Stone Accent Wall Ideas

Accent walls have been all the rage for many years now; so much so that some design professionals are beginning to hint that the trend has lingered past its prime. Others feel that accent walls, when strategically chosen and wisely planned will never go out of style.

The real trick in installing a successful accent wall is making the right decision about which wall to feature, and how to realize a successful accent “statement”.  Many designers and DIYers use a different colored paint to create their accent; others use wallpapers, yet others use photos, paintings or object arrangements to become the focal point of a room.  All options are equally viable, limited only by the homeowner’s imagination.

When Kirsten and Evan of www.paintspeckledpawprints.net  moved into their new home they singled out one wall in their new living room that cried out for accent treatment.  The wall was narrow and abutted the stairwell to their upper floor. The couple had long dreamed of having an accent wall done up in real stone, and this seemed the perfect chance to bring the dream into reality. Their home lacked a fireplace, a stone-clad wall seemed like the next best thing to add some character and hominess to their living area.

That is, until “sticker shock” hit.  Using real stone even on a narrow wall like theirs was prohibitively expensive, especially for new homeowners.  A tour of the local home improvement center did, however, yield the perfect, (not cheap but certainly more affordable) alternative, a remarkable invention called “Airstone”.

Airstone is a composite stone material that is lightweight enough to be adhered directly to drywall and which requires no special equipment, other than a standard hand hacksaw to cut and fit. The stone is applied using a specially formulated adhesive, and comes in both flat and natural edges, as well as fitted stone pieces.  Kirsten and Evan planned their accent wall as a column and had no need to wrap around corners, so chose the flat and natural edged options.  The color scheme they went with was called  “Autumn Mountain” and included a pleasing array of naturally colored stones about an inch deep.

They started the project by thoroughly cleaning the wall surface and (with the power cut off) dismantling an existing flat TV mount and removed an existing electrical outlet temporarily, planning on re-mounting both TV and outlet over the Airstone installation. Because the wall treatment was to extend from the floor up, they also pried off the baseboard and threw it away.  An adjustment to the existing stairway bannister was also required; they accomplished this by removing half-bannister column originally affixed to the wall to be accented, planning to have the stairway rails affix directly to the new façade.

The installation work commenced immediately, and true to the claims of the product, the Airstone was simple to apply and easily cut to fit around the outlet and TV mount wiring.  For great in-process photos and plenty of detail on the installation, be sure to click on the link and visit their blog.  We bet that you’ll be installing your own accent wall once you get a look at their successfully completed project!

http://www.paintspeckledpawprints.net/2013/02/diy-stone-accent-wall.html

And if you like this idea then check out this pallet wood wall made of wood tiles.