How to Install a Wood Plank Wall
Last updated August 21, 2024
Petite Party Studio is the vision of two BFF's, Shannon & Rebecca. These two interior designers shared a mutual daydream chatting over cubicles of someday owning their very own Brick & Mortar paper and party shop. When they started having kids, designing printable party invitations from home was the perfect transition from their corporate model home design jobs. Since these two creatives have joined forces, their work and products can be seen in print and on-line publications such as Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine, Parents Magazine, Hostess with the Mostess, Emma Magazine plus many more along with numerous appearances on local morning shows.
A Note From The Home Depot
A wood plank wall can add a rustic focal point to a room. The hard part in adding distressed planks to a wall is preparing the wood– cutting and painting all the planks to get a uniform look.
Rebecca and Shannon of Petite Party Studio are accomplished DIYers and decorators, and they love the look of distressed wood.
They used prepared planks to install a wood plank wall in their shop. Rebecca and Shannon love how easy that made the project. Here, they show, step by step, how they created the planked wall. Be sure to check out the photos of how the wood plank wall adds to the simple, yet chic and vibrant look of their shop.
Table of Contents
Wood Plank Wall DIY
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
We are on a plank-a-pallooza and are all about a good wood plank wall. The best part? These wood planks from Timeline Wood that are available at The Home Depot are pre-finished and cut into 5½ in. x 48 in. planks. We have tackled a few planked wall projects in our DIY resume and have spent HOURS staining and painting individual planks to get the same look that these AMAZING planks already show up looking like.
Aren’t they just perfection in the form of a plank? We think so!
Wood Plank Wall DIY
Talk about awesome and so simple to install. There are a few things you are going to need to complete this DIY project.
Note that you can rent power tools at The Home Depot, including the miter saw, nail gun and jigsaw you’ll want to install a wood plank wall.
We had this blank wall in our shop behind out checkout area that was in need of some visual interest and knew that we wanted an element that would add a layer of fun design while creating a focal wall.
We totally fell in love with the worn look of these pre-finished boards. It was the perfect balance of vintage design to play off of some of our clean line modern details we were adding into the shop.
Step 1
We started at the bottom and worked our way across the wall in full pieces with about half of the boards cut on the ends…then, the leftover cut pieces were used to start the next rows.
We would work from left to right and then right to left to keep the planks level. We used a brad nailer to attach to boards to the wall but if you don’t have one, some sort of adhesive such as Liquid Nails could be used.
Also depending on your wall, starting at the top is an option too, then, work your way down. We started at the bottom since our wall is angled at the ceiling and there were some odd cuts to tackle. Either way, we recommend removing your baseboards to install the planks and then reattach them once your wall is complete.
It is important to make sure your planks are level as you move along…remember not all of the planks are exactly the same size so you may have to adjust spacing as you go. We used a staggered pattern and didn’t use any spacers in between the planks, we have used pennies on other wood plank projects for spacing when the boards were more uniform in color to enhance the planked look.
Step 2
Once you level your boards, simply nail them into place. This battery operated nailer is the perfect tool to help with DIY projects!
This project moved along pretty quickly since the wall we took on wasn’t very big and there weren’t a ton of cuts. We used our sliding miter saw for the end cuts.
Step 3
Once we got to the last row of planks, we made some angle cuts with our jigsaw to complete the wall. When all of the planks were in place, we attached new baseboards and caulked at the top of the wall just to hide a few imperfections— our building is super old and the ceiling line was less than straight.
Here is a look at what the finished wall looks like…
We added a temporary logo in cut vinyl until our permanent signage shows up.
We are so in love with how it turned out. It really made the wall pop, and it is the perfect finishing touch to our studio.
If you have ever though about tackling a DIY project like this but hesitated because of prepping the boards, this ready to go product made it so simple to do. Go ahead, give a try, you can thank us later!
Speaking of planks, did you notice the lovely floor? We installed that before putting up the wood plank wall. It’s gorgeous vinyl plank flooring. See how we installed the flooring here. You’ll also see more of how we decorated our shop in this makeover.
Rebecca and Shannon are the creative duo behind Petite Party Studio— a blog where design, DIY and parties collide. These creative chicks reside in sunny Gilbert, Arizona where they run a brick and mortar shop selling the latest in party decor and curated gift items. When they are not attending to their store you can either find them chasing their kids around or dreaming up a project for their home or next event.
Browse more wood wall tiles at The Home Depot. Follow our Living Rooms board on Pinterest for ideas about how to decorate your home.
This post was created in partnership with The Home Depot. The author may have received compensation for this article and associated images or video, potentially in the form of products and/or services. All expressed opinions and experiences are the author’s own words.
