DIY Wood Planked Ceiling

I’m just going to give it to you straight.

This was a tough one folks.

“DIY Wood Planked Ceiling” is officially in the books, it’s gorgeous beyond my wildest dreams, but it was a big job.

I’m not talking about buying the wood, staining the wood, or even figuring out where to put what piece.  Those were the easy parts.  What’s difficult, is lifting that many boards over your head in a brief amount of time.  This took 2 weekends.  (I suppose you could do it in one, but staining takes time.)

Was it worth it?  Absolutely.

Isn’t it cozy?  Romantic?  Rustic?  It’s even quieter in there, now…

We wanted rich warm tones that would tie in our “orange-y” colored wood floor, plantation shutters, and dark furniture pieces in the room.  I think it worked.  In turn, we created a rustic nest that is like a retreat away from the craziness.  I could live in there.

Just look at those wood tones.  Pure yummy for this lady.

It’s kind of like crawling into a cabin every night in the middle of the woods.

I get that feeling so much, I even purchased flannel sheets! (I’ll be posting this room all decked out for Christmas soon, including those sheets, but you can get a sneak peek here: Flannel Plaid Sheets.)

Here it is at night…

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When I look up, this is what I see…I used this wood burning tool to engrave our names into the wood before we stained.  It was super easy just with free hand.  It’s very discreet if you don’t know it’s there.  I bet the next people that live here won’t even notice it until years go by, lol.

This is what the room looked like with out the “Wood Planked Ceiling”…

***My “Doodled Memory Bench” is still one of my favorite pieces.  The DIY Wood Frame around the poster is pretty cool, too.

So….lets get to how we did this.

It’s pretty basic, but as I mentioned earlier, it involves strength.  You will need at least 2 people and 2 weekends.  Oh, and the stain makes the bedroom smell for about a week, so you won’t want to sleep in there until the smell is gone.

After we measured the room, we figured out roughly how much wood we would need.  Then we went to Home Depot and bought pine boards in many different widths (1 inch thickness, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 inches wide).  We didn’t want this to look manufactured.  We wanted it to look rustic with random sizes.  Also…we hand picked each board carefully so there were lots of knots and no cracked/warped wood.

When we got home, my husband and I beat each other up the wood with a hammer and chain.  This took a while.  The patience this man has is amazing.

Next came the staining…we used 3 different colors:

1. Minwax Red Mahogany Stain

2. Minwax Fruitwood Stain

3. A mix of the 2 (just for fun)

We used rags to apply it (wear rubber gloves).  It may appear that there are more than 3 shades of stain.  That is because you can adjust the color by how much stain you actually let soak into the board.  The heavier coat you put on, the darker it will be.  Remember to dry between coats.  We only did one coat on each board.  Then we put one coat of polyurethane (satin sheen) which will help with he stain smell, too.  Be sure to let all stains dry.

IMPORTANT: Stain is highly flammable, and can combust.  You must use a very ventilated area (outdoors is best), and never put stained rags together.  Let them dry flat outside.  We also took our boards out of the garage to dry.  We are very cautious about fires.

Before you can start attaching the wood, you need to prep the room.  We covered our bed with a big plastic tarp.  You must also locate the floor joists (in the ceiling) so you know where to put the nails.  You must do this, or the wood will not be safe.  If you look above, you can see we used red chalk lines.  I do not recommend doing it this way because chalk got everywhere.  Just use a pencil or marker.

We used this nail gun  Paslode Cordless Framing Nailer (you will need nails and fuel) to attach our boards, and let me tell you…it is a power house.  We put the nails in the same spot on each board.  It made it look really cool.

You can paint your ceiling black first if you want to be sure that you won’t see any white cracks between the boards.  We chose not to because we are lazy.  That would also change our floor joist system mentioned earlier.

We had to drop down our light fixture (keeping wires in tact), and my husband cut a small square hole in the board that went there.  If you like our chandelier, you can find it here at a great price.

When choosing your wood pattern, do what suites you best.  Have fun with it!  We did it random, but we also wanted contrast.  So, if we went dark, the next one was lighter.  You will need to measure each row because your house is most likely not even.  We had sometimes a 1/2 inch difference.

You can also cut the boards at different lengths so they don’t all line up at the same point.  We also threw in 2 “patches” that went the opposite way.  It’s basically just a really heavy puzzle.

Don’t forget to let the room air out at least a week before you sleep there.

Candles help reduce the smell, too.

We chose not to do trim around the edges because we are too old.  We like it without.

I’m really sleepy now, so I’m going to go take nap.  Good night.

*Products for Wood Planked Ceiling are highlighted above.

Black Chandelier

White Down Comforter

Furry Brown Blanket

Paris Sign

Silver Candle Holders

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You may also like our “DIY Wood Planked Wall” in the adjoining master bathroom…

If you like my ceiling, you will also like this Distressed Wood Ceiling by The Heathered Nest.

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