Nursery News – Accent Wall
Last time we talked about the nursery, you were left with this:
and this:
and a promise that the accent wall for our baby boy’s room would be (and I quote) “rockin” and “boyish” and “hug-worthy”. Let me just give myself a huge pat on the back…because it is. It really is. The accent wall is everything I hoped for and more.
I know…you are just wishing you could reach through your computer monitor and slap me right now…kinda like when that girl crawled outta the television in the movie The Ring…but a lot less creepy and more out of anticipation than the desire to take my soul into Hades. But just be warned, I am an avid movie watcher and I know how to defeat evil spirits. Plus, I got Jesus on my side…and well, frankly, he would totally backhand any evil-spirited chick if they came close. We are tight like that.
Back to the point. We created a very masculine accent wall for our nursery & can’t wait to share it. But first, let’s introduce you to our inspiration:
That’s right. They are shipping pallets. And there is such a thing in the world as Pallet-Craft. I know. I googled it. Pallet-craft is reusing the wood that makes up shipping crates or pallets to make something else….like a chair or a deck or in our case, an accent wall. And since we wanted a very cabin-inspired-look-meets-contemporary-aesthetic in our nursery, we thought there was no better (or cheaper) way to get the great woods indoors…than to put wood indoors.
After a WHOLE lotta googling about the safety of using the Grade III wood that makes up pallets, we learned that some pallets are treated with pesticides & fungicides (NOT GOOD) but that you can find vendors that use untreated lumber (GOOD). If you or your vendor doesn’t know if the pallets are treated, there are certain precautions to follow when using the treated lumber. In our nursery, we followed those precautions even though we knew the lumber was not treated. Afterall, you can’t be too safe with a baby.
First, (after researching & calling local home improvement store managers to find a place that would give us free pallets of untreated wood), Jeremy picked up about two dozen pallets. Then he took his sawsall to them, cutting through the nails and giving us disassembled wood planks.
Then, he used an electric sander to remove any splinters and also to loosen any dirt or debris.
After sanding, he thoroughly cleaned each plank & removed any loose nail heads before taking them into the nursery. This is when we made our first mistake: we sorted the wood by color. It’s much faster to sort the wood by width…if you are planning on doing this at home.
After you sort it by width, then sort it by condition…like put all the wood of the same width with large cracks together. It helps. Believe me.
Ok. So now that the wood is prepped for installation (and you didn’t inhale any pesticides because you sanded & cleaned everything in a well ventilated area while wearing a mask! Good for you…you will not die. Not right now. Not from pesticides anyway.), now is the time to come up with your plan of attack. We didn’t. Mistake #2.
We knew that we would attach the planks with an air compressor and a brad nail gun…
(here’s our setting for you pallet-crafters),
but we didn’t know much else.
In fact, we started with these nails (3/4″)…
mistake #3.
And ended up using these (1″):
Afterall, nobody wants a plank to come down on Baby Will.
So we just started in one corner and nailed in a plank along the bottom of the plywood. When we got to the corner, we just measured and cut an ugly plank to fill in the gap. Rows 1 & 2 were pretty fast. But then we got to the outlet. At first, we thought we would just cut a piece to fit around it. Then my boyfriend suggested a door.
I know. It sounded crazy to me too.
But then he explained. He could cut out a piece of wood & attach it with a mini piano hinge to the nearby planks so that the outlet would be out of sight…and out of the reach of mini baby Bower fingers. Plus, it could blend into the wall instead of having a bright white outlet plate showing.
It’s not done yet, but that is what the plan is. So for now, we cut the pieces to go right to the edge of the outlet plate sides.
Then we did the same thing with the next row.
That’s when mistake #4 occured. When we installed the row #3, we didn’t make sure that the tops of the planks lined up evenly. So row #4 didn’t line up. We had to figure out a way to put a solid piece across the top without having huge gaps.
Again…boyfriend to the rescue. He just took his circular saw and cut the top of the higher plank so that it would line up with the one on the other side of the outlet.
Setting the saw to the depth of the wood plank ensured that he wouldn’t cut through the plywood underneath…just the taller plank.
Can I just say that boyfriends with accent wall solutions are hot?
Because they totally are.
In the end, it lined up perfectly and we forged ahead.
When it came to the window sill, we just cut the end of the plank to fit perfect around it.
We did avoid mistake #5 by remembering to vary the widths of the planks. Since we wanted this wall to look random (but not too random), we knew that it would be important to use the wider planks in a row every once in a while. You can see we put about seven thinner rows between our thicker rows. I think it helps create a very random (but not too random) look.
Oh – and if you are doing pallet-craft, it is important to take breaks. We took the mandatory Smoothie-King break half-way through.
After said break was over, we got back to work.
Or Jeremy got back to work and I got back to sitting down with my camera…
That’s when mistake #6 hit. This time it had to do with levelness again. When we built up either side of the window, the sides were slightly off. The left side was slightly lower than the right side.
So we decided that the best fix would be to notch out the plank directly above the window so that it could fill in the cracks. You can see here how the right hand arrow is showing you were we ‘notched’ the wood out. The left arrow shows how we had to improvise with the wood planks (using various widths) to make it even.
We did this once before on a lower piece but that time it was because we ran outta the same width planks. I don’t think it looks bad…in fact I love the imperfections of a wood wall.
My favorite imperfections are the cracks and the knots and the nail holes. They seem so manly to me. Which is good…because this is gonna be a little man’s room.
So ready for the finished wall?
Are you really really ready?
Ok…stop trying to strangle me through your computer screen…
here it is:
Pretty hot huh?
And because I am a dork, I mocked up some curtains on there so see if I liked it.
Ok. Now for all you folks out there who aren’t completely satisfied with our pallet-wood safety precautions, it doesn’t stop there.
oh no.
Now comes the nitty-gritty.
After we finished installing the wood, Jeremy whipped out the vacuum.
He made sure each little dust particle was off this bad boy.
And then we applied satin polyurethane. We decided to go with the spray type in a satin finish. This way if the plank-people-lied and we had treated wood, it would literally have to rain outside, seep through our exterior, our drywall, our plywood and our pallet wood, and then Will would have to pick away the polyurethane and suck on the seepage to be affected by the pesticides.
We felt pretty solid about the chances of that not happening. And if it does…well, Will can have a kick-diaper story about the way he avoided death when he goes to pre-K.
So that’s it folks. One very accented wall…for the grand total cost of $15. Since the pallet wood was free and we had a giftcard for the polyurethane, the 2.3 pieces of plywood & a half a pack of nails was our only cost. Not too bad, huh? I think it looks a heck of a lot costlier than that…plus we figure since it isn’t a baby-style wall, it can grow with Will as he develops into a young man.
What do you think? Does it look like a textural masterpiece to anyone else? Because it totally tells me to hug it with it’s boyish good looks. And does anyone else out there have a penchant for pallet-crafting? Or maybe you had a cheap alternative to an accent wall yourself? Was it painted on or was it a wall decal or what? C’mon. Tell me about it…nothing is hotter than an accent….wall 
I’m absolutely in love! My son has a cowboy room and I’ve been trying to figure out what else I need to do to make the room feel complete. It might just involve some planks! My husband is not going to be happy with you
genius… but now I have a hankerin’ for BBQ.
I don’t like it. I’m sorry.
I like everythign else on your site! Just not this project. I think it looks messy and nutty and all I can think is when I try to put my baby to sleep/nap she stares at items of interest and there’s so much texture and detail in the wood she would NEVER go to sleep. EVER.
What *I* would like though is if you painted the boards white – then ti would have one of those attic/country/summery feelings. And I know that’s not what you’re going for. But when I see exposed wood walls it’s what my head craves.
Either way. BABY! Yeay!
That’s okay Brooke…you don’t have to like everything here. Heck, I don’t. And there are probably a lot of people out there that are with you on this one. It’s just another reason to celebrate individual diversity! I am just glad that you shared your opinion without being mean and ending it on a positive note
That makes it alot easier for me to digest your idea (which I love the white board look too!)….I’m actually really quite sensitive, so thanks 
Let’s just hope Will is not as interested in the wood as your little one…or else we might be painting those boards! And when I say we…I mean the boyfriend.
XO – Katie
Le sigh! I am in love with your manly accent wall. This is just one more reason I love your blog.
Now I am jazzed about calling stores around town to find where I can get some untreated pallets. I have never heard of pallet crafting before (mental note- google it.)
If I ever get around to attempting this project I’m thinking of painting it white, to make it a little girlier. I’m so sick of my tape and textured drywall.
As always, thank you for the brilliant ideas and the witty comments.
love it. great texture, so interesting. and the price?! fabulous.
really great job.
kelly
That is the coolest wall I have ever seen!
The wall looks rustic and wonderfull!! Great job
SO insanely cute!!!! Awesome!
I really really like this! Awesome! So glad to have found your site!
Luh-uh-uh-uh-uhhhhhhve it!!!
This is so beautiful! Someone mentioned you in the comments at KnockOffWood today (she has a pallet craft idea this posted this morning) and I came by to check it out. So very cool!
can i ask a quick question…what was the air compressor for?
Well, I was sittin’ here feelin’ all clever,
because I had come up with a very similar wall
treatment in my head for my boys’ room. This
is great, though, as I will be able to show my
husband my vision and not have him scratching
his head wondering where my brain went.
Awesome!!
Elise
Katie,
My husband is doing this same treatment in part of our master bedroom this week, but I’m curious, how did your boyfriend deal with the nails in the pallets. Your play-by-play makes it sound like he just cut through them with the sawzall…is that right? My poor man has been trying to tear apart pallets and get the nails out with a regular hammer. Needless to say, things are not going well. I know you can get super blades for the saw that will cut through nails, and I’m assuming this is what you guys did. Is that right?
Hi Holly,
You are correct, the nails were cut through with the sawzall blade. If the nail heads on the boards fell out, we emoved them…if they are loose after we banged the boards a bit, then we removed them, but if they were stuck in there…then so be it.
Hope this helps!
XO – Katie
Just found your blog. You are hilarious and I love all your DIY projects!! Love, love, love the wall.
Interesting. We’ve used barn wood in our tiny house, but I never thought of recycling pallets this way. Looks great!
I realize I’m about a year behind with this post, but I just found your blog and came across this post. I think that this accent wall is so amazing! And I love the idea of white washing it (mentioned in the comments) to make it a little more baby girl friendly. I don’t know whether you’ll respond to such a late question, but how difficult do you think it would be to take this down? I’d love to do something like this in our guestroom/future nursery – it already has a sort of woodsy theme – but since this isn’t our forever home, I feel like we’d have to remove it when we one day put the house on the market.
Anyway, love the blog! Can’t believe that I just discovered it!
I am insanely impressed by this wall, and very inspired. Too bad you can’t take it to the new house with you
Allrighty! So I’m late here too. Loved your wall. I’m starting on a pallet wall myself. (I’m only at step one – where I’ve just acquired the pallets and they’re all sitting in my living room). I’d like to know if there was any placement of the nails that you used to nail them to the wall. Did you try to line them up with the ones already in the boards or did you just nail them anywhere you saw fit?
Just anywhere! We figured that if they showed, it would just add to the rustic charm
xo – kb
LOVEEEEEEE this!! great amazing job!!
absolutley LOVE it! it looks amazing.
thanks so much for posting such a fantastic tutorial.
now…..for me……which room!!!!! hmmmmmmmmmmmm
mrs c. xox
I’m really compelled to this idea & can’t help to see the tough patchwork/puzzle this must of been… Much respect & admiration for the hard work… in all the projects actually! Everything is so inspirational!
Hi..I just clicked on your site from a Pinterest photo.I have had an idea about doing this for floorring.We have concrete under our old nasty carpet and my cheapness does not want to spend lots of dollars on new floors with two boys ages 9 and 6.I cannot seem to find any info on this.Do you think it would work?Thank you!!I love it by the way!!
I’ve seen it once before for flooring and it was AWESOME…but it required a LOT of work…like SANDING out the wazoo. You would have to glue down the subflooring and then lay the wood just like planks on top of the subflooring…and I would recommend screwing it in and expecting a lot of unevenness of the pallet wood and flaws – but with two boys, you know that the flaws are what makes things lovable
xo – kb
Thanks for the feed back!I know it would be a lot of work…but compared to cost of new floors (which I don’t really like,too new looking)I think it would be worth it.I was thinking the boards could be run through a planer and maybe they wouldn’t be so uneven…now if I can just talk the hubs into considerring this!
I LOVE this! I was thinking it could also be cool to paint a wall like this. To keep with the “non-uniform”, different textures look, you could choose a color for the wall and then pick out like 3 or 4 different shades of that color. Then paint the pallet-planks and put em’ up! Totally killer idea though!
I fell in love with your nursey when I saw you on Nate Berkus. My husband and I are in the process or recreating your wood wall and I am so excited. Thank you for the inspiration!! I love repurposing things and creating projects from my finds. One thing I would love to find is the faux white deer mount. My husband is a hunter but I don’t really want his real mounts on my walls so to me its a cool “chic” compromise. Could you point me in the right direction on finding one? I have been looking all over and online and I have been having a hard time. Thanks again for the inspiration and guidance.
Well I found mine on ebay and just spraypainted it white.
xo – kb
I totally *love* what you’ve done and am seriously considering it for my own bedroom. Fantastic job!!
I love it! I use pallets for many many things around here. A couple weeks ago, I decided to turn the water closet into an outhouse and use pallet boards as walls and floors. Thank you, thank you for sharing your progress so hopefully I can avoid some of the mistakes you made! I have you pinned on pinterest for backup, inspiration, and to credit when I’m done with my own!
Such a great DIY idea.
I LOVE this!! You did an absolutely amazing job. I’m actually quite jealous and wish I could have been this creative for my 4 month old baby’s nursery! Kudos to you guys and your hard work. I can’t say enough about how cool this is!
This is awesome! I would love a wall like this in any room of my house. Thanks for the tutorial!
I just stumbled upon this and am in love. I do have a quick question, did you guys stain the wood or is it just the natural discoloration of the pallet? Seems a lot darker than what I usually see.
Just natural color! No stain from us
xo – kb
Wow, this is fabulous!! I would love to try doing this!! Do you feel it was a “ton” of work? It doesn’t look that labor intensive, other than the sanding… Great job!!!
I don’t feel it was as hard as some projects are. Having the right tools definitely helped.
xo – kb
Man — you are KILLING ME here!!!! I want my house done in weathered barn siding, and some rustic brick, but I can’t get my husband to understand that I am dead serious…..sigh…
he thinks walls are made to be painted (and, painted a BORING color), wood cabinets are meant to be wood, (i.e. not painted a “color”), and floors are meant to be carpeted. (I would like wide-plank pine, even a laminate look-a-like)…..etc. What’s a wife like me to do????
Count your blessings for your hubby, who’s willing to accept and HELP YOU WITH your “visions”!!!
LOVE…love…and love! With a house full of boys I think this would be a perfect addition to our home! What a fabulous idea!
I just came across this accent wall and think it is really beautiful…which is wonderful considering the fact that I have been gathering and disassembling pallets for a ceiling in a house I have designed. It gives me great hope that it is going to turn out wonderful as well. The house has just started construction recently but definitely can’t wait for this moment down the road when the pallet planks are to be installed. By the way, check out my blog documenting the design and construction: http://urbanhomeindy.wordpress.com. Great work!!
Fabulous idea! Can I borrow your handy boyfriend?
You can have him after he’s done with his To-Do list
xo – kb
wow this was amazing to see the step by step process! Awesome idea who ever though of it.
This is beautiful, you guys did an incredible job! I love the aged look of the boards, using pallets was genius.
Brilliant! Absolutely “BRILLIANT!!” This is just the solution I’ve been looking for to apply to a concrete wall in my office. I LOVE the re-use of pallets, the effect of the wood, and our screen printed items will look amazing against the wood. I have also you pinned on Pinterest for backup, inspiration, and to credit when I’m done with my own! Thanks so much for the great idea!
I found this through Pinterest. Very innovative & creative. Congrats on a job well done!
Warmly, Michelle
Since this is a MANLY wall and all, I though you would appreciate a comment that isn’t from a woman saying it’s cute or some other lady-speak. So pardon my language as I say this idea is bad ass! I freakin’ love it!
One question though. Did you have existing drywall up behind the plywood, or is the drywall attached directly to the wall studs?
Thanks,
Kyle
Aww thanks – and yes, we did have drywall up…we thought the best way to prevent the most amount of damage to the drywall would be attaching the plywood to the studs (sandwiching the drywall in between!).
xo – kb
Love love love this? Maybe you answered it already but did you stain the wood? The dark color is way nicer than on regular pallets which are usually that light yellowy color!
I never ever comment on anything but this, totally caught me I couldn’t not go without saying awesome job!! Totally inspired!!!! And LOVE IT!!!!!!!
Nope – that is actually the color. We used REALLY old pallets though…it was hard to find some that weren’t treated (maybe that is what keeps the pallets looking new? who knows?)
xo – kb
You guys are AWESOME!!! You inspired me to do a wall too! I got the wood pallets for free from Craiglist! My husband & I put this wall up in the entrance of our house this past Saturday! It adds soooo much character to the room! THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR FABULOUS IDEA!!! It is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED
))))))) <3
That is clever,smokin,hot! Not your typical babys room! And your right ,he can grow with this.Your boyfriend did a fantastic job,give him big hugs!!!! What are your ideas for the rest of the room?
Well this was the room in our old house – so we have since moved
But I know that the new family is using this room as a play area – so hopefully they are enjoying it!
xo – kb
Hey! I love it! I have spent the better part of a weekend fancying up some found lumber to do something similar in my Peachland Beach themed bathroom. Think “dock”. I gave up on the pallets due to the fear of poison & effort to get them apart. Also i had some good long scavenged 1x4s because futon frames are easy to find in the back lanes in my neighbourhood! Happy to see that the sawzall saved you. Great project
This is f****ind A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !!! Thank you soo much for this post!
ok, i am dyeing over this wall and just called my husband to inform him our master bedroom needs this immediately – but this sparked a debate on how many pallets we needed to track down now. our wall looks the same if not smaller than yours and doesn’t have a window. he thinks we’ll need 20 and i told him he was nuts! how many did you use?
we love re-purposing pallets! we just made our daughter a daybed out of some
This looks amazing!!!! I think I am going to steal this idea for my boys room. Thanks for the inspiration.
I agree with everyone else! I love the different colors involved. It has a warm look. What a great way to re-purpose and save a tree or two!
You are a genius! It is so cute! Love it love it love!