Upgrade an Old Armoire for a Weathered Wood Herringbone Look

You probably have an old TV armoire or have seen one at a garage sale or thrift store recently. Most of today’s TVs just don’t fit into them anymore. We’ve had this old TV armoire for years.

After serving its purpose for holding the TV, it eventually turned into extra office storage. However, behind closed doors it was a mess. Unorganized and dark, ready for a makeover.

One of today’s hottest trends in decor is reclaimed barn wood. It’s on every design program and decor magazine. I love the rustic look of barn wood.

I was so excited to use it to transform my old TV armoire into functional and beautiful storage. Except, I didn’t have a source for it. Sure, I could scour the online classifieds looking for someone to be tearing down their old barn or selling barn wood, but that could take so much time.

Then, I found out that The Home Depot now carries Weathered Wall Boards that look just like the real deal. It was so easy to just head over to The Home Depot, pick up a few boxes and head home to start on my project.

The patina on this stuff is awesome! Each board has a little bit of variation and the color variety is so authentic looking. You have a great mix of lighter and darker pieces and even some with a gray wash patina.

The weathered wall boards are pretty uniform in size and shape making it even easier to just apply the barn wood and not have to worry about planing it or making sure each piece is the same.

The first step in this project was to paint the armoire. I’d already painted the outside of the armoire, so I just had some white paint color matched at The Home Depot.

Then, I added a piece of plywood over the back of the armoire. Most armoires have a flimsy back board on them. I wasn’t sure the back was strong enough to hold up the heavy shelves I was planning.

Next, I cut a piece of plywood to size and installed it over the back board. However, if you aren’t planning on adding heavy shelving or you already have a strong back board, you can skip this step.

The directions on the box say to paint your surface a dark color before you apply the boards. While the weathered wood boards are fairly uniform, if you end up with any gaps between them you would be able to see a little bit in between. When you paint the background dark, any gaps will blend in.

Now that the armoire was prepped, I was ready to plan the design. The directions on the box were fairly simple to follow, and I opted for the herringbone pattern.

Using a level, I marked the center of the armoire with a reference line. After a little math, I determined to get a pattern like on the box, the center boards would need to be cut at 20 in.

Once all the weathered wood boards were cut, they were placed on the floor to make sure the pattern was correct. And because each board has a different patina, I wanted make sure I didn’t have all the same color boards together. I moved things around until I had the colors varied just right.

Next, it was time to apply the boards. The directions say to use liquid nails for a more permanent application. I opted for nails since I was doing a more complicated pattern. Following the instructions, I nailed each board up starting in the center and working my way out to the edges.

Once I reached the outer edges, I measured what I needed to fill in the gaps and cut those with the saw.

My original plan for this project was to keep the armoire doors on. But, the barn wood boards looked so amazing that I knew I would never be closing them again! I removed the doors and touched up the paint and then began to build the shelves.

I used ¾ in. metal pipe that I then spray painted gold. After the pipes dried, I screwed them into the weathered wood with wood screws.

The board that I used for the shelves was a 2 x 12 x 10 cut into smaller sections. I used some weathered gray stain to match the board up to the weathered barn wood. I installed the board across the metal pipes to create shelving.

I couldn’t be more pleased with how this project turned out. Not only have I repurposed a piece of furniture, but I transformed it into a piece that is not only beautiful but functional for our home.