You guys. I am SO excited. Like seriously SO EXCITED!! I’ve had a dream ever since moving into this house, that one day we would make a beautiful pallet wood feature wall in our living room. We started collecting old pallets from my husband’s work, but we quickly realized that dismantling, sanding, washing, and nailing the boards into the wall would be far too much effort, especially since we didn’t have any of the necessary tools. My heart was broken until I remembered an AMAZING company that I had discovered around Christmas of last year – Stikwood. Stikwood is a phenomenal company that makes real wood planks that are thin and light enough to be adhered to the wall with it’s sticky adhesive backing. Crazy amazing right?? It’s real wood but with none of the hassle and steps of trying to take apart dirty pallets that have traveled half way around the world. SCORE. I knew Stikwood would be PERFECT for our feature wall. We decided to go with the Reclaimed Weathered Wood Gray option though there are SO many great finishes it was hard to pick!
Let’s remember where we started when we first moved in almost 2 years ago:
Barf/baby poop (take your pick) green half wall of confusion and a hand stippled sponge-painted tomato-y red/orange horror of a fireplace. Blech. I can’t believe I let it stay like this for so long! About a year later we painted the fireplace white and we were so excited about the positive impact it made.
So much better than the spongey tomato paint! But the barf wall was still there. And everyday I shed a tear over how unsightly it was. No thank you. So when I discovered Stikwood my heart sang a song of pure unbridled joy! The wood was delivered quickly and securely packaged and I was so happy to rip into the boxes and look at all the lovely weathered goodness.
The awesome thing about Stikwood is that it comes in all sorts of lengths, so you can get the perfect random look! We had pieces that were about 4 feet long all the way down to about 8 or 9 inches long. It was so easy to just grab and go!
When installing Stikwood, they have a handy and adorable little how-to video and guide which you can find here. It’s super easy! We started first by measuring two board widths down from the ceiling and drawing our reference line. We then peeled and stuck boards on either side of this line, varying the board lengths as we went.
Installing the planks is a breeze and seriously anyone can do it! We simply peeled of two of the backing strips, leaving the third strip only partially peeled off. Next we positioned the board on the wall, repositioned it as necessary, and pressed lightly to keep it in place.
Once we had it in the right spot, we took the end of the third backing strip and peeled off the rest of the tape cover.
Then we pressed down more firmly on the board. Stikwood also includes a handy rubber roller – we used it to roll over the board, paying special attention to the edges and corners of the board.
And it’s as simple as that! There were a few times where it got a only a little bit more complicated: getting to the end of the wall and not having the right length board, getting to the bottom of the wall and having a gap that was much smaller than the width of all the boards, and having to cut around the fancy mantel pieces and a ceiling beam.
To solve the weird shaped mantel pieces, I came up with a solution I call “the tape mold.”
I used painters tape to ‘trace’ the outline of the mantel lines. Once I had everything filled in, I then peeled off the tape mold, pressed it onto the board we needed cut and then traced the outline onto it with a pen. Now, it probably would’ve been quicker and easier to then cut it out using a fancy saw, but we didn’t have anything like that, so we were easily able to make do with an exacto knife. My hubby relentlessly carved these pieces until they fit just right! He’s seriously my hero. We measured around the beam and then used the exacto knife again to cut it out.
For the pieces that were too long at the end of the wall, we used a miter saw to trim to size. For the pieces at the bottom that were too wide, we employed the exacto knife again and cut the boards lengthwise and then fine-tuned them to fit by using a knife to whittle the boards down. Again, if you had a fancy jigsaw or saw set up, it would be even more of a cinch, but again we had to make do. My hubby brought out his inner Jesus the carpenter and whittled away like a pro!
We worked on this project all day Saturday, literally all day – from about 11:o0 in the morning to 11:30 at night! Again, it would have gone faster if we had the fancy saws to cut the difficult weird shaped parts. It was SO incredibly worth it. Our space is seriously transformed for the better! Alright, enough jib-jabbing – I need to show you the finished product! Goodbye barf wall and HELLO GORGEOUS!
I’m swooning! I’m dying. I die. How crazy awesome does this look??! The barf green and the tomato red are gone forever! Hallelujah! Our entry living room finally feels like a real, complete, adult space. This is the room you see right upon entering our house, and I love the WOW factor that this lovely beautiful Stikwood has provided!
Get prepared for a deluge of pictures. I just can’t contain it! The wood just has so much texture and life to it and every single board is different! The result is a beautiful flow of natural wood that looks like it could’ve been there for ages!
We haven’t hung up any pictures yet since I wanted to show you the full awesomeness of the Stikwood. It’s basically art within itself! Doesn’t it pair so well with my wood round fireplace insert? We also chose to continue the wood over the half wall into the kitchen above the tea & coffee bar, which was such a good decision! I love how we now have such good flow from the living room to the kitchen.
All of my home decor accents, be it gold, silver, (or Carl from UP! 😉 ) just look so fantastic in front of the weathered gray wood.
Even Mumford approves! This is his favorite hangout spot 🙂
I seriously am so in love with this space now that it’s so sophisticated! Pretttttyyy suree I could live in here all day long. (And I kinda do since I work from home…!) I’m so excited to share this space with others and I’m freaking proud of my hubby and I for kicking butt at this project that has been on my wish-list for ages! Go us 🙂
A HUGE shoutout to Stikwood for creating such an awesome product! If you are thinking about adding a pallet wood wall to your home, this is definitely the way to do it. It’s quick and easy to install and looks extremely professional when finished! Come on over to my house if you don’t believe me 😉
**I received a discount when purchasing this Stikwood, but have otherwise not received any compensation for this post. All opinions, content, and photos are my own! For my full disclosure, read here.**
What finish of Stikwood is your favorite?? Click here to see all the GORGEOUS options!
Oh, Erica, this looks amazing! Sounds like such a great product and SO much easier than dealing with dismantling pallets. I love the gray whitewashed look and think it looks amazing in your living room.
Thank you so much Katie!! Stikwood is seriously so amazing. We have a bit leftover so I need to figure out where to use it! (muahaha!) WAY easier and less time consuming than dismantling pallets. I’m so glad this product exists!
I’m wondering how this is holding up.
Hi Carla, thank you so much for stopping by! It’s holding up fantastically! The adhesive on the back of Stikwood is super strong so it’s not budging anywhere! The boards look just as new and beautiful as the day we put them in and there hasn’t been any peeling or anything. I hope that answers our question and hope to see you back at Dwell Beautiful again soon! 🙂
Hi Erica! I came upon your post on Pinteret and loved how it turned out! We have been searching for something similar for our fireplace as well. Right now it’s just plain white paint.
I had a few questions if you don’t mind me asking. What was the square footage you worked with and how did you know the total quantity to order? When you stick it to the wall was there a certain pattern you followed or did you just place it to the wall in various order? This will greatly help me out! Thanks again!
WOW Erica! It looks INCREDIBLE!!! You make it look so easy and that “tape mold” is brilliant!
Aw, thank you SO much, Kristi! It really was pretty easy! I shudder to think at how long we would have been at it had we used real pallets! And thanks! We were scratching our heads for a while trying to figure out how cut around the fireplace molding and the tape actually worked really well!
I love everything about this! It looks really easy to do, but it adds so much to the room!
Thank you thank you, Bethany! It really was easy to do and the transformation just blows my mind! Definitely my happy space now 🙂
It looks BEAUTIFUL! Well done guys!
Thanks so much, Em! Definitely worth spending the whole day doing it! I basically just sit in there all day now 😉
Duuuude!! This is insane. I LOVE it!!!
Thanks Emily! We are totally smitten with this new space – we keep commenting on how grown up and professional it looks! We are pretty proud of ourselves haha 😉
WOW! WOW! WOW! I absolutely adore it. Oh, I am getting ideas…dangerous ideas!
Aww, you make me blush, Deborah! We are definitely in love with this space! And you should go with those dangerous ideas! Just saying… 😉
This is soooo goooood! Wow — love that view from the front door. Bam! So gorgeous!
Thank you so much Jen!! It definitely is a big WOW factor when you walk in the front door 🙂
OH MY GOSH, how have I never heard of stikwood?!?! This looks so insanely incredible and I can’t believe it only took yall a day to do it. What a transformation.
Aw, thanks so much, Cat! Stikwood is definitely AMAZING. So easy to use!! It was a long day of installation but now we can enjoy it for years to come 🙂
This turned out AMAZING, Erica! The room looks so light and welcoming!
Thanks so much, Tara! It’s definitely our favorite (and most complete) room in the house now 🙂
AMAZING!! I love, love, love it! I have a massive wall in my living room that I’ve been thinking about doing a planked wall treatment to. This product would make my life ten times easier. Thank you so much for sharing. Enjoy your “new” room!!
Jenny, you should totally use stikwood for your project! It seriously saves SO much time – I shudder to think about how much time we would have spent dismantling, sanding, and cleaning old dirty pallets! This way was much quicker and cleaner 🙂 Thanks so much for your kind words!
This looks amazing!! And easy! I’m thinking this would look awesome on my ceiling. I have to check out their color options!
This would absolutely look so awesome on a ceiling, Ann! If you end up going for it, I’d love to see pictures! 🙂
Holy smokes!!! What an amazing transformation!!! I want this in my bedroom!!
Thanks so much, Evie! We definitely adore this wall 🙂 It would look so great in a bedroom, too!
I find myself drooling over all the Stikwood products and it was so much fun to watch the before and after of your living room. It look gorgeous!!! Pinning 🙂
I totally drool over all the stikwood products too and I’m SO glad I got to use them in my home! It makes such a gorgeous difference 🙂 Thanks so much for pinning! 🙂
Your living room transformation looks amazing!
I have been stalking Stikwood for over a year deciding if I should take the leap and add a weathered wood wall in my son’s bedroom – um, yes, this is going to happen now! Your step-by-step installation information (espceially the exacto knife and tape stencil genius) have assured me that the process is just as easy as they say it is.
Just lovely!!
Aw, thank you Carrie! I’m so glad you found my post helpful 🙂 Stikwood really is pretty easy to install! It may seem intimidating at first, but once you get going the confidence only grows! I know it would just work perfectly in your son’s bedroom! Can’t wait to see the pictures 🙂
Oh my goodness, Erica. It is so beautiful! Well done! I am pretty sure I need a plank wall now.
Thank you so much, Alexis!! I definitely gush with love whenever I walk in the room! It’s made such a big difference 🙂
And the angel chorus SINGS!!! It’s gorgeous Erica!! I’m so glad you guys have it in and get to soak up the gloriousness of a fantastic project that adds so much maturity and poise to your home! How fun! I must come by and see it soon!
I know, seriously!! It’s like the heavens have opened up upon our living room haha 😉 You really have to come by and see it in person!
2 questions
can it be used in a bathroom
could it be used over popcorn ceilings.
Hi Judy,
Thank you for stopping by! Because of moisture concerns and the fact that it is real wood, Stikwood’s website advises against putting it small bathrooms or areas with poor moisture ventilation, otherwise it can warp. As for popcorn ceilings, I’m not sure. On the one hand the adhesive is VERY sticky and strong. But on the other hand, Stikwood’s website instructions advised us to scrape any paint imperfections and sand any raised areas down before applying the product to the walls. So I’m afraid that the rough nature of the popcorn ceilings would make it difficult for the stikwood stay put. Don’t quote me on that though – it might be worth an email to Stikwood themselves!
Oh. My. Heavens. Honestly. This is just way too awesome! Great work, totally loving it!!
Thanks so much, Amy! We definitely <3 <3 <3 it!
I can’t tell…are you excited about this?! haha. Seriously, my jealousy meter is through the roof with this wall. It’s AMAZE. I really wish I could have won my own giveaway ha! I really want to use Stikwood at some point and you’ve definitely convinced me that it needs to happen!
I mean I’m only a little SOFREAKINGEXCITED. 😉 You’ll definitely have to use it at some point – it’s made such a huge difference! Definitely my fave room now 🙂
Gorgeous and I love how easy this product is to apply! Love the color too! Love the starburst mirror above the fireplace – where did you buy it? Love your whole room! 🙂
Thank you so much, Heather! I got the mirror as a wedding present, but I remember it came from either Target or Macy’s! That was 4 years ago, but I’m sure you could still find something similar!
OH MY GOSH. That’s amazing! AMAZING!!!
Thank you SO much, Gwen! I’m still swooning over it <3 <3 <3 🙂
Erica, you can’t see me but I am applauding right now, like a standing ovation…..seriously just the most beautiful wall there ever was, you nailed it! I mean stuck it! Just WOW!
Aww, Gilly, thank you SO much! You make me blush 🙂 I’m so happy with how it turned out!! (especially the no nailing part 😉 )
Erica, I can’t even deal. This is so beautiful!!!! Total game changer in that room. It flows so well with everything, like you said. And you make it look SO easy! I’ve got to get my hands on some. Bravo! You guys did a phenomenal job!
Ahh thank you SO much! Several weeks later and I still just sit and drool over how pretty it is 🙂 You definitely need to try this product out – it’s so great!
Girl, I LOVE THIS!!! It’s amazing. Like, I need this in our bedroom riiiight now. It looks super easy to work with, too! i’m featuring this at our M.M party tonight! 🙂
You seriously need it in your life, Amanda! The impact it has is just crazy amazing 🙂 And thank you SO much for featuring me! I’m so flattered!!!
Love the way this wall turned out! So beautiful!! Thanks for sharing with us at Motivational Monday!
Thank you so much, Becky! We really love how it looks 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
SERIOUSLY Erica! This is Ah-mazing! What a transfomation! Pinning…and possibly stealing 😉
D’aww, thanks so much for your kind words and for the pin, Megan! You seriously need to get some of the stikwood – it’s crazy amazing!! 🙂
Erica, this looks seriously amazing, like it could be in the pages of Domino magazine! I love that you didn’t use any power tools to do it! So glad you linked up with us last week, look for your feature on Wednesday!
Aw, thank you SO much, Roxanne! I’m so flattered 🙂 I’m glad we didn’t have to use any power tools either since we don’t really have that many! haha. Thank you so much for your kind words and for the feature!!
What a beautiful update! Looks great. Thank you for sharing at Pin Worthy Wednesday!
Thank you so much, Jocelyn!
WOW! that is stunning and makes such a statement! love the rest of the space, too!
Thank you so much, Cassie! We are definitely enamored with this wall of ours 🙂 It was a vast improvement!
Hi! I saw your before and after on Apartment Therapy, your room looks amazing! I have a question for you – how does the edge look on the far right side of the fireplace where the wall ends and doesn’t connect to another wall? Thanks for sharing your project!
Thank you so much for stopping by, Kate! The edge actually looks pretty nice! The boards are so thin and the end edges are real wood, so it just looks like a straight wood edge, if that makes sense. It’s not an awkward transition at all. However, if you are worried about edges looking odd, they do sell corner trim for a more finished look as can be seen here: http://www.stikwood.com/collections/trim/products/gray-weathered-wood-corner-trim I hope that helps and thanks again for your kind words!
It looks so good! What a transformation.
Thank you so much, Ashley!! We really love it 🙂
Hey Erica, that’s just amazing. I was looking for some ideas on how I could make our living room more appealing and I think the idea of Stikwood is something that we are going to give a serious thought. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Ginny
I’m so glad I could inspire you, Ginny! Stikwood is really easy to work with and it’s just so beautiful. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Love, love, love the look!!! I am thinking of making a headboard out of this wood and just wondered if the wood is smooth enough that you would not be getting splinters if you brushed against it or while dusting? Also, if you were to remove the boards from your wall would it damage the drywall? Thanks!
Aw, thank you so much, Janet! We absolutely love our wall, too 🙂 While the Stikwood is in fact real wood and has a rough-ish wood feel it doesn’t really splinter too much. I’ve rubbed my hand across the boards and moved furniture near it and nothing so far has snagged or splintered. As for removing the boards, it depends on how strong your drywall is. I would say that there is definitely a risk it could take some finish off of the drywall as the adhesive is SUPER sticky and strong. The Stikwood planks aren’t really meant to be movable or reusable. When we accidentally placed one wrong while doing our wall it took a lot of effort to pry it off and we broke the board in the process. I hope that helps!
This is insanely awesome. Y’all did a GREAT job! Definitely gonna check out Stikwood.
Love the look, it’s gorgeous!! I was wondering how it was to hang your pictures up on it. I’d love to do this in my bedroom, but want to be able to hang frames and such.
Thank you so much, Jackie! It was actually really easy to hang up frames on the Stikwood. We just nailed regular picture hanging nails through the wood and it worked perfectly. When we took the pictures down and removed the nail you couldn’t even tell where the hole had been. I hope that helps!
This is amazing. I love the design.