Dear Mary Jo: Even in this part of the country it is beginning to get harder and harder to find that wonderful old weathered wood from yesterday’s barns. If you have a stash of it, then consider yourself lucky.

So, how can you use it? Obviously a lot of the answer to that is going to depend on how much of it you have. If there is enough, you can consider covering your walls with it, but be aware that this will probably darken your kitchen considerably. If you like the idea of having it on the walls, then perhaps only one or two walls would be a better option.

If you opt for doing the walls, there are a number of ways that you could approach it. The quickest and easiest way would be to simply put it up in its original plank form. The finished effect will (obviously) be very similar to the side of a barn! If the wood has weathered to a shade that you like, then the only thing you really need to do at this point is to add a few coats of sealer so that the raw wood has some protection. If you aren’t crazy about the color (perhaps too dark) then you can always apply a VERY watered down wash of any latex color that you would like to tint the wood with. If the plank look is a bit TOO country for you, consider cutting the wood up into “tiles” that can be applied to the wall in a variety of patterns. You could create a “basketweave” pattern by simply alternating the wood “tiles” first horizontally, then vertically. You could also color wash some or all of them and create any number of different patterns and effects.

If you are really into the country look, you might want to think about replacing your kitchen cupboard doors with your old wood. These could be solid, or maybe you would rather just use the wood for the frames and have chickenwire fronts (now THAT’S country!) If you have the room, and enough wood, a fabulous trestle type table top (remember the Waltons at dinnertime?) could be fashioned from the planks.

Maybe all that wood is going to be a bit too much and you would rather use it as an accent. You could use it for either a wainscoting, with a lighter, brighter paint color or wallpaper above, or just as a chair-railing accent. Maybe a frame around your kitchen windows, or even an inside window box would be the perfect touch.

If you only have a small amount of the wood, consider using it in the same way that you might use a picture, or a favorite piece of artwork. Years ago someone gave me a fairly large (24” x 30”) piece of barn wood (two planks nailed together). It had an old, partially faded, image of a nesting robin some anonymous person had painted on it, and it was the perfect country accent for a friend’s kitchen.

The fruit crate wood can obviously be used in all the same ways as the barn wood. If you have both, you might want to run a band of the fruit crate pieces at the top of the wall, or perhaps two-thirds of the way down, with the planking above and below. If working with cut pieces of the barn wood, the occasional inserting of one of the fruit crate pieces for variety and accent can be an interesting way of covering one wall.

And don’t forget to think about utility pieces. Maybe someone handy with a hammer and nails could build you a spice rack or towel holder from the old barn wood. Fruit crate planks, with hooks for pots, pans, big spoons, etc. might give you the look you want and still be practical.

Browse through all the country inspired books and magazines that are available now and see what other people may have done with the same materials. The old wood is wonderful, and depending on how much of a commitment you want to make to the look it can set the mood for the whole room, or just be a small accent.