High End Wall on a DIY Budget
How to transform a wall, and a room, with inexpensive wood lath!
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Yeah, I can't leave well enough alone. Good enough is never enough for me. Take our guest bath.... so so. It never felt done or right. Suddenly it hit me, a great wall idea, but all my material options were too expensive.
Alas, never fear. That means it's time to get creative. Enter wood lath. So for under forty bucks, I transformed a room like mad.
This bathroom is hardly ever used for a shower if you're concerned about the wood; it's been used maybe all of six times and won't be for years, so lath will be a-ok. But hey, this idea is great for any room in the house!
Sure, lath is tricky. It's wonky, it's bowed, it's not consistent. It's also rough and tumble. But! It's a budget saver and it actually looks great without veering into design styles I didn't want to veer into.
Here's what I used:
- bundles of wood lath (two of fifty plus a few loose extras for this particular wall)
- quart of Golden Mahogany stainGolden Mahogany stain
- paint thinner
- 1" brad nails
- brad nailernail gun
- hand saw
First I stained it with a mix of Golden Mahogany and paint thinner.
Be sure to come by my blog for the fun story of my unsuspecting husband's reaction to this wall over at Flipping the Flip!
Next, tacking it to the wall time. I did not plan the vertical seams but I did want an eighth of an inch between each horizontal seam. Easiest, most consistent way to get that? A free paint stirrer.
I have all sorts of great tips on this project, like how I got around the outlet and the light fixture so stop by the post to be in the know!
It took a lot of trimming, to say the least. If you don't have a pneumatic nailer, either borrow from a pal or rent from a hardware store.
And there it is! Definitely a high end look on a budget!
Be sure to drop by Flipping the Flip to discover loads more great DIY projects, ideas, and inspiration!
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Comments
Join the conversation
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we did this to our front door deck area and just love it. Squirt it with the hose when dusty easy as that!
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Oh fabulous! That’s outstanding! Well done and thank you for sharing!
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This looks so pretty. Great job. 👍
Annie🦋
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Thank you so very much!
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Don’t rent a compressor and Brad nailer. You can purchase a good compressor and nailer combo very inexpensive and have it to fill bike tires, fill air mattresses, blow up hundreds of balloons, loan to friends (or rent to friends) rental on a Brad nailer is $20 per day, compressor is $50 per day. I doubt you will finish this project in a day. If you don’t have room to store it then sell on Marketplace or Craigslist
Do you have to leave a space between the pieces of wood? I would rather not have spaces.
If the wood lath is rough,what about dusting or just general cleaning?