How to Build a DIY Wood Slat Wall

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Constructing wood slat walls adds an air of sophistication to a room. It's a mid-century modern look usually found in high-end hotels or designer homes. It's not a feature you'd normally see in a home - which makes it all the more noteworthy. A wood slat wall is the ideal focal point for a room: the accent wall you'll have for years to come.

Building a DIY wood slat wall can be a bit time consuming, but it's not complicated at all. Plus, you have a few options. One method using dimensional lumber slats is easier but more expensive, while the other method (using well-planked slats) takes more time but saves money.

This guide will produce enough lath to cover an 8-foot wall - plan to add more wood and supplies as needed to cover the space you are using.

The Basics of a Wood Slat Wall

A wood slat wall is made of vertical strips of wood that extend from the floor to the ceiling. Each strip is 1/2 to 2 inches wide. The width is your choice, depending on the final look you want to achieve.

To avoid a zebra striping effect, the spacing between slats should be less than the width of the slats, so 1/2 inch slats should be spaced 1/4 inch apart.

The color of the wall behind the slats plays an important role, as it is the background for the slats. You may want to choose a dark background, such as matte black, for a dramatic, modern look.

Acoustic Wooden Slats Panel

Build with dimensional lumber

Using one or two pre-cut strips of lumber can speed up a project and help you avoid using a table saw. With this method, most of the work is concentrated on cutting the ends of the boards and nailing them down.

Each 1×2 is actually 1 1/2 inches wide. To cover an 8-foot wall with a 3/4-inch space between boards, 48 strips are needed. Although cork strips are inexpensive, slat walls are still quite expensive when you need to buy 100 or 200 strips. Hardwood slats are three times more expensive than softwood, but require less finishing work.

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Building with Sheet Goods

Cutting 4-foot by 8-foot sheets of plywood into strips is a more cost-effective method, but it's more time-consuming. A sheet of plywood yields about 90 to 92 strips, each 1/2 inch wide.

One of the main differences between using sheet and dimensional lumber is thickness. If you want slats that fit closely to the wall, you need to use nominal 1/2-inch plywood (about 3/8-inch thick). For one-by-two lumber, the strips are 3/4 inch thick.

Acoustic Wooden Slats Panel

Safety Considerations

Using a table saw or circular saw is dangerous enough, but repeated cuts are even more dangerous. Always be alert. Keep your hands away from the blade by pushing from a distance or using a push block or push bar. Large pieces of material are difficult to get through the table saw, so cut with the help of an assistant to help secure the other end.

You can use a circular saw to cut sheets in half lengthwise to make it easier to handle them on the table saw.

As a professional acoustic slat wood wall panels manufacturer and supplier, Deco Sound specializes in manufacturing the best quality acoustic slat wood wall panels for our customers for their interiors. We create high quality, aesthetically pleasing designs and innovative acoustic solutions to help overcome a range of noise related challenges.

For more information about the interior wood slat wall, welcome to contact us at +86 137 7326 3528 or write to us at michkle@decosoundpanel.com. We will be happy to help you out!

Greetings all,
I am building a panel that will have slats about 7 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. I am stumped as to how to space the slats in the 27 inch space so that all spaces (including the two end spaces) are equal. Also, a friend said that I should never use an odd number of slats, because the center slat will detract from the symatry. HELP!!

Thanks, ATOMA

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