Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Easy Beadboard

This weeks been so crazy! My etsy shop is going full speed for holiday shoppers & has kept me working every moment of the day! (I'll blog more about that later). But I wanted to squeeze in a moment to post about a simple way to create a beadboard look for your home. Now that the holidays are here & everyones hosting parties, this would be a great project that can be done in a day & you'll be back to hosting in no time!
                                            

When we move here the walls were all builders white & had no character. I can not stand that. I’ve always love houses that have lived , aged, and love that make them in to a “home” . You just can’t get that with a new home. So I had a lot of work ahead of me!!!
The first thing was to add bead board & molding. I knew it was going to be something I had to do myself since my husband works long hours & I have no patients to wait for help. I like things done yesterday! So I decided to paint faux bead board.
This is not hard to do at all. Its time consuming but well worth the work when your finished.

1.Start with ANTIQUE WHITE walls in a FLAT FINISH. You’ll need a gallon, (or less depending on the size of the room)of WHITE -SATIN FINISH paint to paint your stripes or “boards“. You can also use a gloss for a stronger effect. If you just painted your walls wait at least 24 hours before starting the “board’ stripes. Otherwise you might pull off your paint.
2. Figure out the width you’d like your “boards” to be as well as the height you’d like it to be. I decided mine was going to be about 4 inches wide.
Then starting from the end of the wall measure that amount out & mark your first board with painters tape. I used the 2 inch wide tape. If you’d like a smaller width use a smaller tape. Place tape vertical along the wall starting at your highest point your board will be, down to the base board. Use a level to help keep the lines straight. This will mark the first board.



3. Now measure your next board from the edge of the tape. Continue this measure and tape process along the wall until you complete the room.
4. Now your ready to paint with the WHITE SATIN FINISH paint. Roll paint over each marked out board space. This is the fast part. But be sure to cover the entire space completely . I suggest doing at least 2 coats.
5. Let dry and remove tape.
Now you can add your chair rail molding to the top of your painted bead board! Eventually I painted a warm color above the molding to give this look even more “pop”. It feels much more homey & its done in an afternoon!


I linked this to

7 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

Oh wow! That's really creative! When I looked at the photos, I had no idea it was "faux". We call that kind of side-paneling wainscoating here. :) looks great!

Out on the prairie said...

You did a great job, I always say I paint with $500/gal paint because it adds that richness.

Christy said...

Hey there! Just found your blog :)

What an awesome job on the beadboard!I'm hoping we will put some up in my kitchen this winter.

I also ordered a cowl neck scarf from ya! I got it today. LOVE IT!!!!

LBB said...

Christy- thanks so much for joining my blog! I'm so glad you love the cowl too!!!!

Jaymee said...

Love this! What a great idea, I'm adding it to my to-do house list:)
~Jaymee

Allison said...

We are thinking of buying a house... will you come help me decorate? :D I'm just a hop, skip, and a jump away in Switzerland. Drat, that's far I guess. How fun it would be to contrive inexpensive ways to decorate the house with you! I love your taste.

liz @ bon temps beignet said...

Hey Trisha! Thanks so much for checking out my sharpie marker art :) Your faux panels fooled me! They look gorgeous!