This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of AirStone for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
Tackling an accent wall project can seem a little intimidating, but with the right products and a clear idea of what you’re trying to achieve, you can create something really beautiful, even if you’re a brand new DIYer!
An accent wall is really what we need in our living room and I’m so excited to be starting on this project! We’ve done a few different updates in this room over the last few months, such as when we fixed up the awkward corner behind our sofa, and when we finally got a new coffee table after having our last one destroyed by a crazy toddler (who shall remain nameless) a few years ago. We’ve decided we’re taking back the living room!
Why We Need This Accent Wall
Ever since we installed the new laminate flooring in the living room, dining room, and master bedroom, things have felt much nicer in here, but still a little bland somehow. It may be because we use this room so much as a family that the decor tends to be pretty simple. It’s a utilitarian, all-purpose space for us, but I still want it to feel like a living room. Even if most of the time, there are legos everywhere and any pillows or decorative items I put out get tossed aside, I still want this room to feel cozy and livingroom-ish. What we really need is something built-in that creates that feeling of a stylish, welcoming space, and that doesn’t need to be moved out of the way for dump trucks and tractors.
And this accent wall project is the perfect solution!
We’re using an amazing product called AirStone for our accent wall, which gives you the look of a real stone wall, without all the weight and without the difficult, inconvenient installation process that you would need for a regular stone wall. And it looks good! When you pick it up, it looks like stone and it feels like stone, only it’s a whole lot lighter!
We’ve just started on the installation process and I’m so excited to show you how it’s all going! If you’re thinking that this might be the perfect solution for you too, here’s how to install the AirStone!
Installing an AirStone Accent Wall
To start out, you’ll need to measure the wall where you want to install your accent wall. Use that to calculate the square footage. Next, take a look at the wall and see if you have and corners or edges. AirStone makes special pieces for ends of walls or for when you need to go around corners. Our wall runs between two other walls, so we just needed the regular flat pieces.
Then you basically just start sticking the stone pieces to the wall! Using a putty knife, apply the special AirStone adhesive to the back of a piece of AirStone and stick it to the wall! You want to use quite a bit on the back of each piece. Think more along the lines of icing a cake rather than buttering a piece of toast.
The AirStone pieces are designed to fit perfectly together, but everyone in awhile, you’ll need to cut a piece when you reach the end of your wall, or something like that. When you find you need to cut a few pieces to make everything fit, just take out a regular old hacksaw! The AirStone cuts really easily without any fancy tools. I think that makes this a great accent wall project for just about anyone!
That seems like way too simple of an explanation for a project like installing a stone wall. I promise you though, that’s really all there is to it!
Just spread on the adhesive, and stick the stones to the wall!…. and occasionally make a cut, but not very often. 🙂
Airstone is available at Lowe’s (except for on the West Coast) and comes in three different colors. The color I’m using is called Spring Creek, but there are two others called Autumn Mountain and Birch Bluff which are both really beautiful and natural-looking. You can use any of the stone colors indoors or outdoors in so many different ways.
Here’s a quick video so you can see how it all works and get a little AirStone Inspiration!
Big Reveal Coming Soon!
I’ll be completing this project really soon (actually I’m almost done now at the time of publishing this post) and I can’t wait to share the final result with you! I’m especially excited to be bringing in so much texture and coziness into the room at this time of year. It’s going to be really fun to decorate for Christmas with this dramatic stone accent wall in here!
Do you have a stone, or a stone-look accent wall in your home?
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.