Chevron Accent Wall Calculator
Floor to ceiling, baseboard included.
Fewer, wider chevrons or more, narrower ones.
Drawn from the same engine that builds the plan.
Advanced Chevron Calculator → Every board numbered, the cut list, the install order and the print-ready PDF — $25 for any style.
More Styles
Experiment with different patterns before you buy.
Design Free. Pay for the Plan.
- All sixteen wall styles
- Scaled elevation, every board numbered
- Full cut list, long point, to the sixteenth
- Numbered install order with build steps
- Print-ready PDF, no watermark
See your wall drawn to your size, free. The $25 adds the numbered boards, the cut list and the printable sheets.
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- Expert Crown Moulding builds accent walls
- Twenty years of trim carpentry
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How to plan a chevron accent wall
A chevron wall uses boards cut at an angle so they meet at a centre point, making a row of upward-pointing arrows. People confuse chevron with herringbone constantly. The trick: chevron pieces are cut at an angle and meet point to point. Herringbone pieces are cut square and step past each other. If you are not sure which one you are looking at, here is the full breakdown of chevron vs herringbone. If the two ends don't close into a sharp point, it isn't chevron.
Picking your angle
You can build chevron at almost any angle. 45 degrees works fine and is easy to set on the saw. But 35 degrees is usually the sweet spot in a living space. It gives a longer, lazier arrow that is easier on the eye across a full wall. That is the angle we use on our own installs.
The angle is not the hard part
Once you set your angle it never changes. More columns or more rows won't change your saw setting.
The only tricky part is working out exactly where each angled piece lands against the vertical frame pieces.
Why the landing spot matters
Every angled board has to end somewhere. If it ends against a vertical board, that is one cut. Against a horizontal rail, also one cut. But if a piece lands exactly in the corner where a rail and a batten meet, you now need a compound cut — two different angles in the same end of the board.
It is doable, but resetting your saw for every compound corner will eat the afternoon.
The layout rule I use
To avoid the compound cuts, space your chevrons so the bottom tip of the board touches the bottom corner of the frame and the top peak touches the top corner on the opposite side. Land them corner to corner like that and every cut on the wall is a single angle. The install goes fast.
Working that spacing out by hand is real math. That is what this calculator does — it places the chevrons to avoid compound cuts so every cut stays a single angle.
I use it on my own jobs. Twenty years in and I would still rather have the numbers given to me than guess at them standing in front of a bare wall.
Walls are never square
Measure your wall at both ends and in the middle before you cut anything. Ceilings sag, floors aren't level, and corners are rarely 90 degrees. Build to the numbers you measured, not the ones you assume. For the last piece against the room's corner, plan to scribe it to fit rather than expecting a clean drop in.
Outlets, switches and vents
Outlets don't move, so plan around them. If one lands on a board, cut the wood neatly around it, not over it. Because the trim sits out from the drywall, fit box extenders behind the outlets so the cover plates sit flush and safe on the new surface.
Material and paint
Primed MDF beats pine here. No knots, no grain to fight, and it stays flat. Use wood filler at every point where two pieces meet, and sand it smooth before priming. Any gap at those points catches a shadow and shows from across the room. Glue and nail the boards.
Where chevron came from
Chevron started as a floor pattern. There is a chevron parquet floor at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France dating to 1530, long before Versailles got the credit. It only became a wall treatment in the last seventy years or so.
Common questions
What angle should I use for a chevron accent wall?
35 degrees looks right in almost every room. 45 works and is simple to cut, but anything steeper starts to look busy across a full wall.
Is chevron the same as herringbone?
No. Chevron pieces are cut on an angle and meet at a sharp point. Herringbone pieces are cut square and step past each other. Different look, different cuts.
Does my wall have to be a standard size?
No. Type in the measurements you actually have and the app draws a layout for your wall.
What do I build it out of?
Primed MDF. It stays flat, has no knots, and takes paint better than pine.
How much material do I need for a chevron wall?
A typical 10-foot by 8-foot wall takes about 120 linear feet of wood. Prices vary, but $1.50 to $3.00 per linear foot is normal. Big box stores sit at the top of that range and local lumber suppliers are often cheaper.
Can I build a chevron wall over my existing baseboard?
Yes, and it is the most common way to do it. You don't need to pull the baseboard off — your bottom rail sits right on top of what is there.
Do the chevron boards need to land on wall studs?
No. Construction adhesive on the back of the board with 18-gauge brads into the drywall holds it. If you hit a stud, that's a bonus, not a requirement. Mark your batten lines with a long level so you have a straight line to nail to.
How do I get the point to close up tight?
Two things make a clean point: your vertical battens have to be plumb, and your pieces have to be cut to the right length and angle. If a piece only touches at the short side where it meets the batten, it is cut too long. If only the long point touches, it is cut too short. A bad fit often isn't the measurement, it is the angle — practise on one piece until you see how they interact.
What about windows, doors and other obstructions?
Enter them in the advanced tool and it works out the cuts around them.