Easy DIY Slat Wood Accent Wall for a Moody Bedroom

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May 5, 2026

On May 5, 2026

After 4 years of living in our first home, I decided it was time to take things to the next level, literally. I ditched the low ceilings upstairs, gave up a guest room and my office and added a dormer to the back of the house so I could finally have full ceilings and a true primary suite.

While my town required me to hire out for the heavy lifting, I promised myself I’d jump in and handle all the finishing work once the major construction was done. It was finally my turn to jump in, sort of. I took a pretty bad fall and messed up my hand. I had about 4 days to get this project done before my surgery and a long road of physical therapy.

In this project we’re going to prime and paint the room and then get a really cool accent wall up so that while I’m recovering from surgery the furniture will be delivered and we’ll have a functional primary bedroom. Things are going to look a little different for a bit, but let’s get started friends!

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Want to see this build in action? You can watch my build video here (+ make sure to subscribe to my channel)!

Projects

Here are links to other projects on my channel that I referenced and the other primary bedroom projects!

The Metallica Room

Primary Bedroom Walk-in Closets

Tools + Materials

Tools

Materials

Recap

In case you’re new here, here’s a little visual from during the dormer project.

Here’s the new view from my living room!

Prime

Here we are with a fresh new wall in the primary bedroom, and a ceiling that I can’t reach when I lift up my arms, what a concept.

What do you think of my new accessory? It’s time to call in the troops to quite literally lend me a hand. You’ve got to throw a pun in there, because if you don’t laugh, you cry, right?

I’m so grateful for my brother and sister-in-law who are tapping in for a lot of the projects I need help with. We were quite the crew as we got the primer up on the walls.

The worst part about getting this injury is that it happened while I was doing something I do everyday, carrying something heavy into my house. And of course I had to trip while walking backwards. But we know how to figure things out so that’s exactly what we’re doing.

Before we could start painting the walls we had to cut down the boards for the accent wall so we could get them out of the way.

Paint

I was so hesitant about this color, I just didn’t know if it was going to be the right shade. How do you think I felt about seeing it on the wall for the first time?

You might remember the Metallica room, which was our guest room and is now where my new bathroom is going to be. (I cannot wait to show you that project…if you need to see it now, it’s on YouTube!)

Let’s just say I’m pulling a lot of inspiration from the Metallica Room. I’m obsessed. I wanted that same dark, moody vibe with cool neutral accents and really thoughtful lighting in my primary bedroom so badly. So that’s the direction we were aiming for.

I don’t think I’ll be color drenching this room the same way, though, mainly because the ceilings here aren’t standard height. They’re about seven feet high instead of eight. So in the meantime I decided to keep the ceiling white. I might change it later, but I want to live with it for a bit and see how it feels before I make the final call.

Ok last time I did an accent wall everyone came for me for wasting paint by painting the wall top to bottom. This time I didn’t paint where the accent boards are going, so I better not hear any complaints!

Attach the Panels

One of the things I loved most about the Metallica room was that accent wall with the hidden lighting. There were a few things I wanted to change about it, and I finally got the chance to do that in this space, which was really exciting.

So I started by applying these panels to the wall. The first two panels went up with DAP HD Max construction adhesive because they set the alignment for the rest. I wanted to make sure everything was straight from the start.

I’ll also be running wiring behind the other panels, so I needed to keep those removable. That’s why I’m not permanently adhering all of them to the wall. These panels also have a tongue and groove system, so once the first two are locked in, adding the rest becomes a lot easier, especially working one-handed. Using adhesive and screws on those first panels made them really solid, and then I just used screws for the rest.

Also, it’s very hard for me to hand over power tools to someone else, but honestly, this might be a blessing.

Jordan is about to learn how to use every tool in my shop over the next couple months while helping me out and if he can do it, anyone can.

He is a quick study and I think we’re going to do just fine.

Add LightinG

To add some cool ambient lighting to these panels I used an LED strip. I ran the wiring behind the panels I installed, so everything is completely hidden, which is really nice.

I chose to plug them in instead of hardwiring them because there’s a chance I might want to swap them out in the future, and keeping things a little less permanent gives me choices. These also came with clips instead of adhesive backing, and I actually prefer that. It ends up looking a lot cleaner that way.

Now, you might be wondering why I didn’t run the panels all the way to the ceiling. I want this to act more like a partial headboard, and since the ceilings are a bit low, leaving that space above actually makes the room feel taller. It also gives me room to add artwork or maybe some plants.

Stain the Panels

At first, I felt like the wood looked too bright against the dark wall, so I decided to stain it a little darker to match the wood I’m using in the closets. I’m really glad I did because it looks so much better now.

And yes, it probably would have been easier to stain everything beforehand, but since I’m working with one hand right now, it was actually easier to do it once everything was already installed and not moving around. In hindsight, I’m really glad I did it this way. It made the process a lot simpler with only one good hand to work with.

Cover the Lights

Let’s cover up these ugly LED lights with some wood and clean this up.

We nailed in the trim with my pin nailer. By the end of this recovery I’ll be ambidextrous and Jordan will have held us together the whole way through.

It looks so sick.

Touch Ups

The last thing I wanted to do was fill in all the nail holes and seams on these boards to make everything look more finished and professional.

I used DAP wood putty in the Golden Oak color, and once I wiped away the excess, it blended in perfectly. You really can’t even tell where the nails were.

The Reveal

This project didn’t exactly go the way I planned, but honestly, I think that makes it even more meaningful. Between the chaos, the curveballs, and having to rely on the people around me, this space has already become more than just a bedroom.

It’s a reminder that sometimes progress doesn’t look perfect, and that’s okay. We figure it out, we adapt, and we keep building anyway.

I’m so excited to keep transforming this upstairs space and to share the rest of the journey with you. This is just the beginning, so until next time, Happy DIYing!