Herringbone Wood Shim DIY Wall Art

A DIY Home Decor Solution

I’d spent months pondering how to fill the big space on the wall in my dining room. I needed something substantial, but wanted to keep it simple. After some searching, I came across an idea on Pinterest of using wood shims to create a sort of herringbone style artwork. This DIY wall art piece was just what I needed!

Wood shims! I know what those are after installing my new kitchen countertop : ) Best of all, they are quite affordable. I read up a few things online about how others have made something similar, and decided I could do the same with the tools I had on hand.

I started out with my materials:

• 2′ x 4′ plywood (that was the approximate size I wanted it to be)
• Wood shims (3 packs of 11 7/8″; you can choose any size)
• Construction Adhesive (I went with Loctite Power Grab)
• Wood stain ( I chose 2 different types; you could use paint if you prefer)
• Small wood trim for framing the piece
• Spray Polyurethane
• Wall hanging hardware set 

Step 1: Stain the Shims

The first step was to stain the shims. I wanted at least three different tones in my piece, so I chose two stains and left some natural.

Here are the stains I chose:

• Worn Navy by Varathane
• Espresso by Varathane

The shims are Nelson brand, though they worked great for this project, note that some of them in each of the packages were not perfect. A handful had chipped or uneven corners. I stained some of them since the edges didn’t need to be perfect if they were going to be cut off anyways at the edge of the 2′ x 4′ plywood. I separated the imperfections from the good ones just to make sure I had enough of them stained in each of the shades.

Step 2: Glue the Shims to the Plywood

I set up the shims in the pattern I wanted. I kept it pretty random; if it looked like I was getting a block of one color, I switched it up. Take a step back and evaluate it if you’re not sure about it. You could also do a set pattern.

I used a carpentry square along the edge I started on to make sure the herringbone pattern would look straight across the entire piece. Working left to right, I glued each shim to the plywood using construction adhesive. I left the ones on the edges hang over the side (they get taken care of in the next step).

Step 3: Trim the Edges

Once the glue had time to fully dry, I brought in one of my favorite tools: my jigsaw. I used blue painters tape over the front side of the shims so that the shims wouldn’t splinter from the force of the saw. Then, I flipped the piece over and used the edge of the plywood as a guide to saw off the overhanging shims.

Step 4/5: Cut and Adhere the Framing Pieces

I measured and cut the side framing pieces first (the ones perpendicular to the piece). The piece itself is pretty thin, so the nails were a little challenging to delicately hammer in by hand. I would have tried my air nailer, but I didn’t have the right nails on hand. I then used the same wood to frame on top of the piece, so that this frame rested immediately inside the perpendicular frame part. I’m guessing there are some specific carpentry vocabulary to describe this type of framing, but I haven’t learned that yet…

Step 4/5: Stain the Frame

I actually did stain some of the frame before nailing it to the plywood. However, I did not stain both sides, so once it was together, there was some raw wood still showing. I carefully stained these parts and let them dry.

Note that you could keep the wood unstained/raw and it would look just as beautiful.

Step 6: Protect the Piece

I brought the piece outside, laid it on a drop cloth, and lightly coated it with some spray poly. I’m not concerned about any damage from usage like other furniture pieces that I’ve worked on, but I wanted a smooth finish that would make it easy to wipe off any dust particles. I let it dry before carrying back in the house.

Step 7: Attach the Wall Hanging Hardware and Hang!

I used a kit to install a wire on the back side for hanging. It was a little tricky to hang, to catch the wire at that height (this was the one step I got help from my boyfriend on : ) )

Make sure it’s level, then enjoy!

A Fun Piece of DIY Wall Art Makes a Happy Dining Room

I hung it above my DIY plant stand, which it shares the navy blue tone with. It makes the room feel more complete than the big white wall space I had. The textured look of the natural wood combined with the color scheme makes it the perfect addition to my simple, boho-inspired apartment; and the herringbone pattern is a taste of modern mixed with rustic.

What do you think? Give it a try! I’d love to hear how it goes and see your final product!

And if you don’t have time for making this DIY home decor art and would rather just purchase ready to hang, check out this beautiful rustic piece of Reclaimed Wood Wall Art: