Today I am revisiting a DIY project we tackled a couple years back. It is one of my favorite transformations in our home. If you have checked out any of my prior posts, you already know how much I love a good DIY challenge. Bright ideas pop into my head (with help from Pinterest of course) and then I beg my hubby to help me bring them to life. Thank God he is usually a willing participant. However, he is no fool. He also knows very well that one little idea generally sparks several others that will be necessary to make the transition complete. Still, he (half willingly) agrees to come along for the ride.
I had decided it was time to do something with the accent wall behind our television. It was too blah and looking at it was driving me nuts. It is a custom little nook, carved out to purposefully house the entertainment center in our small living room space. I had longed to do something different here for quite some time but lacked inspiration. I did change the paint colors a time or two. But nothing seemed to make it feel cohesive with the rest of the decor.
Then along came the pallet wood craze! It seemed every where I turned, people were using repurposed pallet wood to create furniture pieces, outdoor bars... you name it! I decided a pallet wall would be the perfect solution to this space. Particularly because our home already had many variations of wood colors throughout it. I convinced my husband this was the answer to this space.
I should mention, we were extremely lucky when we took on this project. The first step was the easiest. We have a friend who works at a local wood pallet company who could get us rejected boards that had no nail holes or need for disassembling! SCORE! (I am sure that is the worst part of a pallet wood project!)
When the wood arrived, it ranged in various lengths and widths. The pallets were all natural in color so I decided on 3 color stains to fit our earth tone theme. We stained some of them walnut. The rest were white-washed or grey-washed. Fortunately, we were able to recruit our girls to help us with the painting. We needed quite a few pieces! The next step would take a little effort and planning on our part. We had to approach placement of each wood piece like a puzzle. We used the floor as our work mat while finding boards that worked together nicely.
After skimming through several instructional articles, we opted to paint the entire wall area black before we started hanging each row. That way if there were any small spaces between the wood slats, nothing would show through. We used a stud finder to mark the wall supports with chalk. We then began applying pieces strategically across the space. We used liquid nails on the back of each piece of wood and secured it in place with a nail gun as well.
This process really wasn't that painful at all. We had wood cutting tools for anything that needed precision trimming, etc.
I really love the contrast of the wood colors. I'm so glad we choose several different shades. However, this did make piecing it all together a bit tricky. At one point, we needed to pause to make more white-washed boards to complete the pattern we inadvertently ended up following.
In the end, it was very worth the effort! I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. It really complimented our decor and style. It also sparked inspiration to change out the entire set up in the living room. A new t.v. console and furniture soon followed. (An update I was more than ready and willing to take on!)
Even though the pallet wood craze has died down a bit, I have no regrets. The wall is certainly the focal point of our living area. I enjoy the coziness the wood brings to the feel of the room.
I was even able to re-purpose the leftover pieces to create sconces for the sides of the
television! I simply added some rope to hang them and some weathered hardware to dangle the canning jars filled with rocks and flowers.
The next time you get an itch to change it up... go for it! I never regret bringing new life to the spaces in my home. My decor is ever changing... but that is just the way I like it!
Apologies that I do not have better before and after photos. At the time of this project, I had no idea it would some day be a blog post! 😉
Do you have a favorite DIY makeover? Comment below to share what challenge you bravely took on!
Comments