There is nothing like having a brand new bathroom in a home. My husband and I are probably not going to have enough money left over in our construction loan to finish two bathrooms in our new camp so we decided to go completely new in the half bath since that would be the cheapest one to update. We spent $482 total. Here is the break down. Light - (House of Lights) $63 Sink and Cabinet - (IKEA) $300 Toilet - (Home Depot) $99 Flooring - We didn't use all we ordered for the rest of the upstairs so we continued into the bathroom. So, kind of free. Pallet Wall - Wood: Free (Left over stain and polyacrylic from the guard rail project.) Joint Compound - left over from another project. Paint - left over from painting our house. Trim/Moulding - We have yet to finish the trim, but it will cost around $20.
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| This is what we started out with. |
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| Then what some people call the fun part, demolition. |
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| Before and After pictures of the pallet wall. A pallet wall seemed like a good idea when I realized how stuck the wallpaper was to the existing wall in the half bath... |
1. Cut apart pallets with a saws-all/reciprocating saw. I purchased blades that cut through the nails very nicely. It wasn't too bad to cut the wood apart this way. Some of the angles are a bit awkward to deal with, but once you cut a few you will get the hang of it. I got a bunch of free pallets from my local lumber yards.
2. Mark the studs on the wall.
3. Choose pallet boards that are the same width as one another in each row.
4. Use a level to start your first row along the floor. Nail boards into studs when possible. When it was not possible, I would nail at an angle into the board that is facing off with the board that needs support. All of the boards sat nicely and became one until by attaching them this way. I didn't want to glue the boards to the wall, just in case some day I no longer want the pallet wall.
5. Work your way up the wall, checking that it is level every once in awhile. I found that how it looks far out weighed whether or not the boards are level. There will be gaps between some boards. Pallet wood is imperfect, but that just adds to the rustic flair.
6. I have seen it recommended to paint the wall a dark color ahead of time to hide the layer underneath in areas that the wall peeks out. In my case there was dark patterned wallpaper underneath, so I waited until I was done and touched up with black paint in spots that the wallpaper patterns could be seen.
7. Lastly I stained and put polyacrylic on the boards. I used Early American Minwax left over from another project. You don't have to stain the wood. It totally depends on the look that you are going for. I also left all of the nail heads from the original pallet in the boards and didn't worry about sinking and hiding all of the nails that I used to attach the boards to the wall.
