Shim Shimmery

My mom has been visiting for the last week.  Yesterday I posted a pic  on Facebook of what projects Mom and I tackled while she was here.  I should have included some football, swimming and rowdy kid pics, but too many other things to show.  My Facebook fans got to decide what project showed up here first.  So if you aren't a FB fan, I'd love to see you there so you can vote next time!

The vote was unanimous for the new "barn wood wall"

I wanted to improve the wall headed up our stairs and make it a "feature".  We have a split set of stairs off our front entry and kitchen.  It needed to be repainted, but I wanted to do something else.  My idea was to create a wall of "distressed barn wood".   I was not sure of how I was going to create the actual wall though.  Here is the before.

My mom was not so sure when I described my idea.  She liked the idea but couldn't vision it.  I wasn't set in stone as to how to accomplish but I wanted a pieced barn wood wall.  We went to Home Depot to check options, prices and ideas.  We came home with a pack of white cedar wide (size D) shims.  One pack was about $7.   We taped them to the wall with packing tape to give us a feel.  Taping it was a hilarious jenga as they all fell, but we soon saw huge possibilities in this working for my vision.

Off to Home Depot we went, and came home with 4 more packs of shims.  These shims varied in width from pack to pack.  We had to hit a second HD to get additional wide packs.  But, $35 for a custom wood wall!

We painted and distressed some of the cedar shims with spray paint using two different browns, a gray, a red, a creme, and two different blues.  Most of the colors I had already, but we did buy a dark brown and a new red.  Up to $42 for custom wall.

We did a little internet searching and chatting with Bopa (my dad) about how to attach to the wall.  Believe it our not, we ended up hot gluing the shims to the wall.  We needed something that set almost instantly or they jenga'd right off the wall.  We used the high heat gun.  The boards stuck tight almost instantly.  (Add another $5 for a second hot glue gun and $5 for more glue sticks)

Then it was just a puzzle to fill randomly with colored and raw wood boards.  I cut the angled boards and a few boards for varied length with the chop saw.  We found the "perfect" piece for each spot one at a time.  We each worked in our own spots on the wall and then traded spots every so often to make sure our random designs worked together.  The kids thought we were totally insane!

350 plus shims later, our work of art was almost complete.  We let it sit overnight and then added 2 coats of General Finishes Wipe on Gel Urethane to protect and seal the cedar.  

Our work of art was complete. 

My mom did these rooster pastels and gave them to me a few years ago.  They have always hung on this wall, but I think they look even better with the wood behind them!

Here's a few more views.  I even shot one low from the ground so you can see the bird cage light in the space too.  

And now that this project is complete, it spun off a whole bunch of other projects.  We created a wood sign on the dark brown wall.  We distressed all the frames on the wall with the railing, and have two more pictures to add up there.  Mom created a license plate piece from Dad's plates,  and I started distressing and glazing the railing.   We bought a new chair that I need to recover and restore for the space too.  It just spiraled!!  Not to mention the pantry door we painted, or the paint colors we picked for my front door or hutch...More about all of these coming soon! 

It was a great visit.  We all miss her dearly all ready!  We love you Geo.  Thanks for all your help project and non project.  Enjoy your quiet time at home!

shared with:   Savvy Southern Style   Primp  DIYbyDesign  Beyond the Picket Fence 

At the Picket Fence  Homespun Happenings  Redoux  Stuff and Nonsense 2805  Ironstone Nest Eclectically Vintage