The problem it solves
Planning a picture-frame or board-and-batten accent wall by hand means fiddly arithmetic — how wide is each box if I want five columns with 6-inch gaps and a 12-inch margin? — followed by a trip to the lumber yard with a guessed cut list and the hope that it all fits. Most online calculators only make that worse: they assume every box is identical and hand back numbers with no drawing, so you never see the wall before you cut it.
Real accent walls are rarely even grids. The good ones have a wide center panel flanked by narrower ones, or a taller top row — deliberate, mixed sizes. Accent Wall Planner was built around that reality. You describe the wall and how you want it divided; it solves the geometry, draws every piece at true proportions as you type, and produces an exact, miter-ready cut list with duplicate cuts merged.
What it does well
- Different-size boxes on one wall — not just even grids. That is the whole reason it exists.
- Four styles from one engine — picture-frame molding, board & batten, wainscoting, and slat wall, each a different read of the same grid.
- A drawing at true scale that redraws live, so you trust the plan before you cut.
- An honest cut list in tape-measure fractions, with long-point miter lengths and quantities — plus plain-language warnings when a layout will not fit, never a crash.
Curious how the math works? The how it works page walks through the solver, the miter long-point measurements, and the assumptions behind every number.
Who built it
Accent Wall Planner is built and maintained by Tarun Ahirwar, a software developer and DIY hobbyist who got tired of sketching accent-wall grids on graph paper and re-doing the arithmetic every time a box size changed. It is a free, independent project with no sign-up and no data collection — see the privacy policy.
Found a layout it gets wrong, or want a style it doesn't cover yet? That feedback is genuinely useful — reach out on the contact page.