DIY Wood Slat Wall

I have dragged my feet on this project because I knew this wall would need to get dusted!  Yup that’s why it took me a year to commit to my wood slat wall.  But I just couldn’t stop thing how much I wanted this wall and so I threw caution to the wind and just went for it!  I also stocked up on extended pole dusters.  Guess what I love every beautiful inch of it.  Let me show you how I created this beautiful wood slat wall that fits perfectly with my new KITCHEN BUDGET MAKEOVER.

Supplies you will need to create a wood slat wall

1. paint I used Emerald interior acrylic from Sherwin williams to get the best coverage for the wall and the wood. (color Rook Wood Green)
2. Lathing strips 1.5 inch .25 inch thick I got mine from Home Depot they were around $7 for 8 feet apiece and we used about 10
3. brad nailer, (this link is to my new one worth every penny its cordless!!!) or you could just hammer in some small brad nails.
4. wood glue 
5. wood putty love the color changing kind

Step 1 Paint

paint the base wall first.  It will be easier not to have to paint in between all the slats.  I know lots of people spray their walls.  I just didn’t want to tape off the whole room, and it seemed faster and easier to roll and cut in.  I’m kind of like how calming painting is, so I didn’t mind rolling the wall. Our basement wall is pretty short so I didn’t need more that a step stool to get up by the ceiling.  This room is where we watch all our movies so I wanted to go dark. It blends so great with the TV, I left the other walls Adobe white from Sherwin WIlliams and I think it’s a great ballance for the kitchen on the other side of the room.

Step 2 pattern

This will be the hardest part of the job, coming up with a pattern.  I looked and looked on instagram and pinterest to get some good ideas.  I loved what I came up with.  In the end we did change a few things from our drawing because it just didn’t look right but getting the basic pattern down on paper, gives you the measurements for how many lathing strips you will need to buy. And it gives you a base to start so your not stressing when you should be building.  We bought 8 then ended up buying a few more.  so buy a few extra if you can afford it.

Step 3 paint the lathing strips

Here is an easy way to paint all the strips at once.  clamp them together and paint each side with a roller, make sure you paint, then while they are wet paint the other side.  You will have some touch ups but the lathing strips  wont sick together if they are wet.  once they dry your in trouble and the paint sticks them together. After you paint the sides lay them flat and paint the tops.  We did it backwards because my cute hubby thought I was going to caulk the wood and would need to repaint the wall,  but there was no way I was caulking all the pieces of wood LOL.  If you don’t care about a perfect invisible seamless look then paint the sides first, if you are going to caulk you will have to repaint them anyway so you might as well wait and paint the slat wood wall after all the pieces are up. 

Step 4 cut and nail

here is where it’s good to have two people.  I measured the pieces, my hubby cut all the 45 degree angles and help me hold the pieces so I could nail them in.  Not going to lie I love my nail gun! It was pretty easy once we had our nine inch spacers for the main design. There is a good stop motion video of each piece going up on my instagram reels.  It will look different up on the wall than in your sketch so be open to change and if you need to add or subtract do it.

Step 5 putty the holes

I used wood putty for the holes because it wipes right off with a baby wipe and paints up so well you can’t even find a nail hole!  If you are going to caulk then this is the time to do it.  And make sure all your wood pieces are flat to the wall.  if you are not caulking you have permission to shoot a few more nails into pieces that are lifting a bit.

Step 6 touch up the paint

I used a small foam roller to make sure I got a smooth finish with no brush strokes.  The whole project only took us 6 hrs two for painting two coats the day before and 4 for putting up the wood slats AND the TV. LOL I’m sure more of you could do it faster but hey for our first time we didn’t do too bad. the finished look is so fantastic and it was a fun weekend project.  I’m already thinking of a white flocked christmas tree in front of this fabulous wall what do you think?  If you have any questions about any of my projects email me at theglitzypear@gmail.com or leave me a DM over on instagram  I want you to love your house, and be brave enough to do all the home projects on your list.