In Indiana there’s a lot of 100yr old barns guys will salvage and use the wood which usually has been exposed, sometimes some old paint etc. lots of times they used wood from the farm so it’s Oak, Ash, Maple,Walnut, whatever was close and they needed removed. Most of it is 1x8”.

Another thing is pallets, I used them on. Wall in my wood shop. It’s generally only 1/2-3/4” but works nicely for trim. It also has some of the nail heads left.

Don’t know if this is a little secret but before you install paint the background black of you could use roof felt depending on location. We also varied the thickness a little on the wall.

On the lower part of the wall I used galvanized sheets(I didn’t but have seen ppp use the same barn roofs so the metal is aged/somewhat rustic). I also used black Walnut to make wainscoting panels around the galvanized.

The flooring I used Cypress with a few pieces of Walnut inlaid and I used square head nails from house of antiques(make sure to run a/grain to avoid splitting, pre-drill) but it definitely makes for a rustic look.

 BTW, since everything doesn’t line up(rustic) I’m a D-fine “rustic” carpenter lol. Good luck

Be careful with old barn wood. SO’s sister and brother-in-law used some in their house and the wood was infested with wood borers. It was a costly mistake.

I like building rustic furniture.

If you have a 850 planer with the undulating head , it really rusticize ( ) a piece of furniture. . I use te 850 along with a dremel to give the project a rustic beat up look.

Also the finish helps to. That is what brings it all together. So it depends what kinda "rustic" yer wanting to make it look like.

lemme go find some photos and maybe they will help

Ok the first photos is of a rustic side board Im building. This is NOT completed. Still got alot to do.  Currently Im concentrating on setting my shop up and then I will complete it.

This side board/ bar, is 7' long 3' wide, made of 2" thick pine. I used te 850 planer and dremel on this. I used some dark chocolate wax for the finish. I bought the wax from a local store they sell rustic mexican furniture and pottery an buy the wax by the 5 gallon bucket. They sold me a qt to do this project. From what they told me ya cant get this wax in the US they bring it in across the border.
Thats not to say you cant do the same thing with Antiqwax or some other furniture wax.

The next one is a bed I made for my daughter the head board is barn wood the base is walnut used the 850 to make the walnut look rustic and the ply is hickory, the finish is sprayed with enduro semi.

Nest is a rustic wine rack I made out of birch. They wanted a rust hand made look. Once again I used the 850.  Stained it with Mohawk finished umber, sanded it to 180 then finished with a mixture of 1/3 acrylic- 1/3 mohawk finishes umber and 1/3 acetone.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the input everyone!

@jobsworth That's amazing! Thank you so much! The thickness and build style of the sideboard combined with the color/finish of the wine rack would pretty much be exactly what I was imagining.

I guess I need to pick up an 850 

Much appreciated!

Can you find any heart pine?  A friend builds lots of tables and bookcases from it in Charleston, SC.  They really are nice.  Purchased one for each of my kids. 

Also has used Cypress and cedar, typically from torn down barns.  https://landrumtables.com/