That's how it is in our house.
Honestly, when we bought this house I absolutely hated the colors the prior owner
had literally in EVERY room.
Some peoples taste astonishes me, although some may think the same of me.
Anywho.
I came across a picture of a wooden wall made out of pallets and really liked it.
After much debating with my husband, I finally convinced him to build a wall with me.
However, we didn't use pallets. We used 2x6 pieces of lumber.
I wouldn't have to sand them down nor worry about chemicals on them.
First, we had to measure the wall and figure out how many 2x6s we were going to need.
Once my husband bought all the wood, it was time to think of colors and the sizes we were going to cut the wood into.
Off to Lowes I went.
***********One side note:::: We decided to place large sheets of plywood on the wall first, it made it easier to nail the wood where we wanted when it came time to put them up.
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| Plywood Sheets |
I probably stood there for a good 15 minutes trying to think what would go good together. I already knew I needed 3 different colors... one light, one medium, and one dark. The one thing I did forget was to see what color my wooden floors were. I was so worried everything would clash.
BTW... if I can make a suggestion to store, please make your sampled woods movable! Would have been nice to be able to place them next to each other. Just saying.
Okay okay.. I finally got my colors.
I went with Minwax's:
Ipswich Pine (light)
Early American (medium)
Dark Walnut (dark)
Oh and don't forget your Polyurethane, you need a coat of this over your stain.
Now, it's time to figure out the cuts. I figured we were going to have three colors and I wanted it to look a certain way.... it only made sense to have 3 different sizes. We cut them into halves, thirds, and fourths.
Here is the math for ours. (Keeping them in groups for each color helps)
We had 54 - 2x6s.
Separate 9 piles, each pile should have 6 - 2x6s.
This is the 9 piles broken down.
You will have 3 piles for the large pieces, 3 piles for the medium pieces, and 3 piles for the smaller pieces. Each pile in those categories will be for one of the colors.
I know my brain was hurting too.
***Remember to keep them separate once they are cut, in the same piles you had before.
For the large pieces, cut the 2x6s in half.
For the medium pieces, cut the 2x6s every 2 feet.
For the smaller pieces, cut the 2x6s every 18 inches.
Make sure to blow away/clean up any saw dust, you don't want it getting stuck to your wood while you are staining it.
It's time to stain! It can be very time consuming. I would recruit a helper! While my husband stained one color, I stained another.
*********If you are going to be repainting the room, the time to do it is while your stain is drying.
Yes, I only stained one side of the wood..... no one will ever see the other sides, that would've been pointless.
Once your stain has dried, you need to paint on your layer of polyurethane.
This is what one of our piles looked like after staining and coating..... ----------->
When that dries, it's time to carry it all in and plan your design.
Starting at the bottom, make one row at a time. Do NOT nail them in until you are sure that is how you want to lay them. When you are sure, proceed to the next, mixing them around as you go, to get that unique style.
Here is how ours turned out after it was done.
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| Side angle |
Now it's time to add the new trimming, the furniture, and new decorations!!!
Being a military family, I went with red, white, and blue... but kept it simple.
The walls I painted a gray-blue, changed the outlets and used wooden framed ones, added red curtains, a blue and white bed set, and a puzzle that my husband and I put together.
