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Making it in the Mountains

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Rustic Wood Plank DIY Clock

DIY Farmhouse Projects, Living Room, Old Black Cedar House

At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can’t help but make a BIG impression! You won’t believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!

At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!
 
 

I have been working (and waiting) on this project for what seems like forever and I really am SO, SO excited to finally have the chance to share this DIY clock with y’all today!

Brady and I LOVE to look through Houzz together for all sorts of ideas and inspiration.  One night, through some random exploring, we happened across this DIY wall clock, which, as always, I pinned for later and forgot about … that is, until we moved into this house with a living room of impossible-to-decorate walls.  Okay, impossible may be a bit harsh, but really, this room has been nothing short of challenging.  First of all, our fireplace takes up it’s own entire wall at the far end of the room.  Then, lovely walls of windows on either side of the living room have made furniture placement quite difficult.  All of this has left us with only two wall spaces in the entire room on which to hang anything.  Unfortunately, one of these walls is quite awkward (you can see how I made this work for us with my Gallery Wall here), which left us with only one option to hang the clock; however, upon unpacking, we learned that the clock we’ve had since moving in together (over 7 years ago now) was just too small for that space.  Now you may think that buying a new clock is no big deal, and before starting my search I totally would have agreed, but I’ve had my eyes peeled for months and months now and I haven’t come across even one option that I liked for a price that I could talk Brady into.  So what’s a girl to do when she can’t find what she likes and her husband’s incessant complaining about the missing clock is driving her crazy? She makes one, that’s what!

*Side note: I’ll admit it’s been annoying not having any idea what time it is without getting up and walking to the kitchen, but honestly, I haven’t found it nearly as painful as he has!*

 

I knew I was looking for something rustic looking, but with a polished touch to it as well and it wasn’t hard for me to come up with an idea of how to make it (huge thanks to Pinterest as always!).  Having come across a ton of pallet wood signs lately, I thought that this would make the perfect backdrop for our clock.  Because this clock was going to be BIG, I wanted something sturdy to work with, so instead of using pallet wood, I bought some 1×6 lumber at the hardware store.  The best part about DIY is being able to make a custom piece that is EXACTLY as you need it to be – the space I was looking to fill was approximately 5 feet wide, so I decided to cut the wood to 4 feet to leave a bit of room on either side.  It would take nine 1×6 boards to make a 4 foot (or very, very close to) square.  After sanding down the rough edges, I stained the 9 boards with 4 different stain colours.

To assemble the wood plank background, Brady and I arranged the different boards and he screwed a couple of extra 1x6s to the back of each one attaching them all together.
 
 
At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!

At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!
 
 
We also created our own hanger by cutting a board at a 45 degree angle, attaching one side to the clock and the other to the wall – this way we could ensure that we hit a couple of studs when we hung the clock, while still keeping it all centered on the wall.
 
 
At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!
 
 
Now that the background was made, it was time to turn it into a clock.  I found an absolute ton of options for DIY clocks.  There are fabulous tutorials like this one by Faded Plains that teach you how to make your own clock from scratch.  Or, there are clock kits that come with all of the necessary parts and all you have to do is mount them.  A kit seemed the easiest way to achieve that polished look that I was going for.  This one on Amazon was a fabulous price and had a modern look to it that I thought would contrast nicely with the wood, so I ordered it up.  It came quickly and looked fab aside from the fact that the clock hands were broken (as was my heart at having to wait for a new one).  Rather than risk ordering another broken clock kit, I set to work looking for a new alternative.  I realized that the broken clock was truly a blessing in disguise when I came across this gorgeous kit on Etsy – it really was just what I was hoping for!  The owner, Joe, was a pleasure to work with and even sent me the mounting details and directions early so that I could be prepared to get going on it as soon as it arrived.  It took just over a week from the day I ordered it until the day I received it.   With a level, a ruler and A LOT of tape, I was actually able to get it all mounted up in just a couple of hours.
 
 
At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!

At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!
 
 
Brady was kind enough to hang it for me last night and his method was so simple, yet brilliant, that I can’t help but share it with you too!  He marked the center line on the mounting board for the wall first (the one we cut to 45 degrees).
 
 
At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!
 
 
He then marked the center of the wall space, drawing a straight line horizontally to match the board edge to and one vertically to match the center line on the mounting board.
 
 
At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!

At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!
 
 
He screwed the mounting board into the studs and we hooked the heavy clock onto it.  It was still up on the wall this morning when I came downstairs, so it seems my brilliant (if I do say so myself) hanging idea worked!
 
 
At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!

At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!

At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!

At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!
 
 
This is my absolute favorite project yet!  I really am SO, SO thrilled with how it all turned out!  I am so in love with the way it looks in our living room that I can’t help but smile every time I walk by it!

At 4ft square, this rustic DIY Clock can't help but make a BIG impression! You won't believe how inexpensive and simple it was to make!
 

Wishing you all SUCH a lovely day!
 
 

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Reader Interactions

I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Comments

  3. Tasha @ Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body says

    I LOVE THIS PROJECT! Pinning and sharing on social media. Love it!

    Reply

  11. Erlene says

    That turned out fabulous and I like the different shades of wood. This way you don’t have to “match” a particular color. Thanks for sharing on The Weekend Social.

    Reply

  17. Heather says

    I heart clocks! I feel like a house can never have too many… well you know, nice ones like these. I have 2 in my kitchen. I love this idea so much, very creative and it looks amazing.

    Reply

    • Kristi says

      I love them too Heather! I’ve actually seen some gallery walls done entirely with clocks, which I thought was a fabulous idea! Thank you so much for popping by!

      Reply

  19. Summer says

    Wow, it turned out beautifully! I too have a handy husband who will make things for me, and I’ve been eyeing up clocks lately. Love how yours turned out!

    Reply

    • Kristi says

      Thank you SO much summer! My husband is just learning how to be handy, but it is so, so nice to have someone to help and we are both having so much fun!

      Reply

  25. Shae says

    This came out awesome! I love the rustic feel to the clock and it really fits well on that wall. I can imagine with a fireplace you must have a very log cabin feel in that room 🙂

    Reply

  26. Nici says

    Love this giant rustic clock! You did a fabulous job on it and the tutorial is spot on! Thanks for sharing this at my Creative Ways Link Party! Hope you’ll be back this week again.
    Blessings,
    Nici

    Reply

    • Kristi says

      Thank you SO much Nici!!! I’m really so happy with how it came together! Thanks for popping by … definitely looking forward to linking up again soon!

      Reply

  28. Anna says

    This looks great! I would smile every time I walked past too 🙂 Thanks for linking up to Tuesday Tutorials I hope you’ll come back next week too!

    Reply

  31. Elizabeth says

    I just love this! What a perfect and beautiful idea! Using wood makes everything so classy, plus this looks like I could do it! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  32. Teresa @ Crafty Wife says

    This clock is amazing! You did such a wonderful job on it! My husband has been complaining that we need a clock in our bedroom but we can’t find anything that we like. This would be a great alternative! Thank you for linking up at The Wednesday Roundup! I’ll be sharing your post on facebook and twitter, and also pinning it for future reference!

    Reply

    • Kristi says

      Thank you so much for your kind words Teresa and for sharing my DIY Clock! I’m so glad that you like the idea enough to try in your own home!!!

      Reply

    • Kristi says

      Thank you Jenna! Ever since we bought this house in the fall, I’ve been tackling all sorts of DIYs – it’s really the perfect way to get exactly what you want, but for an affordable price. I hope you find the perfect house soon! Good luck with your search!!!

      Reply

  35. Clarissa Hooper says

    Wow- I love it! We are moving into a bigger home soon and I will need things for the walls- I love how this can take up a large portion of a wall and cost very little money!

    Reply

    • Kristi says

      Thanks Carrie! To be honest, with our lack of handy skills, I think we’ve surprised ourselves with every project we’ve taken on so far 😉 But that just means that anybody could do it!!!

      Reply

  43. Tammy @ creativekkids says

    The clock looks like it is professionally made! I am so impressed. Thank you for linking up at the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party last week. Your post received the second highest number of clicks and will be featured this upcoming Monday!

    Reply

  44. Katie Adams says

    Thanks for linking to Create Link Inspire at The Crafty Blog Stalker. You have been featured and pinned! Thank you for sharing.
    –Katie, TheCraftyBlogStalker.com

    Reply

    • Kristi says

      Hahaha! Never in a million years did I think it would be SO popular, but I’m absolutely thrilled that everyone loves it as much as I do! Thank you SO much Sonnet!!! Enjoy your Sunday as well 🙂

      Reply

  47. Deborah says

    Awesome clock Kristi! You and your hubby make a great team 🙂 Thank you for sharing it ad your cool paint dipped end table at What We Accomplished Wednesdays. Have a lovely week! ~Deborah

    Reply

    • Kristi says

      Thank you SO much Deborah! It’s been a ton of fun experimenting and learning together! Wishing you a wonderful week as well 🙂

      Reply

  49. Mandi @ LevelUpHouse says

    This clock has SO much more personality than the stuff at big box stores! Thanks for sharing your technique – maybe someday I’ll have time for one of my own! (No pun intended… maybe…)

    Reply

  50. Emily says

    Great Project! So beautiful! We are featuring your awesome project at Your Designs This Time, live Mondays at 8:00am. Thanks for sharing with us!

    Emily & Erin

    Reply

  56. Debbie Z says

    Hi Kristi,

    I love this clock. While I don’t have enough room to make this on the scale that you did, I am considering making it on a smaller one. Also, I’m a little confused by how I found this page. I actually clicked on a cute little “X” table but the link brought me here…..is there still a link to that table by any chance?

    Reply

  58. Dianne says

    Love this large clock. I have leftover Laminate flooring. (you know, the case you needed ONE board out of) Think that might work? Might need additional support on the backside.

    Reply

    • Kristi says

      I think that’s a great idea! The numbers and clock set are pretty light weight actually, so laminate flooring would be totally fine I’m sure. Plus, it’ll be easier to hang! Great idea!!!

      Reply