I usually like to share thrifty decorating solutions.
This was one occasion when we decided we'd rather spend
a little money and save a lot of time and effort.
The product I used for my wood plank wall
is v groove wood planks by
EverTrue,
sold in packs of 6 eight foot long planks.
The package says it will cover 14 sq feet.
Our wall is 11 feet wide by 8 feet tall
or 88 square feet, so we bought seven packs.
I also bought three small cans of wood stain,
a light shade, a dark shade and gray.
The light shade was golden oak.
Don't buy this unless you're going for the color of mustard. Blech!
That other can is one I already had.
I usually buy Minwax stain, but I decided to give the Rustoleum a try.
I liked it. Especially the gray.
I stained all of the boards, brushing the stain on, letting it sit a couple of minutes,
then wiped off the excess.
Some I just used the gray stain, some the dark. For some I dry brushed the dark over the gray
and others I stained dark then brushed the gray over.
I was just going for old looking and
wanted quite a bit of variation in colors.
I brought them into the room and laid them out,
according to color.
The foreman was present, to make sure the job was done right,
as usual.
Mitch did the first few rows, before he had to go to work and I finished it up.
He started by finding the studs to determine where we would nail,
but these guys are so light, you don't really have to hit a stud.
There was no formula to our cuts,
we just knew we wanted it to look random, no pattern.
When we got to the outlets, Mitch notched out around them.
He used a coping saw, but said a utility knife would probably work.
We attached them to the wall with an air powered stapler. (from Harbor Freight)
Again, being supervised every step of the way.
The boards are tongue and grove so they lock together.
I was able to put up several rows before actually securing
them to the wall,
That allowed me to be sure I was happy with the layout.
We started at the floor and luckily it worked out
that I was able to finish with a full sized board at the ceiling.
The only place we had to cut the width of the boards was just above and below the window.
Mitch made those cuts and used a box cutter.
The back of the planks have channels or grooves you can follow for cutting.
You can see in the photo below, the piece above the window
is pretty thin and it broke before I got it installed.
I taped it together and kept installing,
Once it was all up we removed the tape
and patched it with wood putty.
It blended right in.
This is one time I'm so happy Mitch didn't want to go along
with my plan. Shhh, don't tell him I said that.
Remember, the room is unfinished. Excuse the unpainted window trim.
Don't mind the saw on the floor and the ladder in the corner.
Or the bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling.
We can't seem to find the light fixtures we
purchased at IKEA.
It's a bit of a mess around here.
Finishing up this wall has given me
an extra little push to forge ahead.
It's nice to see my vision coming to life.
Sharing is fun! Check out these parties~
that looks great, autum! my husband has always wanted an office with wood on the walls, so i had to pin this. it's nice to be able to plan fun redos for the future!
Posted by: randi | January 01, 2012 at 06:44 PM
LOVE IT!!! Looks Wonderful!!!
Posted by: Elaine | January 01, 2012 at 06:45 PM
Loving it! Turned out great and thanks for sharing how you did it! And still not too expensive... looking forward to seeing the room progress...
Posted by: Shari | January 01, 2012 at 07:00 PM
I love it!! (ps, I started a new blog ;)
Posted by: margot | January 01, 2012 at 07:03 PM
Great tut and the room looks fab! Can I run to Lowes now and copy?
Posted by: Pine Tree Home | January 01, 2012 at 08:58 PM
Thanks! Please do copy and send me a photo when you do : )
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 01, 2012 at 09:04 PM
Thanks Margot. Ill go check it out. Thanks for letting me know.
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 01, 2012 at 09:10 PM
Thank you Elaine!
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 01, 2012 at 09:12 PM
Thanks Randi!
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 01, 2012 at 09:13 PM
absolutely genius! i love love love this!!!!
Posted by: Yael | January 02, 2012 at 02:58 AM
Hey you!
Happy New Year!
I hadn't been by your blog in a while and have popped in and see you are up to some fabulous creative things. Loving the wood wall. The room is going to look fabulous with all your sweet touches.
Posted by: Cheryl | January 02, 2012 at 10:29 AM
I LOVE this! Love it! In fact, can you come do it in my house?
Posted by: lisa | January 02, 2012 at 01:19 PM
I *LOVE* this look, but the thought of dealing with a bazillion pallets never appealed to me.....all the nails to remove and splinters and spiders. And nails. And more nails. So not happening. Off the shelf "faux" pallets with the same look = brilliant. Makes your already interesting wall super special.
Posted by: rebecca, who has been banned from any more home improvement projects until she's finished the 173 that she's already started | January 02, 2012 at 09:27 PM
What a fantastic idea! Seriously brilliant! My hubs liked the pics I showed him of some other pallet walls, but was less than thrilled with the idea of actually creating one. Wait 'til he sees this post! Thank you so much for sharing!!!!
Posted by: Holly Kennedy | January 03, 2012 at 10:45 AM
You are welcome Holly. My husband thought the pallet wall looked cool, but not cool enough to load his truck up with pallets then spend a day dismantling them. The one thing that bothered him the most was the splinters and our granddaughter.
This was super easy. The planks are so thin they are lightweight and easy to cut. They are all the same size, so you dont have to worry as much about the layout and keeping things level. Since they lock together, if you get the first couple of rows level, they take care of themselves.
Have a wonderful day!
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 03, 2012 at 10:55 AM
Looks really good, Autum!
Posted by: Dawn | January 03, 2012 at 07:40 PM
Thanks Dawn and Happy New Year!!
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 03, 2012 at 08:29 PM
Thank you Rebecca. I didnt even think about the spiders. Splinters and nails, but not the spiders. Yep, Im glad I skipped all that fun ; )
I hope you finish one or two of those 173 projects, so the ban can be lifted. Home improvement bans are no fun.
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 03, 2012 at 08:36 PM
Hey to you Cheryl. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Glad you popped in! You havent missed much, I have been such a slack blogger lately. I hope to do better this year.
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 03, 2012 at 08:38 PM
Thanks Lisa. If you lived anywhere nearby, Id love to come by and help!
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 03, 2012 at 08:40 PM
Thank you Yael!!
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 03, 2012 at 08:43 PM
What an amazing project! I'm just sitting here in awe looking at it.
Posted by: Jennifer @ Town and Country Living | January 03, 2012 at 09:59 PM
Thank you so much Jennifer!
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 03, 2012 at 10:06 PM
Love this....
Posted by: Fishtail Cottage | January 04, 2012 at 12:48 AM
Thank you!
xo Autum
Posted by: Autum | January 04, 2012 at 06:55 AM