Adding more usefulness to your walls
If you haven’t been using more of your home to its full advantage, perhaps you can consider how your walls can be upgraded. With much of the items, we keep at home getting harder and harder to store, your wall is the perfect place for DIY shelf projects. Yet if you already have plenty of shelving, why not spice-up how they look with a look that lends better to your room design?
Built-in shelving
Installing shelving on a wall is pretty straight forward in terms of a DIY project. You can buy premade kits at the local hardware store or even online. More attractive quality shelving will also come in kit form unless you want something more specific. Matching the right shelving to your room is a matter of personal taste. The better the shelf looks and how it’s attached is going to be the tricky part.
All the walls in your home will have sheetrock and wooden studs placed behind them. These are the anchor points where support beams can be hung. You don’t want to have anything too heavy on a shelf that isn’t attached to a sturdy wooden stud first. You’ll also need to measure the distance between studs using a stud locator. This helps your shelving to remain attached to the wall when you have plenty of shelf support.
Bookshelves
Bookshelves are meant to hold more than just books but for the most part, need to hold weight. Building a sturdy bookshelf along an entire wall is impressive enough and some are very elaborate. These can also include ornate molding that is attached to the edges of shelves and make a bookshelf look more like furniture. One hot DIY trend is installing a bookshelf that has a secret door.
This allows your room to have a more complex look and can disguise something as ordinary as a closet door. Bookshelves are also a great place to put decorative items within these layers of books. Not only do you have more space to start a great book collection, but less clutter within the room itself. Having a customized library is one way to beautify your home and gives an empty wall more appeal.
Recessed shelving
This is one idea that’s a bit more advanced but is worth the extra work. It’s essentially a wall that has shelving added but gives the appearance the shelves are built into your wall. This is great for rooms that are especially large and won’t miss the extra inches taken away. What makes recessed shelving work so well is you can also build into the empty space that’s not being used for secret storage.
Valuables and items that you want to keep safe can be stored inside special chambers or pop-out doors. You can find many DIY videos on Youtube on how to make a recessed bookshelf, and here is a good example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3YkScfJOVk
Add some wainscoting
A wall that is simple and smooth isn’t always the most pleasing to look at. If you want to give your walls more appeal and depth, wainscoting is an affordable and fancy way to beautify your home. Among the most complex-looking designs are usually the most simple to attach. You’ll find a lot of DIY instructions on how to create the wainscoting look using general wood molding from the hardware store.
These molded strips can be attached using universal adhesives or from small wood screws. Afterward you, fill-in, any gaps left over with wall spackle and then paint your wall to blend-in everything. This can make homes look more stately and luxurious with a simple wainscoting pattern.
Add more texture
Some walls need to have a texture that gives them character. Why not give your wall a look that resembles a rock, stone, or any number of textures. This can be achieved using simple materials including wall plaster, insulation spray foam, and patience. Before you add any heavy texture to your wall you’ll want to add chicken wire to all the areas you intend to cover. This wire can be secured to the wall studs and serves as a base for building onto.
Ordinary wall plaster or plaster of Paris is best for basic texture using your hands, or any kind of trowel. The heavier texture should have spray insulation foam spread over the wall in sections. You can spray it with water in a spray bottle afterward to get it to cure faster. Then you can carve into the hardened foam with a razor knife or rasp to get dramatic textures and shapes. Afterward, you cover the finished foam with a coating of plaster to smooth out areas. This can be painted with standard wall paints to get the color you want your wall to look like.