DIY Rustic Wood Nursery Decor

This past spring, I spent some time on Pinterest looking for ideas for boy nursery decor.  I’m such a girly girl that I was having a hard time visualizing a boy nursery.  I did actually have a color scheme in mind, but I needed some fun decor ideas for the room.  I came across this pin and knew that I wanted to do something similar above the crib.  There was no tutorial attached to the pin – it was simply a picture.  I figured it couldn’t be too hard to put together, though, and I was right!  So, here’s my own personal tutorial for how to create a piece of rustic wood nursery decor.

(This post contains affiliate links.  To see my full disclosure, go here.)

Supplies Needed:

1. 1. 1. Five 1x4s (more or less depending on what size you are after)
      2. Wood Stain
      3. Foam Brush
      4. Black Paint, Satin
      5. Paint brush
      6. Coarse Sandpaper
      7. Wood Glue
      8. 1-Inch Wood Screws
      9. 2 D Rings Picture Hangers
      10. 2 20 lb Picture Hangers
      11. Large letter

The first thing I did was measure the space above the crib and determine how large I wanted the piece to be.  I decided to make it approximately 2.5 feet tall by 3.5 feet wide. 

Originally, I wanted to use reclaimed wood for this project.  In the end, though, I ended up just purchasing some pine 1x4s from the hardware store.  Based on the measurements I had decided on, I knew that I needed five boards.  I wasn’t worried about getting the highest quality (or most expensive) wood because I was after a more rustic appearance.

I wanted the boards to have a staggered appearance size-wise, so I ended up with 3 boards at 3’6″, 2 boards at 3’0″, and 2 boards at 2’9″.  

Then, it was time to stain.  I randomly pulled two boards out and set them aside for paint.  I then put one coat of stain on the remaining 5 boards.  

Since I already had some Minwax Wood Stain – Provincial on hand from a previous project, I just used that.

For the remaining two boards, I put one coat of Rust-Oleum Protective Enamel Paint – Satin Black on them.  

I chose to only do one coat, as I wanted this to look somewhat rustic and imperfect.

Once the stain was dry, I went over all of the boards with a coarse sandpaper.  Again, I wanted a rustic feel to the piece, so I wasn’t worried about perfection.  I simply wanted to get some variation throughout the stain.  

Then, I added a second coat of stain to two of the boards to provide even more variation in color.

When everything was dried, I laid it all together for a little preview.  

Then, I flipped the boards over in order to secure them together.  My husband had cut two boards that were just shy of 2’6″, which is how tall the piece was, to be the back boards.  We laid a board on either side of the piece and marked each of them.

We laid wood glue down the entire length of the piece to help secure the back board.  

This was done on both sides.

Then, we put two screws per side into each horizontal board.

Finally, we attached a D-ring picture hanger to each back board.

The final touch was the large metal initial I hung on the front.  

I purchased it on clearance at Michael’s and spray painted and distressed it myself.  It was fairly lightweight, so I simply used a small nail to hang it from the wood.

I love the way it turned out, and it fits perfectly in the nursery.  (To see more nursery pictures, go here.)

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