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I’m So in Love with This $30 Accent Wall Idea (It’s So Easy, Even I Could Do It!)

Sarah Everett
Sarah EverettAssistant Editor of Home Projects at Apartment Therapy
I’m from Columbia, Missouri, a journalism town (okay, technically a college town with a big journalism school). It’s also home to one of my favorite things: True/False Film Fest, an international documentary festival. So I’ve been inspired by journalism/journalists/nonfiction storytelling for, I think, forever? I have an MA and BA in journalism from the University of Missouri and Belmont University, respectively. While in school, I worked for city magazines (and also started working part-time for AT!). I learned to love clever, voicey content that’s helpful, whether it’s recommending something to watch or read, helping you get involved in your community, or helping you decorate your home. As Assistant Editor of Home Projects, I cover DIY and design, and I organize the Before & After series. (If you’ve done a cool project, please send it to me!) Outside of work, I love doing the crossword, chatting with friends, drinking iced lattes, and going on little walks and sometimes longer runs. If there were a job that combined those things, I would do that. But for now, I'll do the next-best thing, where I pretty much do chat with friends, read, drink lattes, and go on little walks — with lots of writing, editing, and looking at cool homes mixed in.
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published Jul 21, 2024
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Drop cloth on floor next to empty, light neutral wall next to white stair rail.
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Credit: Fray_at_home

Even though I love DIY projects and am totally down to paint a wall a solid color or apply peel-and-stick wallpaper, I’m not actually that deft with detailed hand-painting. Maybe that’s why I’m so in love with this DIY project of little painted rectangles by Tracey Varndell (@fray_at_home) because it actually leans into any mistakes and imperfections. 

Tracey was looking to add a painted accent to a “very plain and boring” wall in a main thoroughfare in her house. All it took was one leftover tile from her kitchen project, a pencil, a paintbrush, and a sample-sized pot of paint to create a cool pattern that was very beginner-friendly.

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Credit: Fray_at_home

Tracey did the project by tracing the same tile repeatedly with a pencil, then filling in the rectangles by hand with leftover paint. A stencil would have made super crisp lines, but I find the slight variation really charming — it’s the same effect you’d get from bespoke handmade tile!

“I wanted them to be uneven, wonky and not uniform….honest!!!” Tracey writes on Instagram of her faux tile accent wall. 

I love this project not only because it’s beginner-friendly but because it’s versatile, too. I could see this same technique sprucing up a mudroom floor or a kitchen backsplash on a budget — and in any color. (Tracey used Split Pink Paint by Little Greene Paint Co.) 

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Credit: Ji Hea Kim

Tracey says many people think this wall accent is actually tile, and you could vary up your traced tile shape, too, to get the exact look you’re after. For example, a hex shape would create a honeycomb look like the one above. (That’s from Ji Hea Kim’s dining room makeover.)

To read more about Tracey’s $30 project, check out the full Before & After. Want help finding a stencil or tile shape that suits you so you can do this project in your own home? Here’s how to choose a tile that matches your style.

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Renovating