Tools and materials
- Mitre saw or Mitre box + saw for a manual option
- MDF
- Liquid nails
- Finishing nails
- Paintable caulk
- Wood filler
- Laser level (or a standard bubble level)
- Primer
For this project, we decided on 6mm thick MDF as it sat nicely above the skirting/base board. I bought a 2440mm x 1220mm sheet and had it cut to width in-store at 50mm wide for each vertical panel, and 80mm wide for the horizontal panels.
My local B&Q has a limit of 10 free cuts and I don’t think it’s possible to pay for any more after that, but your local timber yard might be different so be sure to ask!
I would have needed 14 cuts in total, so to make sure I got everything I needed the employee first halved the sheet of MDF, then stacked them before doing the rest of the cuts. This meant I got double the amount of panels within the 10 cut limit β genius!
Given that B&Q limit their cutting service though, I had to then head back to my workshop to shorten each panel so that they were the length I actually needed. I used my mitre saw for this but you can also do it by hand using a mitre box + saw.
With all the panels cut to size, installation could begin! I set up the laser level to the height of the panelling, and used the vertical laser line to start putting the vertical pieces in place.
Tip: I made the mistake of starting with the vertical panels, the pressure of DIYing in someone else’s house totally got to me and I wasn’t thinking straight! I would recommend starting with the horizontal pieces first. That way, you can butt each vertical piece up against them, eliminating any gaps between the MDF pieces.
Apply the liquid nails in a wavy pattern all the way along each panel, line it up on the wall then hold it in place for a couple of minutes. The MDF is quite light, so this should be enough for it to hold itself in place.
If you’d rather not use glue, some walls make it possible to use nails only. This makes it easier to remove the panels later down the line and will leave less damage.
For the horizontal pieces, it’s the same process except I hammered in a couple of nails to hold it in place (because gravity). We’re using finishing nails which mean they have basically no head, so they’re easy to cover up with tiny amount of wood filler.
Caulk around all the edges and fill any gaps between panels. The caulk will likely need about 24 hours to dry.
Tip: Using a wet wipe to remove excess caulk is a bit less messy than using your finger!
If you’ve used wood filler to cover up any nails, give it a light sand. Then it’s time to prime the MDF and paint it any colour you like!
And that’s it! A super simple and cheap way to add interest to any room.
Thanks for reading! Click below to check out my YouTube video for this project!