Modern Slat Wall Treatment | Dining Room

This modern slat wall treatment is ah-mazing!

My daughter’s friend, Tyler,  just built and moved into a new home in the city and he is so ready to make it his own! He called me over to help him transform his dining room into a cool, hip space and OMG I love it!

He had a great vision but just needed some help executing it.

The project began by painting the wall black.  That would act as the perfect backdrop for his natural stained slats to pop off.

I sent him to Home Depot to buy the supplies.  He had never been in the lumber section so when he walked in, he stood there for a moment, got intimidated and walked right back out!

You got this!!   Let’s try this again.

A pep talk from me gave him the courage to walk back in and buy what he needed to get this project going.

Knowledge is power, right?!

Maybe he should read my post on how to DIY!

Now, to figure out the pattern.

His ceiling is 9′ and we only had 8′ boards so we came up with a pattern that we fell in LOVE with to make our supplies work for us.  We installed the 8′ boards vertically, added a horizontal board across the length of the wall, and then cut smaller pieces to line up along the bottom.

We LOVE it!!

Making this modern slat wall come to life took just a few simple tools and supplies:

Black paint

1 x 2 Select pine boards – 8′ long

18 gauge nail gun and nails (or finish nails and a hammer)

Natural stain

Miter saw (faster) or hand saw

Look at how incredibly chic that is!

You can have this amazing treatment, too!   Here’s how:

1. Remove the baseboard on the wall you are treating.
2. Paint the wall a contrasting color from ceiling to floor.  We chose black.
3. Stain the boards the color of your choice. We chose a natural stain.
4. Figure out how far apart you want your boards to be.  We chose 1 1/2″ so we could use a spare slat board as a spacing guide.  *TIP: I would write the word “spacer board” on it.  If you need it later on, you can use the other side that isn’t written on.*
5. To calculate the little pieces at the bottom:  Ceiling height – board length – 4 1/2″ = length of small boards. So in our case it was 9′ ceiling – 8′ boards – 4 1/2″ = 7 1/2″. Our little pieces at the bottom would need to be 7 1/2″.

How to begin the slat treatment:

1. Start on the outer edges and work your way in (so you can make tiny adjustments in the center for spacing).
2. Start in the corner on one side. Nail one long vertical board into the wall, touching the ceiling with your board and placing a nail every 12″.
3. Set one of your small pieces you cut on the floor directly under and nail into place.  You can just continue to use your spacing board all the way from ceiling to floor.
4. You will have a 4 1/2″ space between the long board and short board that has nothing in it.  We will come back to that at the end.
5. Use your spacer board as a guide and place it next to the vertical board you just nailed in and then place another board next to that nice and tight, nailing it in. Again on the top of the wall and from the floor up.
6. Remove the spacer board and place it next to the ones you just nailed in.  Add a board and nail.
7. Keep going in that pattern.
8. Do a few on one side then go the the other corner and start to work your way in.
9. Once you get to the center you can adjust the spacing as needed by small amounts to make it look even.
10. Again, using your spacer board as a guide, lay it across the wall touching the bottom of all of the long slats you installed.
11. Add an 8′ board tightly against that and nail it in to the wall.  You should have 1 1/2″ empty space over and under the horizontal board.

WOW!!  Look at what you just did!

This slat wall treatment was so easy to install. We did it in just a few hours from beginning to end. I love the pattern we came up with and it looks amazing in his space!!  I hope you love it, too!