My BIGGEST project to date! I had a blast and also a frustrating time building it. Now that it’s up, I love it so much 🥰
The Project
I wanted a wall storage solution (that wasn’t just all shelves or drawers) for my crafts. I have 9′ high ceilings and 10 feet of width to work with. A slat wall seemed perfect as it is pretty, useful, and customizable. I didn’t want an out-of-the-box solution because they looked expensive and I wanted to configure my own. I was really inspired by Kim Bui from XO My Home’s DIY plant wall and followed a lot of her steps to make mine as well, so be sure to check hers out too!
The (Original) Plan
I always do this to myself. I have this grandiose idea and then need to scale it down. Here’s the blank slate:
Originally I wanted to cover most of my project wall with this plus the adjacent wall:
…Until I measured and realized my small car would not be able to accommodate anything 8′ long. I figured I could get the vertical strips cut to fit in my car and then piece them together on the wall but I didn’t want cuts in the horizontal slats, which would be visible in the finished product.
The New (Final) Plan
Here’s what I eventually ended up with:
Slatwall Pattern and Measurements
Generally speaking, the instructions for this project are to affix vertical strips to the wall studs and then attach horizontal strips. There is some flexibility here in terms of how you can have it look, based on the size of the horizontal rows; in other words, if you use 1x2s, 1x3s, 1x4s, or some combination of those.
(Keep in mind that those terms are nominal sizes and actual sizes are going to be minus a quarter inch in thickness and half an inch in width — so a 1×2 = 0.75″x1.5″; 1×3 = 0.75″x2.5″; 1×4 = 0.75″x3.5″. The length should be true to size.)
I think if you don’t want to think about it, just go with 1×2s. It will look uniform and still pretty. Another pretty pattern is to go 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3,…
But if you like to make your life harder like I do, you will try to explore ALL possible patterns!!
How Much Material to Use
Also, the other question in tandem is: how much of what do I buy?
The final height = (the width of the slats X the total number of slats) + (0.75″ gap between slats X the total number of gaps)
It’s more complicated if you choose different widths of slats 😆
So I turned to trusty Excel to help me both visualize the different patterns and also answer how many strips I needed of each measurement.
First, I came up with a template for the widths, which translates to how tall each slat was going to be once it was up on the wall (column A is in inches):
Incorporating the 0.75″ gap at the bottom of each allowed me to mix and match as I pleased. I was not picky as to whether or not the vertical strips showed at the top or bottom past the horizontal strips, but if you care (I do think it looks better if you can’t see it), you are limited in your patterns — you’d only be able to use patterns where the first and last strip would more than cover the top and bottom. Here are some examples of how I played with the patterns in Excel:
I ultimately decided on the pattern of 2, 2, 3, 4. To figure out the quantity of each size, I continued down the sheet until I got to around 92″-96″ and then used Excel’s Find feature to sum up the total quantity for each slat I’d need.
Supplies
Here’s where I shook out. What I ended up using:
- 8′ Furring strips
- (5) 1x2s
- 6′ Pine board
- (16) 1x2s
- (8) 1x3s
- (7) 1x4s
- Stud finder
- Level
- Power drill
- Self-driving wood screws
- 2 ladders
Shopping
We went to Lowe’s and headed straight to get the furring strips first. I chose furring strips to attach to the wall studs because they are not as expensive as pine board. They aren’t as pretty or straight either, but that’s okay because most of it wasn’t going to be visible.
We did the best we could to find the 5 straightest boards, laid them out on the ground, measured three feet from one end and marked it with a pencil for someone to cut for me (remember, this wasn’t going to fit in my car at full length).
Next up was the pine boards. I felt gypped — I was told by the internet these would be straight and pretty!
We did our best and here’s our bounty:
We headed over to the cutting station to get the furring strips cut. I’m glad they have this service because I’m too scared to cut by myself!
It’s a great thing we made sure not to end up with pieces any longer than 6 feet in length. They barely fit in the car!
See DIY Slat Wall Part 2 for notes on the installation and cost!
