I recently made this DIY Light up Accent Wall and I think it’s one of the coolest projects I’ve ever done in a space! I scoured the internet trying to find a tutorial and couldn’t find one exactly like it! So I’m here to show you how I tackled it! My goal was to make a light up feature wall in a little girls’ room, but when the lights were off I still wanted it to look clean and classy to where you couldn’t even see the lights! Here we go!
Here’s the before of the space! This is my neighbor, Abbie’s, bedroom and she just turned 9! I transformed this space for her birthday and we happen to have the exact same birthday!
Step 1: DIY Light up Accent Wall – Paint & Plan
The first thing I did was paint the walls I wanted to have the lights on. It saved a lot of time from trying to paint it after all the trim and lights were on the wall. The color is SW Abalone Shell. It’s a perfect dusty rosy pink that’s not TOO pink. It’s great for a young girl but also a color that can grow with them.
A behind the scenes step 1 is to PLAN your lights and figure out how many you will need, how many rows you will have, and how they will snake around the wall. You will see below how I did mine.
(Optional) Step 2: Trim Window
I framed out the window in this room before adding the trim and lights to the wall. The reason for that is because the trim for the lights has a good amount of depth to it and sticks out pretty far, and I didn’t want it to run into the window and look odd. Adding chunky trim to the window allows the thick wall trim to run into it flush. I used 1×4 primed pine for the trim and then used 1×2 primed pine turned on its side around the 1×4. You can see that in the picture below.
Step 3: DIY Light up Accent Wall – Draw Lines
I figured out how many rows of lights I wanted on the walls (6), and then drew pencil lines with a level all the way around. A laser level would be a really handy tool to have right here! I haven’t invested in one yet, but I certainly will soon!
Step 4: Nail up trim
I picked up this 3/4″ x 1/2″ trim from Lowe’s to nail right at my lines and this is what the lights will rest on. I wanted it to be thin (1/2″) and be the exact width of the lights to keep the entire depth of the trim as narrow as possible. Then I used a dot of liquid nails about every 18″ on the back side of the trim to secure it to the wall. I didn’t have to worry about nailing into studs this way. This is the nailer I use for all of my projects. I used 2″ nails.
Below is a close up of how I left intentional gaps in the corners where I knew the lights were going to be snaking through.
Step 5: DIY Light up Accent Wall – the LIGHTS!
Now for the fun part – the lights! Here are the LED strip lights I used. They are waterproof, remote control operated, have over a dozen colors, and are 100′ long strips. However, it’s actually two strands of 50′ with the power source in the middle. This is key information when planning how your lights will snake along the wall.
Here is a close up of where I started the lights and how I left a gap in the trim to allow for the cords to run through. The lights have a sticky back and you simply peel the paper off and stick them to the top of the wood trim.
Here is how I handled the corners. There were only a couple spots were I had to double up the lights and stick them on top of each other. I eventually covered them which you’ll see below.
How many lights did I use? I purchased two boxes of 100′ and used one box on each wall. It did not take the entire 100′ for each wall, and I simply cut them with scissors where it needed to end. So I have two power sources plugged into two different outlets. They work on 2 remotes, but one remote will control both sets of lights if you stand in the middle of the room.
I covered the vertical light strips that I didn’t want to be seen with electrical tape. This is not a fire hazard and safe from what I have researched online. I used black intentionally because it’s the only color that wouldn’t show the lights through the tape. I used a good primer and then painted it the same color as the wall. In the end you will barely notice this and you’ll only see the horizontal rows of lights on the trim.
Step 6: 1×2 Trim
As shown in the photo below, I nailed 1×2 boards to the front of the smaller trim boards. The most important thing here is to make sure you don’t nail INTO the lights and angle your nails slightly down just to be sure. The 1×2 trim boards hide the lights and diffuse them a little. When your boards aren’t long enough to span the entire wall, cut two pieces at a 45 degree angle and splice them together for the cleanest look. Add wood filler to the spliced joints and nail holes and then sand smooth before painting.
Step 7: Caulk & Paint
I usually despise the caulking part of projects, but this one was super quick and easy! I didn’t caulk anywhere except where the boards hit the end walls and where the two boards met in the center of the two walls. A sponge roller was used to roll the 1×2 boards pink and then a brush to touch up all the edges.
Here is the final result with the lights OFF. That’s my favorite part about this project – even with the lights off the trim still looks awesome!
and here it is with the lights on!
Here’s an up close shot of how the lights that are covered look.
Follow me on Instagram @frills_and_drills to check out my story highlights to see video of the entire process!