Today I'm sharing an oversized modern farmhouse wall clock makeover plus links to our tutorial on how to build it with new fence boards. Since the beginning of March, we've been painting all the interior walls in our home as well as giving each room a mini makeover with a maximum budget of $400 per room. We started with the grandkid's guest bedroom and then the home office and now we've moved into the living room where we needed a statement piece to hang above our fireplace.

Oversized Modern Farmhouse Wall Clock DIY

We built the large rustic wood clock a few years ago for our front entry but that too got a makeover recently. It dawned on me that with some modifications and restyling the clock would be perfect hanging above our DIY fireplace, an 80s wall unit hack. It's the first thing you see when walking up the stairs from our front entry.


We built the Large Upholstered Ottoman in front of the fireplace as well for the living room makeover.


The fireplace sits on a long DIY board and batten wall that runs the span of our living room and dining room. During the recent dining room makeover, we built modern farmhouse lantern sconces to flank the DIY Modern Farmhouse Antiqued Mirror. This was our inspiration for how to refinish the oversized clock to unify both rooms.


This is what the wall clock looked like before the makeover, made to hang on the tall wall in our front entry. Instructions for how to build the clock with new fence boards can be found here in my How To Build A Large Plank Wood Clock post.

That sundried tomato wall color is no more, now guests audibly gasp when they walk through the front door. You can see what we did to it using thrift store finds in the Glitz and Glam Gallery Wall post.


Here's the clock now, after the makeover. Big difference, right?


A clock this size retails for at least $400 and this one cost us under $40 to make. Win-win in my books because if I can make it for a fraction of the cost with a little sweat equity, I'm all in!

Let's take a closer look at the modifications we made to the oversized farmhouse wall clock designed to work above our living room fireplace instead.

What We Did Differently

This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend for this project. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Reduced The Gap Between The Clock Fence Boards

The original clock was assembled with board and batten style joiners where the fence boards were glued together and secured with two battens that ran across all seven boards. This time we attached the boards to one another with pocket holes like pictured below using a Kreg Pocket Hole Jig. This makes for tighter joints and less of a gap between each fence board.

Reduced The Size Of The Large Wall Clock

The original clock was 38-inches, too large for above our fireplace so we reduced the size to a 36-inch diameter, much the same way as when we built it with a trammel circle marker and jigsaw.

Changed The Direction Of The Clock Boards

We also changed the direction of the boards by having the clock face line up with the boards in a vertical direction rather than horizontally. This way they echo the direction of the boards of our DIY Farmhouse Lantern Sconces.

Changed The Color Of The Wood Clock

I sanded the fence boards back to the natural wood to remove the original handpainted clock face. We'll talk more about why further down in the post. This time instead of chalk paint, I used waterbased VooDoo Gel Stain to get the time-worn reclaimed wood patina.


Each stain color is dry brushed with an inexpensive chip brush in long brush strokes with the grain of the wood. The stain is offloaded onto a paper towel first so just a little stain remains on the brush. The goal of the layered look is not to cover the entire surface of the wood so each layer of color is visible. Waterbased stain dries quickly so just a maximum 15-minute wait time is needed between colors.

The first layer is stained with Bayou Moss, the next is called Tobacco Road, and the third is White Magic. The last layer is painted with Behr Premium Plus latex paint in the color Mined Coal (PPU-18-18), the accent color on the back of the bookcases as well as the china cabinet in the dining room.

Enlarged The Clock Face Roman Numerals

I used the same clock face graphic from the Graphics Fairy that I used on the original clock, however, this time I wanted the roman numerals to be much larger.


To do this I uploaded the graphic to Block Poster and enlarged it until the roman numerals were 6-inches high and saved it to my computer. Instead of taping the printed sheets of the clock face together like pictured above, I cut each roman numeral set. With painters tape, I lined them up around the clock two inches from the edge and used this Image Transfer Technique to transfer them onto the clock.

The roman numerals are painted with a vintage white acrylic craft paint and I freehanded the hour and minute hand markings with a script liner art brush. An alternative would be to cut vinyl numbers with a Cricut Maker or Silhouette machine, glue on wood numbers, or use a clock face stencil.

Added A Stencil To The Center Of The Farmhouse Clock

This time I stenciled the center of the clock with this pretty Fresh Elegance Stencil also with the same white acrylic craft paint.

Aging The Fence Board Clock

The last thing I did differently from the original clock was giving it an aged reclaimed wood patina with dark wax. I applied the dark wax with a round wax brush along the outer edges and in the middle where the clock hands move.

No-Measure Tip For Hanging The Heavy Oversized Wall Clock

Last but not least is hanging the heavy clock on the wall above our fireplace. If you've hung wall art with double picture hanger hooks then you know how frustrating it can be to get both nails lined up perfectly level on the wall while balancing vicariously from a ladder.

During my former days as a home stager, I learned this easy No-Measure Tip For Hanging Wall Art that gets is perfect every.single.time. Plus there's a tip on how to stop those D-hook picture hangers from flopping up and down while you're trying to hang it.

I should also point out that we kept the same high torque clock mechanism specially designed for large clocks.

So what do you think of the Modern Farmhouse Clock makeover? We couldn't be happier with our decision to move the clock from the front entry to our living room. I love how it adds wow factor to the focal point in our living room. The matching lantern wall sconces that echo the curvature of the clock and the farmhouse antique mirror tie both rooms together nicely.

If you have any questions about this oversized clock makeover, please leave them in the comment section below or the Contact Me tab at the top. I love hearing from you!

If you enjoyed this Modern Farmhouse Wall Clock idea, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with a friend and pinned it to your DIY Wall Clock Ideas or Farmhouse Wall Decor board on Pinterest.




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