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Adding a high impact item can create a focal point and help bring a room together. As I was adding character to my youngest’s room… I knew I wanted to add a little more detail to the main focal wall in his room. 

He loves the ocean and that is the “theme” of his room.  He also loves sharks.. so I decided to play off of that. I built a surfboard complete with shark bite detail. 

It took me one day to build and one day to paint. I probably could have completed it in one day, but mama duties call.😉

To build it, I used two 1x8x6 boards. I first joined them together with wood glue and Kreg joints. If you haven’t ever used a Kreg Jig– it’s a great tool. It helps create hidden connections in your builds. You can use it to join wood together without having screws or nails visible. You can use or to make everything from picture frames to tables, benches… and more! Even surfboard wall art!😉

Once the two boards were joined together to create one larger piece of wood, I sketched out the shape of the surfboard.

Once the wood glue was dry, I then used my jigsaw to cut it out. Then I sketched out the shark bite detail at the bottom of the surfboard using my framing square to help create the shapes and then cut it out with the jigsaw also. 

After all the details were cut out, I used my corner cat sander (it can get into smaller spaces) and sanded the entire piece down so there were no rough edges. I used 120 grit first then used 220 for a nice final smooth finish.

I then searched the internet for surfboard designs and decided on a stripe pattern. After removing all the sanding dust with a tack cloth, I applied a coat of primer. I then used painters tape to tape off the areas I wanted to paint the stripes. I used four colors total and used leftover wall paint, paint samples and even craft paint! I used white, orange, PPG paints Gray Heron, and my sons wall color – PPG paints Mirror Mirror.  I let each striped area dry completely before taping off and painting the next color.

Once all the stripes were painted and it was completely dry, I used a 220 sanding block to distress the painted finish to give a worn, well loved look. I wiped it down again with the tack cloth.

Then, I applied one coat of a matte polycrylic to protect the finish.

Once it was all dry I attached it to the wall using wood screws. I marked out the two areas, predrilled the holes then attached it to the wall (making sure I was drilling into the studs) with the wood screws.  If you do not have studs in the location you are hanging make sure to use heavy duty wall anchors for safety.  I then used a little of the paint to cover the screw heads so they blended in. 

You could also use d-ring hangers and attach them to the back of the board and then hang. Totally your choice. I just felt that screwing the actual board to the wall was the most secure method (especially in a kiddos room 😉). 

You can see his finished room and all the final details HERE. 

The items I used to build the surfboard are HERE:

Be sure to follow along with me on Instagram where I share lots of behind the scenes and details. 

I hope you’ll come back soon for more home decor, DIY’s, recipes and all the in between!