DIY Pallet Accent Wall

When we moved into our house, the master bedroom had one big, plain, window-free wall that was just screaming for some attention.We talked about doing a stencil wall, similar to the one in our dining room, and also talked about doing something with wood or brick veneer.  When we found this tutorial that explained how to create an accent wall out of reclaimed wood, we realized how easy it would be.  The only question was what kind of wood to use.  Would we buy it or try to find something that we could reclaim?

Then, we had a light bulb moment.  Bryan had lots of extra pallets at his job = FREE WOOD!

For those of you who don’t know what pallets are (I must admit, I had no idea before doing this project), they look like this:

You can find them at home improvement stores, grocery stores, garden centers, etc.  (Note of caution: don’t steal! If you happen to see what appears to be unused pallets lying around, always ask before taking.). Many times Craigslist has them listed for free, too.

When choosing pallets, make sure they have a “HT” stamp before bringing it into your home.  The “HT” stands for Heat Treated, which means there were no chemicals used to preserve the wood, just heat.

To get started, we gathered the following supplies:

1.  Enough “HT” pallets to cover the wall
2.  A sanding machine & sandpaper
3.  A hammer
4.  Finished nails
5.  Soap & water
6.  Table saw

First, we rinsed all of the pallets with soap and water.  Easy peasy.

Once dry, we broke apart each pallet using a hammer.  After breaking them apart, we removed all of the nails that were still in each piece.  Not so easy peasy.  But, it was free… so no complaining, right?

Next, we sanded.  I’d be lying if I said we sanded each and every piece, because we didn’t.  We knew we were going to have a large, thick headboard between us and the wall, so we were okay with leaving some of the pieces as is.  For added peace of mind, we tried to put most of the unsanded pieces toward the top of the wall, out of our reach.

Last, we brought all of the pieces of wood upstairs and nailed them onto the wall.  Bryan worked on one row at a time and went from left to right.  He made each row look different by mixing various sizes and colors.  The table saw came into play to make the wood on the right side of the row fit evenly with the end of the wall.

Tip #1: If you only have 1 shade of wood and want more, a few cans of different stains can fix that.

Tip #2: If you want a bit more certainty in the placement of the wood, try laying them all out on the floor before nailing them to the wall.

This is what it looks like now, after Bryan made us an awesome upholstered bed!  Our original plan was to replace the ceiling fan with a chandelier for a rustic/chic look, but after living here one summer, we’re in love with our fan and don’t think we’ll be able to part with it.

Baci likes it so far.  What do you think?