Functional and Beautiful DIY Wood and Bike Wall

These last few months have been filled with DIY home projects that I am excited to finally start sharing with all of you now that they are finally done. First I am going to share how I transformed a boring, old wall in our home, to an awesomely rustic bike wall on the cheap. This tutorial is also helpful if you have wanted to put up any kind of wood on your wall (shiplap, pallet wood, you name it), because the bikes are a last minute feature that are not necessary.

How to Install Wood on Wall

1. Find & Mark Studs & Remove Baseboards & Electrical Plates, etc.

Using a stud finder, find where your studs are and mark them on the wall. (You can barely see the two dot markings on my wall below, which I then used a ruler and drew lines from floor to ceiling.)

Also remove anything attached to the wall. I used a pry bar to gently remove the baseboard, and then a screwdriver for the electrical outlet (not shown in picture).

2. Get Wood Ready for Hanging

This whole project was possible thanks to my husband's college buddy having leftover 100+ yr old hardwood flooring from a lumber mill he used for his pediatric dental office's wall. He had already removed most of the nails that had nailed this pecan, maple, and oak wood flooring down, and so the hardest part had already been done for me. I then went through and chose the straightest, cleanest, least splintery pieces, that had the tongue and grooves on them still, so they would work best on a straight wall. I then cleaned them with a mostly water solution and scrub brush and hose, and laid them out on our driveway to dry in the sun (I did this in August so the Colorado sun had these pieces dry in less than an hour. If you live in a wet, cold, humid environment, you'll want to dry them off as best as you can so the wood doesn't warp or splinter as it dries). 

3. Optional: Map out wood's placement

If you are not going with different sized or different colored wood, then this step is not necessary. However, since I liked that some of these pieces had numbers on them, were aged differently, etc., I wanted them placed in a certain way. I measured the wall, where our baseboard heater was, our light switch, and the floor, walls and ceiling, and chalked out the dimensions on our garage floor. I then placed the pieces as best as I could there to get an idea as to where things would go. In the end this all got messed as I started to take them into the room I was installing them in, but it might have saved me some effort.

4. Hang Wood using 2" Finish Nails

Using my nail gun and 2" nails, I started at the bottom, around our baseboard heater, and worked my way up. Ideally you want each of the wood's ends to land on, or close to a stud so that they are firmly hung on the wall. Since I was using hardwood flooring that have grooves that fit into one another, I didn't have to worry about using as many nails to hold each piece to the wall. It is a slow puzzle piece project, but you just have to watch for what colors you want placed where, as well as that the wood's ends are staggered nicely. My miter saw was crucial during this step in cutting the pieces to work with the studs and other pieces' ends.

5. Add Electrical plates and Trim

Because the wood added depth to the wall, my electrical outlet needed depth added to it. There are a couple products out there to help with this, but I used Ideal Spacer Shims from Home Depot. If you go to the store, you can buy them in a small package for a few dollars, and you just pull off the amount you need, fold them back onto themselves (like a Jacob's ladder) to the depth you need for the screw to go into the faceplate and into the electrical box. 

For the trim you can see a small, dark blue line framing the walls and floor. I used my table saw to cut wood I had on hand to the size I wanted, sanded it, and then painted it the navy color I had painted cabinets in that same room. I then used my nail gun to frame the wall.

How to Install Bike Rack(s)

I searched all over for bike hanging solutions, and didn't like 99% of them due to their complexity or lack of affordability. I then found some on Amazon that had a good amount of reviews, but since I had a Walmart gift card, I bought similar ones on Walmart for around the same price (around $20-25 for a pack of two). 

My road bike is super light, so I wasn't worried about it being too heavy for the wall, and it just so happened it was being installed where a stud was; however, my husband's mountain bike, although it is made of carbon fiber, is heavy, and unfortunately there wasn't a stud where we needed his bike to go. Even though the racks said they could hold 66 lbs, we were doubtful the screws were that strong. We bought some drywall screws and anchors and voila, super sturdy. We hung up his bike so that it wasn't resting on the floor, (to keep it out of the way from sweeping/mopping, etc,) and have taken it down, and put it back up many times---that rack ain't goin' nowhere! Also, even though my bike's rack was installed into a stud, we followed other reviewers advice on similar products, and got longer/stronger screws. 

It's been a few months now and these racks are acting good as new---they're strong and simple.

And there you have it, a simple, affordable, and beautiful wall that makes a lovely, rustic statement, and at the same time keeps your bikes out of the way and ready to go when you are.

And if you have leftover wood, you can use it to make a simple picture frame using a miter saw and your trusty nail gun:

Next thing to add to this room is a gun safe so that this Glock patent art makes sense being hung in a room with bikes

Are you looking for a place to store your bikes out of the way? Or is there a wall that would look great covered in wood? I'd love to hear your ideas and what you do to beautify your space and solve your storage problems!