4 Easy Horizontal Wood Fence Designs

4 Easy Horizontal Wood Fence Designs

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Horizontal wood fences have become very popular in recent years. You might even be considering this modern alternative to privacy or semi-privacy fence yourself.

However, if you want something a little different for your horizontal wood fence, you might be looking for design ideas. We've got four simple, easy-to-do horizontal wood fence designs rignt here.

Horizontal Wood Fence Design 1: Evenly Spaced, Equal Boards


The first design option we have for your horizontal wood fence project is the simplest: evenly-spaced boards that are also equally sized.

In this design, it's the difference in size between the spaces and the boards that creates visual interest.

You can choose your spacing and board width based on personal preference, but we recommend using a wider board and a narrower space between them because that will be the more interesting contrast and offer better privacy.

Horizontal Wood Fence Design 2: Alternating Board Widths

alternating board widths
Our second horizontal wood fence design option is just as simple, but in this case, more visual interest is created by alternating board widths throughout the full height of the fence. 

In this case, the spacing between the boards is the same throughout the fence too, but the boards themselves are different widths.

To get the most out of this kind of horizontal wood fence design, we recommend that you choose noticeably different board widths. For instance, you might use a four or 6-inch wide board with a 2-inch board.

Horizontal Wood Fence Design 3: Even Boards, Graduated Spacing

alternating board widths
Our third horizontal wood fence design option uses evenly sized boards again, but in this case, the boards are gradually spaced further apart along the height of the fence.

In this type of wood fence design, you might space the lower two or three boards an inch apart, then the next two or three boards at 2 inches apart, and then the next two or three boards 3 inches apart, and so on.

This kind of horizontal wood fence design does offer less privacy, so it might be better suited to front yards than backyard spaces. You will probably also need to test a few configurations on paper before you start installing your fence to make sure your spacing works with your fence height.

Horizontal Wood Fence Design 4: Even Spacing, Graduated Boards

alternating board widths
The last horizontal wood fence design on our list is for even spacing with graduated boards.

In this horizontal fence design, the spacing between the boards does not change, but the boards themselves become gradually smaller (or larger) as you move up the fence. We do recommend that for higher fences, you put the heavier boards at the bottom for this design!

In this horizontal wood fence design, you can use a few rows of 6-inch wide boards, then a few rows of 4-inch boards, and finally, a few rows of 2-inch boards to make the whole fence more interesting.

Small Horizontal Wood Fence Design Changes, Big Impact

As you can see from our four easy-to-do horizontal wood fence design options, you don't have to make big changes to your wood fence design to have a big impact.

Other ideas that you might consider if you want to add interest to your horizontal wood fence design include choosing an interesting wood fence stain for your fence. You could also choose bolts or screws that are visible and part of the design style.

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