About catherine
Catherine is a CPA-turned-creative entrepreneur. She is the founder of Beginning in the Middle. an interior designer, photographer, writer, and business schemer.  She loves being cozy at home, miniature everything, and has a not-so-secret dream of living on an island one day.
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DIY Pallet Accent Wall

DIY

When we moved into our house, the master bedroom had one big, plain, window-free wall that was just screaming for some attention.Master - BeforeWe 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:

IMG_2584You 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.

IMG_1031This 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.

Master - AfterBaci likes it so far.  What do you think?

Baci

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  1. atkokosplace says:

    Love the wall, but not gonna lie, the last pic is my favorite! Super snuggle-able (I know not a word, but in this instance it is!)

  2. ssperber says:

    Gorgeous. Wow. My gears are turning!

    Also – I feel you on the ceiling fans. i wish I could add chandeliers and other cute lights, but I really need my fans.

  3. ericasooter says:

    Wow! This is absolutely stunning. I have a plan to do this to a wall in my living room! You’ve definitely inspired me to get going on putting my plan into action. Now to collect those pallets!

    dwellbeautiful.wordpress.com

  4. Catherine says:

    Thank you all! I would love to see photos if you try it yourself.

  5. I **LOVE** this! Any thoughts about how it would work for an exterior wall?

  6. Lourdes says:

    Love your bedroom!

  7. Deb says:

    Would the same technique apply to brick? Been wanting to do one inside wall brick.

    • Catherine says:

      Deb – we haven’t done a brick accent wall yet so I’m not sure! But, we do have a lot of brick that we’re in the process of exposing in our new investment property. We’ll share how that whole process goes once we figure it all out 🙂

  8. […] did a pallet accent wall in our master bedroom, and it completely transformed not only the wall, but the entire room.  […]

  9. […] Sure, the wood pallet craze might be waning, but if rustic décor is still your M-O, this type of accent wall is unbeatable. Depth, character, visual interest, and warmth are all immediate results of a wood pallet accent wall. Bonus: DIY compatible. […]

  10. […] Sure, the wood pallet craze might be waning, but if rustic décor is still your M-O, this type of accent wall is unbeatable. Depth, character, visual interest, and warmth are all immediate results of a wood pallet accent wall. Bonus: DIY compatible. […]

  11. […] Sure, the wood pallet craze might be waning, but if rustic décor is still your M-O, this type of accent wall is unbeatable. Depth, character, visual interest, and warmth are all immediate results of a wood pallet accent wall. Bonus: DIY compatible. […]

  12. […]  This post is old.  You can find a new and improved version of our post at our new site here!  While you’re over there, you can check out our latest projects […]

  13. This is gorgeous. I wanna do this to my ceiling… but I heard breaking apart pallets is hard work!!

  14. […] want is a half completed room getting in the way of all the other things going on in your home.  DIY Pallet Wall […]

  15. craftspress says:

    This is amazing DIY idea. I really love this reading. Thank you for sharing it.

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About BEGINNING IN THE MIDDLE

Catherine & Bryan Williamson moved from NYC to Columbus, OH in 2013.  Beginning in the Middle is a journal of the couple's design and renovation projects, real estate investment and Airbnb hosting journey, travel, and other life happenings.

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I grew up in New Jersey and always had a dream of living in New York.  There was something about the energy of the city that drew me inOur journey started unexpectedly in 2012, when we decided to make a big move from New York to Columbus. The glamour of climbing the corporate ladder was wearing off, and we knew that renting an expensive small apartment and dealing with crowded subways everyday was not going to work forever. We wanted to start creating something for ourselves, and although we didn’t know exactly what that something was, we knew NYC wasn’t the place for it.

We decided on Columbus because Bryan grew up here, and we were intrigued by all of the development going on in the downtown area at the time. We drove through many of the neighborhoods and admired the boarded up old houses, most of which were built in the early 1900s, and started dreaming about the things we could do here.

I'm Catherine, and I'm the founder of Beginning in the Middle.

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