Last weekend, we knocked out the feature wall in our office and I’m so excited to share how it turned out! We actually dreamed up this idea all the way back in November (see the original mockup right here) , but like all good ideas, it has shifted and tweaked and changed into something we connect with even more.

We wanted it to feel signature CLJ and boom, it really does. We wanted a nod to the modern cottage vibe we’re carrying throughout this house, so bringing in beadboard (that we have multiple other places in the house) felt right on the money. You know what didn’t? This:

Hahahahaha. We got these boards already stained an hour before we had to do a project for a day in the life thing that a company came and filmed a couple weeks ago. They wanted us to do a few hands-on projects QUICKLY, so we did this and yeah…it was a mistake and came right down afterward. But it was just the push we needed to actually tackle this wall.

Vertical planking is really trending right now, but like I said above, I wanted to tie in a more traditional look, so we went with classic beadboard. Specifically these beadboard tongue and groove planks that fit together.


We were looking for the large sheets, but no one in town had them in stock and it actually worked out because these felt sturdy and fit together really well. Although I panicked when I stood back and saw the joints where each board connected with the next. The lines were right where the bead line was so a thin line of caulk made the separate planks look like one uniform wall once it was painted.

But before we could do that, we had to be strategic about how to make these 8′ planks fill our 9′ tall wall. We added crown on top and, in the picture above, you can see that we added an mdf board on the bottom. We actually used a piece of shiplap so we could use the lip of the board to cover the bottom end of the paneling, and then layered our baseboard in front of that.

Once all the trim was up, we caulked and painted. Again, I wanted to go for a very Chris Loves Julia color, so I chose a navy/gray/green–Downpipe by Farrow and Ball. I had it color matched at Sherwin Williams and the color is perfect! Here’s the formula they mixed, if you’re interested:

Sometimes it looks like a grayed out navy…

And sometimes it looks like it has a little more green in it!…

It actually reminds me a lot of our old living room’s wall! We added these beautiful sconces from Rejuvenation (my favorite–also used them in the Fullmer kitchen with clear glass and facing down!) And the finishing touch was adding our logo. We ordered it from Dropcap Studio. They are an incredible company (and friends of ours!) who specialize in house numbers (any size, color, font you can think of!) but they can actually do any words, letters, phrases or numbers!

It comes with an easy template you just tape on the wall. It has lines to make sure it’s centered and level and shows you exactly where to drill–it’s fool proof! Here’s a short video of hanging our logo:

We still need cover plates for the outlets and I have some paint touchups to do, because the painters tape bled a little bit. And I was not sure if I wanted to paint the baseboard or not, but a sectional is going to be in front of it anyway, so I think I’ll just leave it for now.

I know not everyone is putting their brand name on a wall in their house, but I hope this can still inspire a future accent wall in your home. I can see art in the middle of the sconces so easily!