One Room Challenge Week 7 | Bedroom Makeover: Build a Custom Slat Wall Headboard

Jun 20, 2024

We've reached week 7 of the Fall 2021 One Room Challenge®! The time has definitely flown by with only one week remaining. While we haven't been able to stay on schedule or maintain the pace that we intended to, we have made tremendous progress and are continuing to move the project forward in order to reach the finish line.

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Our goal was to complete our custom slat wall headboard over weeks 3 and 4 of the One Room Challenge, but instead of finishing it during those weeks, we fail behind because it was way more time consuming than we anticipated. Please don't let this discourage you! While there was a serious level of difficulty, there were also challenges with time management. Additionally, we didn't allocate or should I say properly calculate the amount time it would realistically require to complete the slat wall. We did a poor job factoring in our daily commitments, restraints, conflicts, and how sheer procrastination would impact our timeline

We started week 3 with looking for inspiration on Beyoncé's internet (i.e. Google and Pinterest). The one thing we were honest about from the start was what we were and weren't capable of doing. We found a slat wall design that was inline with what we hoped to achieve and then tweaked it to fit our skill level.

We sketched out the design before heading to the store to purchase the necessary supplies to complete the project. We also took measurements of the wall where the slat wall was going to be built in order to decide on the dimension of the slat wall and placement. We were unable to center the slat wall because of the space limitations created by the door. We are adding floating nightstands on both sides of the bed and had we centered the slat wall there wouldn't have been enough space to include a nightstand on the right side.

Supplies Needed for the Custom Slat Wall Headboard

Below I've listed all of the tools and supplies you'll need to build your custom slat wall headboard. This includes the measurements and exact number of 1x2s and plywood required for this project.

TOOLS & SUPPLIES

Now that you have all of your tools and supplies, let's start DIYing!

How to Build a Custom Slat Wall Headboard

Step 1: SAND AND STAIN

Stain the plywood and 1x2s. We chose to stain the plywood and 1x2s prior before attaching them to the wall to avoid dripping and creating a mess in our bedroom.

We mixed Special Walnut and Golden Pecan in a 50/50 ratio and used a paint brush to apply the stain to the plywood and 1x2s. We ultimately added two coats remembering to spread the stain as thin as possible.

We didn't stain all of the 1x2s at the same time, which is why there are slight variations in the color.

Step 2: MARK YOUR STUDS

Measure and mark the studs with the stud finder. You want to hit as many studs as possible when installing the plywood by making sure that the nails used to hold up the plywood are going directly into the studs. This will ensure the wall can properly support the weight of the slat wall.

Step 3: CUT YOUR PLYWOOD

Measure and cut your plywood using a circular saw. Be sure to measure and cut out the area of all outlets. We used to a reciprocating saw to cut out the outlets on the plywood.

Step 4: INSTALL THE PLYWOOD

As stated above, install the plywood by nailing it into the studs. Now, we didn't stress this step too much, because the plywood is light and we knew we would hit more studs when installing the 1x2s.

Step 4: CUT YOUR 1X2S FOR THE FRAME

Next, you're going to grab four 1x2x to create a frame around the edges of the plywood along all four sides. To do this, you're going to cut the four 1x2s to them using a circular saw or miter saw.

Step 6: INSTALL 1X2S FOR THE FRAME

Attach the 1x2s with nail gun flushed with the edges of the plywood along all four sides. Try to hit as many studs as possible during this process.

Step 7: PLAN YOUR DESIGN

This step was the most important and stressful part of the process. Before, we started, we sketched a rough draft of the design. We did have to make some modifications. First, we measured the seams where the different pieces of the plywood met. Next, we measured the areas around the outlets where there were rough plywood cuts. We used those new measurements to better understand how far apart we should space the 1x2s and the placement to cover seams and rough edges.

Step 8: CUT YOUR 1X2S

This was the slowest part of the process because wanted to make sure we made proper cuts and wasted as little material as possible. We used the circular saw for straight edge cuts and the miter saw to achieve 45 degree angles.

Be sure to measure, measure, measure, as we discovered our wall was not 100% straight. So don't attempt to take one measurement for all of the 1x2s that will be placed parallel within the design - the assumption is that each of the 1x2s can be cut to the same length, however there could be slight variations in the measurements.

Step 9: INSTALL THE 1X2S

We started by installing 1x2s over the seams between the different pieces of plywood. Then we installed 1x2s around the electric outlet. After those two important tasks were complete, we begin installing the remaining 1x2s to build out the slat wall design.

Remember: if the nails holding up the plywood didn't hit a lot of studs, be sure to make sure the 1x2s hit studs for added support.

Step 10: FINISHING TOUCHES

When your custom slat wall headboard is complete, go back and add finishing touches to elevate the look of your slat wall. Add paintable caulk to fill any gaps.

Once the paintable caulk dries, go back and touch up all seams, corners, and edges with stain.

Was this custom slat wall headboard worth all of the stress and time? ABSOLUTELY! It was an affordable way to add a bold feature to our bedroom.

We still have one week left of the ORC. We're not sure if we'll finish on time, but we're proud of the work we've done so far. Be sure to check out the incredible work the other Guest Participants have done. They are killing it!