Okey Dokey. So we left off with a pile of wood. So now what? Paint the wall. I knew there would be a lot of imperfections in the wood, and there might be some gaps here and there. I just mixed up some paint I had on hand to be a dark enough tone so people wouldn’t notice the khaki color in the seams.
Alrighty! It’s time for installation. We chose to start from the top because we didn’t want it to look “forced” if the last strip didn’t fit right. I would recommend that. Just sayin’.
I hope I can explain this part right. In order to stagger the seams from piece to piece, we made sure that we started each layer on the opposite end. I drew the arrows to show what direction we went in for each level. In other words, we hung the first strip on the right side of the wall, then we hung the second strip starting on the left side of the wall. It worked like a charm.
Oddly enough, we used a level for the first few layers, but we didn’t use it for the rest of the wall. We would check it every once in a while (as if we were gonna rip the wall off and start over), but it leveled itself quite well. My point is—don’t panic about keeping it level. It should be ok.
The only obstacle really? The outlet. Truth be told, I chose not to let it be an obstacle. Because this part is barely visible, I spared my husband the stress and concern and just let him cut around it. This way, we didn’t have to get an outlet extender, new outlet plate, etc. He cut pieces around it and cut a small piece at the bottom to fit. If this were on a more exposed wall, I would have done things differently.
But…it’s in my son’s room, upstairs, on the opposite side of his bed. Who really cares? Perhaps you do. I would advise that you look away from this picture then. This might also be a good time to notice that we took the baseboard out for this wall. I didn’t like the idea of having this rustic wall paired up with a bright white baseboard. Weird. We just ripped it out and slid the last piece in. It took a little pushing and trimming, but it fit quite perfectly. Let it be known—that never happens for us.
I took a couple of close-ups so you could see the imperfections in it. Some planks stuck out from the others; some planks even had paint on them. I just let them be, ‘cause I liked it.
And a couple of final thoughts…
I’ve had some questions about precautions I took with this wood. I vacuumed it, brushed it, sanded it, and left it in my garage for several days. Other than that, nothing. I have not sealed it, but I’m not opposed to that. I’m still reading on it to see if it’s needed.
Basically, I’m not a pallet expert, and I can’t tell you what to do. However, Donna did write a pretty interesting post on some things to look for and precautions to take. Perhaps she’ll offer the advice you’re looking for. Good luck!
Here’s Part 1 if you’re interested!
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I must say it looks great! I would love to do something like this in my own room once I’m no longer renting.
Also – your husband is an allstar! I doubt my husband would ever agree to help me on such a project.
That is so stinkin’ cool. I can’t get over it. Your son is so lucky! I completely agree about the imperfections. The imperfections make it perfect.
Seriously? This is the most awesome project I’ve seen in a long time. I think it looks great and it’s especially neat in a boys room. But, I think this same look or a variation would work in another room as well. Good for you and your husband…you both did an awesome job!!!
Nancy
Beautiful! Love it ;-). FYI. If you want the outlet cover to blend in with the wood color they have brown ones at the ‘Po or Lowes….but you knew that already….hahaha
I love the “roughness” and “imperfectness” of it. Rustic, but in a high-end kind of way…
Ahh, I just love this. I adore the imperfections, it makes it look more legitimate. You guys did such a good job.
Wow.. this is spectacular!
And thanks for the mention.
What I would say on the pallet issue… with any pallet project, just bear in mind to use pallet wood at your own risk. Some wood is soaked in chemicals or carries bacteria and that’s the stuff you don’t want indoors nor near small children that still chew on everything under the sun.
Donna
Well said, Donna! It was a great article, and you are a pioneer in pallet wood! Thought they should read it.
just stumbled onto your blog and all i can say is THAT WALL ROCKS!!! great job!
So cool, Cathe! Thanks so much!!
That looks amazing! I love the texture and drama it brings to that wall. Great job! Thanks for sharing.
The finished product looks great! The imperfections add some character and make it “real.” It shows that you guys did this yourself and didn’t just slap something up there.
OMG what a gorgeous wall! I mean I know it’s in your sons room and all, but i love, LOVE it!!! Very rustic, but yet can be “manly” too! Great job!
Love love LOVE it!
Chris! It turned out AWESOME!!! I love it! Is your son liking it too? I’m sure he is! What kid wouldn’t with a cool room like that!?
LOVE IT! I’m loving all of the pallet diy things coming about! I made a bed out of pallets a few weeks back and love it! I think your wall looks fabulous as is!
I LOVE THIS! I love pallets – I use them all the time so this is right up my alley.
Absolutely gorgeous!
Pamela @ pbjstories.com
I just LOVE this look, do you by chance have a pic of the full wall with bed? Id love to see it! Thanks for sharing your amazing creations!
oops never mind… found it on part one! :o)
I love it! It looks rustic and just plain gorgeous!
Love LOVE love love love love it!!! I’ve been dying to add this in my bright cheery craft room…a little bit of rustic…but the hubby is convinced it’s all TOXIC!! I’m in search to prove him wrong….gonna go check out your link:)
Your wall looks fabulous!! Thank you!
Woah, it looks AWESOME!!
And thanks for sharing the step-by-step process with us! 🙂
Beyond amazing. This is absolutely inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing!
Love this!
Just a question – the answer to which may seem blindingly obvious, but what kind of nails did you use to attach it? I saw the electric nail gun; did you need to use a stud finder on the wall first or anything?
Thanks!
All I want to know is….did your husband think you were crazy when you told him your ideas? I would love to do this in my sons room, but I know my husband would look at me like I had 2 heads! I always have to convince him of these things!
Yes, Lauren. He thinks every idea I come up with is crazy. However, by now I think he knows that he’ll end up liking it. It’s not necessarily convincing that he needs as it is lots of time to process it! Thank you for stopping by!
Isn’t it funny how something that starts out life as something so industrial and functional turns into something that everyone, and I mean everyone, is drooling over? You and your hubby did such a wonderful job on this! What’s your next project with pallets?
Love it! Pinterest – worthy for sure. 🙂
Thanks for the link and the how-to…really love how it turned out.
This turned out incredible! I absolutely love it!
This turned out incredible! I absolutely love it!
Love the wall! I’ve been wanting to do something like this but my husband thinks I’m crazy. You’ve inspired me! Love the bed also, can you tell me where you found it??
We found it at a local furniture store about 8 years ago. I believe it’s Stanley? Thank you!
Love it, I always wanted to do something like this…..You made it seem so easy, thank you!
totally luv this idea…I want to do it in my kitchen….fabulous!
Just a note of caution… you might want to treat it for mold spores and then seal it. Especially being that you’re sleeping under it. I would have to.
We did something very similar to this in our last home to make a “cabin room”. We used 6″ wood siding with a slightly rough finish (flat, not the beveled kind) and went around all four walls. On the corners we alternated butting the end up to the wall with butting the end up to a board. The result made it look liked it was square stacked logs. Loved it!
That sounds so cool! Thanks for sharing!
I love this! It’s so rustic I would love to do my whole house it in.
Thanks so much, Katy!
This is just awesome!! Have a wall with imperfections itself and would like to try this.
This wall is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!
Gonna try it. Wish us luck!
Hiw did u attach the wood screws nails ??? Amazing that’s going in my bathroom next incredible great job
We just used a nail gun, Jordan. Good luck!
So, you just nailed right into drywall?
Sure did, Sue! Holds perfectly.
where did you get the bed frame? love it against the wall, looking for something like that in a sleigh bed style?
I believe it’s a Stanley bed we bought at a local furniture store about 8 years ago. Good luck!
You know what might make the outlet look a little bit better and not cost much (if anything…)?
Get a fancy router bit to trace around the corner. Rounded, Roman, Chamfer, etc… I guess it also depends on what color the cut away wood displays. Really bright white wood might require some paint or distressing/age.
Really big inspiration. I’ll be moving into a new house soon and plan on doing this. Do you remember what color paint you used for your son’s room?
Thanks,
Nate
What size or type of nail did you use in the gun? Did you find the nails split the wood? We are getting ready to do this in our frontroom.
Yours is gorgeous!!
Thanks, Shantel
Absolutely love, love the pallet wall – it looks amazing! Thanks for sharing your tutorial!
Very cool! I moay try this in our guest room. I was also wondering where you bought/brand name the white curtains?
Looks awesome! I have been dying to do a wall in our home like this. Did you just use a nail gun? Or did you use anything else for it to adhere to the wall?
Thanks!
Holy Smokes this is awesome!!! I wanted to do something like this on my fireplace wall, but now Im thinking using pallets are the way to go. Thankfully for me I work at a manufacturing facility and pallets are aplenty! Thanks so much for the inspiration.
Hello,
Thank you for taking the time out to read this. I have a couple questions. I was wondering how you got the pallets to match in color? I understand that the colors are not 100% identical, but they are really similar and most of the pallets I have found are really light in color. I was wondering if you just picked up the pallets that were weatherd or is there something I can do to the light colored pallets that will match to the more weathered ones. Thank You! You guys did a wonderful job! Very impressed.
I love this idea 🙂