Inside the real-life Osteria Al Vecchio Stallo, some walls have merely a baseboard and chair rail, while others feature wainscoting. But the most unique decorative elements, as shown in the photo above, are the rows of wooden slats that evoke the restaurant’s history as a combination horse stable and tavern.
To recreate these slats, I used strips of 1/16″ by 3/8″ balsa wood. To mimic the detailing, I used a hole punch to cut out a semicircle from each end, then sanded around the cutout to create a concave curve. I gently pressed a hollow metal rod into the wood to recreate the small, circular impressions.
I stained the planks dark walnut, along with the baseboards and some small sections of chair rail.
Once I started gluing the planks to the wall, I had a bit of trouble with the spacing. I had calculated that I would need 14 planks on each wall, with a 3/8″ gap in between and a 1/4″ space at either end. However, when I got to the end of the back wall, I didn’t have enough room for the final piece. In fact, I was nearly 3/8″ short. After much puzzlement and frustration, I realized that my wood was just a hair wider than 3/8″. Not enough to be noticeable when measuring it individually, but when laid side by side, the discrepancy added up. So there’s a slightly larger gap than I had intended on the back wall next to the counter and smaller gaps at either end of the left wall, but fortunately I was able to make it work.
I only used these planks on the two main walls. On either side of the window and in the small space to the left of the door, I glued sections of chair rail.
