is left in the garage.
- Existing wall texture. Heavy orange peel behind flat modern panelling reads wrong. Either skim it flat or pick a treatment that lives happily with texture. We will tell you which at the walkthrough.
What drives the price
Accent walls from $1,500 (10'x15'), $3,000+ for double size. From there, the number moves on these.
- Wall size and ceiling height. Anything above a standard ceiling needs staging and takes longer per square foot, not the same.
- Material. Paint-grade MDF trim, solid wood, factory fluted panel, plaster and natural stone are a wide range, and they are not interchangeable.
- Pattern complexity. A grid of equal rectangles is quick. Mitred arches, curves, chevrons and irregular grids are slow, and slow is the cost.
- Wall preparation. If the wall needs skimming flat or existing texture removed first, that is a separate stage before the trim goes up.
- Electrical. Sconces, backlighting, a recessed TV box and a new outlet all mean an electrician in the room.
- Paint scope. Whether the wall alone is painted, or the room, ceiling and trim go with it.
How the work actually goes
Most single accent walls are a short project, often a few days on site rather than weeks.
- Walkthrough and measure. We look at the wall, the light it gets, and what is on the walls around it.
- Design and layout drawing. You see the pattern on your wall, to scale, before anything is ordered.
- Material and colour selection.
- Install. Set out, cut, fit and fasten. Furniture protected, floors covered.
- Fill, caulk and sand. The step that decides the result.
- Prime and paint.
- Clean and walkthrough. We leave the room usable, not full of dust.
When an accent wall is the wrong idea
- There is no wall to use. A small room broken up by two windows, a door and a closet has no uninterrupted surface, and a pattern squeezed into the leftovers looks squeezed in.
- You want it on the wall you never see. The wall that earns it is the one you look at when you walk in or when you are lying in bed, not the one behind the door.
- The room already has a strong feature. A fireplace, a stone wall or a big window will compete with panelling on the wall next to it. Pick one to lead.
- Paint alone will do it. Sometimes it will. A deep colour on a well-prepped wall with the trim painted to match is a real design move, and it costs a fraction of millwork. We will say so if that is what your room needs.
Why homeowners bring us the wall
Trim work is where craftsmanship shows immediately. Dustin trained our install team himself on structure, precision and accuracy, and that is the standard every accent wall is held to. Our in-house designer sets the layout so the pattern suits the room rather than a photograph of someone else's room, and you approve it before we cut anything.
Every wall carries a 365-day workmanship warranty, and once it is finished our team photographs it professionally at no additional cost.
“I just want to say that from start to finish, Lively Luxury kept me well informed and I even got a visit and calls from a project manager. A special thank you to our contractor who did a great job on the walls and they actually look better than the photo layout that was created for me.”
Accent Wall Install: Arie & Lauren Luyendyk (The Bachelor), Scottsdale, AZRecent accent wall work
Browse more by treatment: Accent Walls & Ceilings, Wainscoting & Trim Finishing, High Ceiling and TV Walls, Light Walls.
Related services
- Interior painting, which finishes every accent wall we build
- Wallpaper installation when the feature should be pattern rather than relief
- Fireplace remodels for the wall that already has a focal point on it
- Custom built-ins and cabinetry when the wall needs to store as well as look good
Send us the wall
Book a consultation and we will design a layout for your room, on your wall, before you commit to anything.
Custom accent walls in McKinney, Plano, Frisco, Prosper, Dallas, Carrollton, Celina, Allen, Aubrey, Little Elm, The Colony, Anna, Fort Worth and the surrounding DFW metro.