5 Ways to Incorporate Wood Slats Into Your Home (Beyond the Accent Wall)

Sep 17, 2023

By Lisa Cheng

What's one way to add a little oomph to a humdrum room without a full-fledged makeover or out-of-control budget? Wood slats. There are many reasons why wood slats (also called wood lath) are a popular DIY project these days: They’re versatile, add dimension and movement to any room, and allow incorporating organic materials into your home. "Wood is naturally a very grounding material, and using it throughout your home brings elements of the outdoors inside and creates better flow throughout the space," says Liz Lovery, an interior designer and home renovator in San Diego. "They’re also extremely easy to incorporate into your home, so even a novice DIY’er can do it."

A living room or an entryway is a good place to start with wood slat ingenuity, especially if you implement the slats as a shelving unit of sorts or something to hold family pictures or keys, says Todd Saunders, CEO of FlooringStores, a flooring company. You can even implement an intact shipping pallet to give your slats some structure. Here are five more DIY wood slat projects—beyond the accent wall—that can create visual interest in your home.

Wood slats give this console some breathing room—a project created by blogger Jessica Small.

Simple but striking, wood-slat consoles can add an unexpected element to a room. "The clean lines of the slats mixed with curved edges of the shelves gives [the console] a sense of balance," says Jessica Small, creator of From Grit to Pearl, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Find her full console tutorial here.

To make a wood-slat console you’ll need:

Step 1: Make the shelves

Cut three shelves from the plywood to the desired shape and size. You will need a jigsaw to create the curve. Apply the edge banding to the front and veneer to the top.

Step 2: Make the legs

To create the legs, which serve as the frame, cut the wood boards into four equal 36-inch pieces. Aim to make two ladder-like pieces. Take two 36-inch long pieces and secure a short piece of wood (this will determine the width of your console) about 5 inches from the ground—this is the bottom. The middle rung will go 16 inches above the bottom. The last piece will go 12 inches above the center, and will serve as a marker for the top. Leave about 1/2 inch (or the width of your plyboard) at the top so that the shelf fits in smoothly. Repeat the process to make the second supporting piece. Use wood glue and finishing nails to secure all of the leg/frame pieces.

Step 3: Apply the veneer to shelves

As Small applied the veneer, she temporarily used PVC pipes underneath, slowly smoothing out the veneer from one end to the other, and thus preventing air bubbles.

Step 4: Stain all the wood pieces

Deciding on the color of wood stain, Small used a mid-tone color to reflect the red oak finish. Test the stain on both the wood legs and the veneer finish as the two materials may absorb the color differently. Small created her own custom stain color by applying Minwax Driftwood first and then the Varathane Early American finish.

Step 5: Assemble the console

Dry fit the shelves and the legs. Secure with wood glue and finishing nails.

Step 6: Attach the slats

Each slat is one inch wide. To ensure even spacing, Small marked the area around the console with pencil to create one-inch markers between the slats. For this project, she used 50 slats at 30 inches each. Attach the slats with wood glue and brad nails around the shelving unit, leaving the front open.

Step right up to this wood slat DIY.

Welcome mats are the first thing people see when before they enter your home. They can make a dramatic impression if they’re made out of wood slats. But there's a practical element too: A wood-slat welcome mat is easier to clean than a woven or coir door mat, according to Danica Gadekin, Lincoln, Nebraska-based owner of the interior design blog Nadine Stay.

To make a wood-slat welcome mat you need:

Step 1: Cut the board

Cut two of the cedar boards so that they’re 20 1/8 inches long.

Step 2: Sand away any rough surfaces

Sand all the boards with sandpaper or a sanding block to smooth out any rough surfaces.

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Step 3: Apply tung oil (optional)

If you want to preserve the color of the cedar, use a rag to wipe on a coat of tung. "Tung oil enhances the color of the wood and acts as a protective top coat," Gadekin says. "If you like the color of weathered gray cedar, skip this step."

Step 4: Make the outer frame

Make a rectangle frame with two 3-foot boards for the top and the bottom, and two 20 1/8-inch frames for the sides. Drill a couple of pilot holes in all the corners and secure each corner with two nails.

Step 5: Fill in the frame

Fill in the center of the frame with the slats using a scrap piece of wood as a spacing guide (cut the spacing guide to 3/8 of an inch or however far you want to space apart the slats). To attach the pieces to the frame, drill pilot holes through the sides of the outer frame and into the slat. Hammer in two nails on each side of the wood to secure.

Atelier Davis knows that there is no need to replace cabinet doors, at least not when wood slats are involved.

Rather than getting brand new cabinets, you can give your existing ones an oomph by covering them with wood slats. "They make the cabinet feel more elevated and more like a part of the wall versus just a box," says Atlanta-based interior designer Jessica Davis of Atelier Davis. And you have the choice of going horizontal or vertical: "Vertical slats will make something feel higher. Horizontal slats work well for screens but might collect more dust and call out imperfections of floors and ceilings that aren't level."

For wood-slat screens for slab-front cabinets you’ll need:

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Step 1: Measure the cabinets

To figure out the slat spacing and number of strips to buy, measure the cabinets. You can take a photo, print it out, and draw the slats over top. For a tambour effect—which works great in a small space—allow the slats to touch, Davis says.

Step 2: Cut the slats

Cut the half-round strips of molding to the length of the surface you want to cover (or the width for horizontal slats). You can have them trimmed for you on-site at a home improvement store.

Step 3: Attach the slats to the cabinet

Use wood glue and a nail gun to attach the slats. Place a small dollop of glue to the back of the slat, then attach to the cabinet. Secure with the nail. "I would use finish nails or brads without a head that can be countersunk and then filled in with wood glue or filler," Davis says.

Step 4: Apply the stain or paint

Since you’ll have to fill in the nail holes, wait to paint or stain the slats until the project is done. Cabinets get a lot of use, so make sure to add a polycrylic protective finish that will prevent the paint from chipping.

Interior designer Kera Jeffers believes slats are a shoo-in when it comes to DIY.

When Phoenix interior designer Kera Jeffers wanted to give her walk-in closet a makeover, she knew that tidying up the shoes was a must. "Functionality is at the core of every design decision I make," she says. "If something doesn't function well, it has no purpose." Inspired by the slat wall trend and sliding shelf project, she cooked up her own closet creation—see the step-by-step process in her Instagram stories. By placing the slats along the wall, she created gaps just big enough for petite shoe shelves even Carrie Bradshaw would covet.

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To make a shoe slat shelf you’ll need:

Step 1: Lay out the shelf design

For a corner shelf, Jeffers first sketched out the asymmetrical design of the shelves—a crucial step for making a corner piece.

Step 2: Ready the slat boards and shelves

Use a miter saw to cut the pine boards to desired length. Smooth out the raw wood with an orbital sander. Work your way up to the ultra-smooth finish, starting with 120-grit sandpaper, then building up to 220-grit, and finally 320-grit. Paint or stain the slats. Repeat the process to make the 6-inch wide shoe shelves that you plan to fit between the slats. Use veneer edge banding for a polished look.

Step 3: Install the slats

Use a stud finder to mark the studs. Apply construction adhesive to the slats, and place them on the wall, checking that the board is level. Use a brad nailer to secure the wood to the wall. To ensure the shelves fit, use a spacer with the same dimensions between slats. Consistency is key here. Cover the nail holes with wood filler or putty. Sand off the excess once dry.

Step 4: Add the shelves

Slide the shelves between slats. If you spaced properly, the shelf should hold snuggly. Any wobble can be remedied with more construction adhesive.

Enter the slats: Use the ceiling to guide your sight lines, as seen in this Bynn Esmond–designed space.

Don't be afraid to switch direction—it adds visual interest.

"Ceilings are oftentimes the most overlooked area for design," says Bynn Esmond, principal of Bynn Esmond Designs in San Carlos, California. But including wood-slat ceilings can be a way to add allure and movement. In her remodel of a Palomar Park residence, Esmond used the zigzagged wood slats to guide the viewer's eye to different spaces and connecting them to the outdoors.

To make a wood-slat ceiling you’ll need:

Step 1: Paint the ceiling

Placing wood slats directly on a white ceiling could lead to a less than chic peekaboo moment. "Paint the ceiling in a dark color to create a contrast and dimensionality against the wood slats," Esmond says.

Step 2: Lay out the design

Use a laser level to transfer the ceiling shape to the floor. Use chalk to outline the shape—this will be your template. Experiment with the layout of the slats. Cut slats as necessary to fit the ceiling dimensions.

Step 3: Stain the wood slats

Either stain for a darker finish or use clear polycrylic wood finish to enhance the natural beauty of the wood. To apply, use an old rag and rub in the stain. For the finish, use a high-density roller for smooth application.

Step 4: Install the slats

Once you’ve decided on a layout, nail the wood slats on the ceiling with finishing nails and a nailing gun. Since the ceiling is up high, the small nail hole may not be visible from below.