Today’s contributor is Sara from The Aqua House. All posts written by Sara for Make It and Love It can be found HERE.
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Hello again! Its Sara from The Aqua House and I’m excited to share with you how I made this Faux Barn Wood Wall in my little boys’ room.
Have you ever wanted to make a fun barn wood or reclaimed wood wall in your house but can’t find the right barn wood…or ANY barn wood? That was me! I wasn’t able to find the barn wood I wanted for this project so I decided to fake it and make my own “reclaimed” wood. The best part of this project is that this wall only cost me around $30 to complete.
Since you are making your own “barn wood” you can customize it to any color that you want. For my wall, I decided to add in a few different shades of stain to add some depth and dimension to the wall, but you could definitely do it all the same color or even add more variety!
You can let the natural grain of the wood shine through or you can go darker; the choice is all up to you. Plus, you don’t have to worry about what may or may not be living in that old wood…in case you are paranoid about bugs, like me!
If you are looking for the perfect way to add a rustic touch to a room, this wall is a quick and easy way to get that look.
Are you ready to make your own Faux Barn Wood Wall?
SUPPLIES:
First, you will need to buy your underlayment. I found mine in the paneling section at Home Depot… next to the bead board and fake brick panels. It is basically a 1/4 inch thick plywood. On one side it will have a wood grain look. For my project I used 3 sheets of the underlayment, but you may need more or less depending on how many square feet your wall is. Either in store or at home, cut your sheets down to 8 inch wide planks using a table saw.
Pull all stickers off and sand the rough edges. Now your planks are ready to be stained. I used a gray stain from Minwax called “Classic Gray”. On all of my boards I did a very light coat of stain so that the wood grain was still visible. Then on one half of my boards I went over the stain with a light coat of watered down white paint (1/2 paint, 1/2 water).
I then put another coat of gray stain over the white. This coat really darkened the boards, but the white wash still peaked through.
Now it is time to put the boards on the wall. Your planks most likely won’t be the exact same length as your wall and so you will need to cut them down and put them back together like a puzzle. This will require measuring and cutting your desired lengths on a compound miter saw.
The lengths you do are all up to you and what you think looks good. I did variations between using 2 or 3 boards per row. Stagger your lengths so you don’t have any of your joints lining up with the rows above or beneath it.
You will start at the top of the wall by the ceiling. If your ceiling is like mine, there may not be a perfectly straight line between the wall and the ceiling. Don’t worry about the unevenness of the ceiling because it will all work out! Place your first plank against the ceiling as tight as it will go. Then check with a level to make sure that your board is level. A crooked board can throw your whole wall off!
Once the board is level, nail it into place. Your boards will be placed on the wall right next to each other to create a butt joint.
Work your way across the wall piecing together your cut pieces. It may be helpful to cut the pieces as you go so you can take a measurement of how much more you need and then cut. Work down towards the floor row by row taking care to stagger your joints and colors.
If you are doing a whole wall, chances are you will come across a light switch or electrical outlet. When this happens you will need to measure where exactly the outlet or switch will be on the board and cut out an opening for it. To cut this opening I used a fein saw. You could also use a jig saw; just make sure to drill a pilot hole.
Cut the opening to fit the space around the outlet with the cover off.
After the board is attached to the wall you can replace the outlet cover for a seamless look.
To end your rustic wall on the bottom you may need to cut down one of your planks lengthwise to make it skinnier so it fits between the base board and the previous row. Because I demo’d this wall before I did the rustic planks (it used to have bead board on it), I just added a new piece of trim to the very bottom.
And that’s it! You should be done! There’s no need to worry about filing nail holes because we are going for a rustic look anyways. Now enjoy decorating that room to match its new wall!
Hope you enjoy!
-Sara
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Adding a personal, rustic look to any bedroom is easier than you might think! Here are a few more DIY projects for the bedroom that will add that personal touch you are looking for, on the cheap:
Super Simple Barn Door Tutorial
Very Simple DIY Wood Plank HEADBOARD
Knock-Off “Darling, I Love You” Sign
Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!
