Chevron Pattern Reclaimed Wood Wall Art

Dimensions: Length or Height 48 inches; Width 26 inches, Thickness 1.5 inches, Weight 25 pounds. This large, simple art piece reveals the variety and natural beauty that exists under the dirt and grime that sometimes builds up on rough pallet wood—a ubiquitous industrial product that gets thrown away all the time. What you see are natural colors, not colored stains. I think this piece would add a nice, warm, rustic richness to virtually any room in a home or in an office. It’s very much the kind of thing I’d hang up in my own house, but I’m running out of wall space! I have not attached D-rings to the back yet, because I’m not sure whether you’ll want to hang it vertically or horizontally pointing left or right. But if you tell me what you have planned, I can put them on for you before delivery or pickup. $225. Click here to purchase.

The Story

Looking for a project to do one day, I started sorting through my collection of reclaimed pallet wood and once again realized with amazement how much variety there was in terms of pattern, color, size, etc. I decided to show that off. I had a 2x4-foot piece of underlayment that I decided to use as the backing for a large art piece. I removed the nail heads from the pallet boards and then used a belt sander to clean and smooth down the surfaces. For virtually every “row” in the design, I used a single board, with two 45-degree cuts in the middle to form the 90-degree chevron design. I used a router to give a consistent radius around the edges, then hand sanded all the pieces, but retained the black marks around the nail holes as little accents. Because most of the pieces were slightly warped, I used my router to cut lots of grooves across the back, making them more flexible and much easier to glue down flat. I arranged the rows with a repeating pattern of two narrow boards and then one wider one. I also tried to maximize variability in the type and tone of the wood; no similar boards are close together. Before gluing down the boards (one at a time for 6–12 hours each), I put a stripe of black paint under where all the boards would meet, a better contrast to show through where any gaps might be. After gluing, I trimmed off the outer edges to a roughly 2x4-foot rectangle, then used my router on the outer four sides to match the other edges. To finish this main part of the piece, for the first time ever I used Watco Danish Oil. It’s a clear finish, not a colored stain. It penetrates to bring out all the deep, natural tones of the wood; it doesn’t sit on the surface like polyurethane or varnish. Since it’s a wall hanging, not furniture that would be touched and have things set on the surface, it doesn’t need any extra layer of protection like those other finishes. It looks rich but not shiny. I love it! For the frame, I wanted something chunky and substantial. I bought some 1.5-inch square pine lumber from Home Depot. I used my router (with three passes) to cut away a section ½-inch across and 1 inch deep, for the piece to set down into, then I used the router to round the top inside and outside edges with the same radius as all the other boards. I cut the frame boards to length, with mitered corners. Then I painted the pieces with a 50-50 blend of matte and semi-gloss black paint for a finish neither too flat nor too shiny. I attached the frame with 16 screws through the back and four binding the corners. I covered the corner screw head holes with putty, sanded, and then repainted the surfaces. The black frame complements the accents found on some of the main boards.

Related Items: Abstract Wall Art from Reclaimed Wood.