A DREAMY PATIO WOOD DISC WALL

Anyone who is reading today who is also a blogger totally understands when I say that one of the best things about blogging is meeting and establishing a connection with new friends.  Especially when you have a chance to meet those friends in real life!

Lisa is one of those friends for me.  She's a fellow ministry (pastor's) wife who stumbled across my blog a while back.  She reached out and contacted me and we've enjoyed an e-mail friendship ever since.  It was a happy day last March when we had the privilege of meeting her family and spending a little bit of time together at their church (which was so much fun and inspiring!).  Since I had already been following her on Instagram, I knew she was in the middle of a fantastic project, which we chatted a little bit about that evening.

After our time together was over, I anxiously kept an eye out for her to post her finished project, and when she did, it took my breath away!  Lisa graciously allowed me to share it with you today, too...I knew you all would love it as much as I do!  So here's the result of many hours, many hands working together, and lots of muscle and patience!

Can you even believe it?  Is that not one of the most amazing feature walls you've ever seen?!?

Lisa also kindly offered to share a description of the process to create this wall, so here's what she said:

I consider myself a "crafter" and minor home "DIY" participant, so when I got an idea on Pinterest for a Wood Disc wall, I knew I would need some help in making it happen.  I gathered my idea possibilities and recruited a friend who is skilled with tools and we went to work.

1.  Get logs that are varied in size and discarded in the woods.  Ours came from East Texas when a forester discarded some pieces. We used Pine and Oak because I liked the look.

2.  Set up saw horses or a platform to cut the logs with a Miter/Chop saw (14", I definitely had to have help with this).  A chain saw can be used for smaller pieces but doesn't work evenly on larger ones.

3.  Dip wood in a bucket of sealer.  We used Polycrylic.  This keeps wood from being invaded by insects and keeps the color consistent.

4.  Allow wood to dry propped up.  We got hasty and hung some that were wet and it was fine, but watch for drips on your patio.  This sealer is water based, so it will wash up but can be a hassle.

5.  Hang 3/4" pre-painted treated plywood backer on stucco wall, secured using 2 1/2" screws. Wood discs will mount more easily to the plywood.

6.  Nail wood discs to wall starting at the floor and moving up.  We had 5 distinct sections and did a section at a time.  We used a nail gun for speed, with18 gauge 2" nails.  I highly recommend this as it makes the project go more quickly.

7.  Fill in gaps with smaller pieces as desired.

Lessons learned:

You need more wood than you think.  If you work in stages you can prepare the wood and let it cure.  We worked quickly and the wood shrunk, leaving gaps in between.  It doesn't bother me but my friend would still like to rework the pieces.  Since we painted the plywood dark underneath the gaps aren't an eyesore.

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Lisa, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful patio with us, and thanks to EJ for the wonderful photos!  If you all have questions, leave them in the comments and I'll see if Lisa can try to reply there with answers.

My one and only attempt at a project like this was very short lived (bugs!), but I've had a wood disc project in mind for some time.  Maybe some day I'll get around to it!