Wood Planked Wall Tutorial

My front room has been the hardest room in my house to decorate.  I think it’s related to my limited budget.  Actually, it’s probably completely related to my limited budget.  Wouldn’t it be fun to walk into a gorgeous furniture store and just buy exactly what you want?!  Maybe someday.   For now, it’s all about small, affordable changes.  Like a beautiful wood planked wall!  

After doing a little research, I ended up using the tutorial from House of Smith’s as my guide.   You can see their beautiful planked kitchen  HERE.

This is my entry wall:  BEFORE and AFTER.

Here’s how we did it:

We bought a 4×8 sheet of  utility plywood from Lowe’s and had them cut it into 6 inch strips.  The space was small enough to get away with just one sheet.   We painted the wall with primer first so we wouldn’t have the tan wall color peak through the planks. (This made it way easier to paint the finished wall too!)

We lightly sanded all the edges of the planks.  Then we measured the exact width of the wall and started cutting the planks to the right length.    Notice the confidence on Steffany’s face as she goes for the first cut.  Ha!  We got a couple cuts wrong and then Steff’s husband Lee was able to come help us a bit.

We used a level and marked the top of the first plank.  Then it was simply spacing and nailing.  We used the thickness of a piece of the plywood (planks)  as our spacer.   A nail gun is a lifesaver for a project like this.

We had to cut out one outlet, thank goodness Lee was here to help us with that. 🙂  We also checked that we were stacking them level every 5 planks or so.  We did not want to get to the bottom and realize the planks slowly got crooked as we went.

In about an hour, the planks were all nailed up!  I went through and filled all the holes, then sanded them smooth.

Then we just painted!  (I used the Behr color Swiss Coffee from Home Depot.)

You can see we only planked up to the top of the closet wall,   but we painted all the way up and into the tight corner.  Also, this was the most awkward space I’ve ever painted.

I re-used the table my husband built just for this space, we just gave it a small makeover HERE.

I LOVE how it all came together!  It’s a space that just encompasses my style completely-so happy with it!   Not bad for such a quick, inexpensive change!

Linking up to some of these parties: