Hey guys! I took a little break from my furniture building to add an easy and inexpensive, planked wall treatment to my dining room!
I love the character it adds to this room and it was super easy 🙂 This wall is about 12 1/2′ long and I took the paneling up about 4 1/2′ making the total cost of this wall treatment around $100! Here’s how I did it!
I had Home Depot rip 2 sheets of 1/2″ Purebond Birch Plywood into 7 1/2″ boards (essentially creating 6 – 1×8 boards). I chose 1/2″ plywood because the width worked the best against my existing baseboards but you could do 1/4″ or 3/4″ as well. Having these boards ripped, as opposed to purchasing 1×8 pine, saves money and the boards will be straight – win, win! I brought the boards home and got to work! I cut my very first piece at 4′, then the next at 6′. There really is no rhyme or reason to the pattern but you don’t want your joints to stagger as you work your way up the wall.
I didn’t use glue for this project – you can use a panel adhesive, but I am fickle and may not want this wall up forever. Nailing these planks to the studs is the best solution for a temporary wall treatment and would also be great if you are renting! So, I used my stud finder to mark the studs along the wall.
I used my level just to make sure the planks stayed level
and nailed several 2″ nails, through each plank, into every stud.
And, like Whitney did on her Pallet Wall, I used pennies as spacers between the planks.
I did have one electrical socket and light switch to maneuver around but this was a piece-of-cake! ****Before handling any socket, turn the electricity to the area off!!**** After turning the power off to this room, unscrewed the machine screws holding the sockets. I didn’t remove them completely, I just loosened them so that a 1/2″ plank would fit underneath.
I marked the spot on the plank that hit the socket and used my Jigsaw to cut out a spot for the socket.
The machine screws that you have in your existing socket will probably not be long enough. I purchased 1 1/2″ machine screws at Home Depot for about $2 and replaced the existing screws.
I stopped the pallets after 7 rows and then added trim.
I attached a 3.5″ piece of casing directly on top of the top planks with wood glue and 2-inch nails, into the studs.
Finally, I glued and nailed 1×3 to the top to form a small ledge.Time to finish!
To prep for the finish, I taped off around the edges with my ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape
and filled all of my nail holes with 3M™ Wood Filler !
To get the dark to show under the distressed paint, my first step was to apply 1-coat of stain around the edges of each plank.
After letting the stain sit for about 5 minutes, I wiped it down with a clean cloth.
Once the stain was dry, I applied a very thin layer of Vaseline to the edges that I wanted the stain to peek through.
Then, I rolled 2-coats of paint. I had Home Depot mix a latex paint to match my trim so that the base boards looked like part of this treatment.
Once the paint dried, I used my 3M Ultra Flexible sanding sheets. This is a new product from the 3M™ Advanced Abrasives line and it is AMAZING!
fold it and shape it! It works wet or dry, it is clog resistant and it resists punctures, tears and creases! It’s pretty much the mac daddy of sanding sheets! I just ran a 150-grit all over the edges of the planks and the paint fell off where the Vaseline was applied.
Once I had the distressed-look I was going for, I removed all of the tape and replaced the plates over the light switch and electrical socket.
I’m so happy with my new plank wall! This is a project that can definitely be finished in a day and at $100, it is so much bang for your buck!!! If you like my $110 Dining Table, you can download our FREE plans to build your own HERE! You can read about my curtains HERE, the centerpiece HERE, the flooring in this room HERE, the chandelier HERE and the paint color on my walls HERE!
Be sure to check out the 3M DIY Website to learn more about their products! They have rolled out a new look to the website and they are featuring new project ideas to inspire your DIY itch even more!
You can also check them out on their social channels!
I am proud to be a 3M- sponsored blogger, and, as part of my responsibilities, I get the opportunity to evaluate products from 3M DIY. Opinions are my own and additional product used in the project were selected by me.
Hello love this wall and plan on something similar in my dining area but what I do want to know is where you go the rug that is under the table 🙂 Love that rug!
You know how sometimes you finish a project but sometimes there are a few details that need tying up? Yea, no, may-b-e … here is one of mine. Well, my MB was just a little to big up load the picture. So, I’ll just have to tell you. My unfinished area is the front of my kitchen bar. It is orange not OSU or even Longhorn orange, but that orange wood of the 80’s. ugh, I am slowly making it disappear in my house. We finished the kitchen last fall. But I have left the front of the bar untouched because frankly I didn’t have a clue what to do with it. We have 5 grown kids and waiting on our 7th grandchild, plus we live on a small ranch, dogs, horses, a goat and muddy boots (at least I keep telling myself it is mud). All that combined equals a lot of feet touching, kicking and overall dirtying up the front of the bar. Then yesterday I saw your PIN and thought, THAT IS IT!! White is what I am going for and being distressed, even better, Hello! WIN, WIN!! Yes I know I’m using caps, I am a little excited, and in my head I am yelling those words. lol. Out to the shop I ran and checked out the left-over pile of ever growing wood scraps and such. I quick check with the hubs, not sure why, sometimes I just like to cover my bases. Not sure there is enough 1/4″ ply to finish, but enough to get me started until the stores open or I run out, which ever comes first. It is a quart til six in the morning and I’m headed out to the shop to see if I can beat this Oklahoma heat. Wish me luck. I’ll try and post pictures when I’ve completed one of my many un-done details.
RhoniT did you ever finish your project???? Would love to see pictures!
I’m getting ready to do my small guest bath with the distressed plankls!
I’m excited!
This wall post inspired my husbands and I most recent DIY project. We did a wall like this in our main floor guest bath. It looks amazing and we get so many compliments on it!
Hello ladies,
I loved this projected that I did my own plank wall out of pallets… You guys are the best.
I adore this project!! What a great way to make a house your own! I’m pinning this to do in our new house! I was wondering…the light above the table is similar to a light I want to get for our dining room. I was wondering where you got it, and does it give enough light off to feel like a regular light? Or is it more mood lighting? I know the bulbs will come in to play with that, but how does it work for you?
Thank you, Jennifer! There is a link to the chandelier below the last picture. It is VERY bright and lights up the whole room. Hope this helps 🙂
I am so doing this wall, it’s beautiful!
I am planning out what I need now. Found the purebond and nailer. Is there anyway you could show me what kind of trim you used? I have been looking online for a while now but can’t seem to find anything that looks like it would allow me to attach the 1×3 board to the top of it.
Hi Whitney!
I just used a standard casing that I bought from Home Depot. I think it was 2.5″ wide. It’s flat on the back and about 1/2″ thick. I just glued and nailed it straight to the top plank then put the 1×3 on top.
This project made the room feel more interesting and I learned a lot reading every direction slowly. Love this and will bookmark it. Thank you!
Thank you so much 🙂
Love this idea. Got a question, how would you finish the sides if the wall wasn’t recessed like the one that you have but opposite so that you would have to put something on the left and right ends of the wall section that you built?
I have a wall that this would look great on, but it is a single wall in the living room and I would have to add something on the ends to hide the ends of the boards.
Hi,
You could do several things. You could trim it with 1x boards, use a stick of corner trim or you a quarter round stick. Hope this helps!
I love the light about the table. Where did you get it from?
Thanks Jennifer! There is a link below the first picture 🙂
I don’t see the link, under the first picture, for where you bought the light above the table. Do you have the name of the store or even the name of the light?
*last picture not first.
Shanty2Chic, Love this treatment! I saw you place the pennies to space the butt ends of the planks but do you also put pennies above when starting the next layer?
Thanks Jennifer! Yes, all of the joints 🙂
this is amazing!!
Looks awesome!!
Thank you Julia 🙂
Beautiful! Love the room . Could you share your source for the curtains
Thank you Monica! There is a link to the curtains under the last pic 😉
I am totally doing this in my hallway! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!
Thank you Dona!
Love Love It!!!
Thanks so much, Michelle!