Hey guys!  I took a little break from my furniture building to add an easy and inexpensive, planked wall treatment to my dining room!

DIY-Distressed-Plank-Wall

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!

cut-planksI 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.

mark-studsI 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.

keep-planks-levelI used my level just to make sure the planks stayed level

nail-planks-to-studsand nailed several 2″ nails, through each plank, into every stud.

use-pennies-for-spacingAnd, like Whitney did on her Pallet Wall, I used pennies as spacers between the planks.attach-trim-to-studs

adjust-light-switchI 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.

cut-for-electrical-socketI marked the spot on the plank that hit the socket and used my Jigsaw to cut out a spot for the socket.

electrical-socketEasy!

machine-screwsThe 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.

progress-with-plank-wallProgress

adding-trim-to-pallet-wallI stopped the pallets after 7 rows and then added trim.

attach-trim-to-studsI 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.let-glue-on-trim-dryTime to finish!

prep-for-paintTo prep for the finish, I taped off around the edges with my ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape

3M-Wood-filler

fill-nail-holesand filled all of my nail holes with 3M™ Wood Filler !

stain-edges-of-planksTo 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.Varathane-Carrington-Wood-Stain-500x740

wipe-stainAfter letting the stain sit for about 5 minutes, I wiped it down with a clean cloth.

apply-vaselineOnce the stain was dry, I applied a very thin layer of Vaseline to the edges that I wanted the stain to peek through.

apply-paintThen, 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.

distress-edgesOnce 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!

ultra-flex-abrasiveYou can roll it

ultra-flex-sand-paperfold 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.

distressed-edgesStarting to take shape 🙂

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.

inexpensive-plank-wallAnd that was IT!

DIY-Distressed-Plank-Wall

how-to-plank-a-wall

DIY-pallet-wallI’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!

3M DIY Twitter 

3M DIY Facebook 

3M DIY Pinterest

3M DIY Instagram

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.

 

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34 Comments

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  2. I absolutely love this! I can think of many places I’ll be using this as we are remodeling our 1970’s decor home. I love the “bar front” idea and would also love to see pictures of RhoniT’s finished bar!!!!

    My specific question for you: I’d love to dig thru the 3M DIY website, but the link is bad “Page Not Found”. I’ve tried finding it, but am not having any luck. Can you provide a new link? Fingers crossed…. :). Thank you!! (I’m addicted to your website!!!)

  3. Could you share where you purchased your wood flooring and it’s name/style and color pattern? Thank so very much. I’m going to attempt this in my laundry room ?

  4. Love this project and my wife and I are going to attempt it in a couple of weeks but question though, can I use a brad nailer? I am going to use 1/4″ wood for the planks.

  5. 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!

  6. 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.

    1. 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!

  7. 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!

  8. 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?

  9. 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.

    1. 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.

  10. 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.

      1. 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?

  11. 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?