Small Slat Wall + Art Feature

I love the color and dimension a small slat wall can bring to a space. Many times, we don’t have a large, open wall area to design. These narrow slat accents are the perfect way to style smaller sections of wall. They don’t overwhelm the space, due to the low profile form. Pair them with art, and you have a match made in heaven!

Find Your Spot

When doing a small slat wall, find a space that needs you to “zhuzh” it up. I chose the narrow area in my new powder room between the closet corner of the room and the entry door. The open space (when the door is opened into the room) is 38 inches. It needed a style moment, but couldn’t stick out far, since it sits right in front of our toilet.

Choosing the Wood

If you’re doing a slat wall, there are a couple decisions you can make about materials. You can choose high quality 1×2″ pine boards, that are typically pristine and straight. They are often higher priced, but these are good qualities if you’re doing a small slat wall, especially one that will be up front and center (like the one that I’m featuring here!). The other options is to choose low quality 1×2″ pine boards, like the ones I featured in my budget-friendly slat wall. This is a bit more time consuming, since you’ll really have to root through the boards at the store to find the best ones. Lie them flat against floor lines at the hardware store to see if you have a straight edge.

You can also use plywood, cutting your own slats, but I only recommend that when the slats will be tightly fit together, so you don’t reveal the sides too much.

Make the First Cuts

Measure from the ceiling to the top of the baseboard. Cut the lengths of the boards, and then bring them into the space to ensure they fit.

Prep the Wood

Once they are cut to length, you’ll want to gently sand them if they are high quality. If they are lower quality, they will take more sanding to smooth them out. Clean the wood with mineral spirits. After you let them dry, 15 minutes or so, you can condition the wood so it takes to the wood consistently. If you’re going for more of a rustic look, this is less important.

Stain the Slats

You may be creating a small slat wall, but that doesn’t mean the stain color doesn’t matter. It might even be more important because the space is so limited. I knew I would be pairing the wood with wooden framed art, so I tried to choose a color that coordinated. I didn’t need everything to match, but I wanted the color scheme to look good together. The frames have a soft stained look, with a soft gray undertone, so I went with Aged Barrel by Minwax, always one of my favorite stains to use.

Apply Polycrylic

With slat walls, I do apply a layer of Polycrylic once the stain has had time to dry. I want to preserve the wood, but mostly I do this because it seals the smell. It goes on quickly–I tend to use a foam brush, making sure that there are no drips. Polycrylic dries fast, and a little goes a long way.

Assemble the Small Slat Wall

To assemble a slat wall, regardless of the size, you’ll need a nail gun, finishing nails, optional glue (for more permanent fixtures), a level and a spacer block or blocks.

Make the First Slat Level

This is one of the most important steps. You have to start out with a level board at the start. You can make slight corrections along the way, but take time to install the first board correctly. I used my 48″ levelfor this project.

Nail in Place

If you’re planning to glue the slats, then nail in place, you would apply the glue or Liquid Nails prior to placing on the wall–keeping the level nearby to make adjustments. I chose to simply nail without glue, since there wouldn’t be anything hanging from the slats–no pressure to pull them away from the wall. I would nail one time, near the middle, then check the level once more before adding nailing again.

Use the Spacer

To place the next slat, then nail in place, I turned a 1×2″ board on its side, using the .75″ width. Hold it flush up against the first board, then place the second one right up against the spacer block and nail. The spacer block can be moved up and down as you nail sections in place. Once the board is nailed, the spacer can be removed, then put in place to be the spacer for the next board. You’ll do this the entire way across until your slat wall is finished.

Add Artwork!

Pairing the narrow slat wall with a couple of framed pieces of art is a great way to accessorize a small wall space. I ordered two prints that I thought complemented each other in style and color scheme. The frames I chose are 11×14″ in size, with 8×10″ matted photos.

Stand back and admire your work! Let me know if you try this project–I’d love to see it!