We are dealing with flooring issues and that has prevented me from decorating some areas, and I was itching to do something......anything really. So, I decided the long plain wall in the kitchen needed some attention. It is just over 8 feet long, and I decided to plank around the corner ending at the small 1/2 bath door.
Here is a shot of the short wall fully planked and painted. Can you see the spot I need to caulk?
This project took me 1/2 day to complete, and that included painting.
I had previously bought 1/4" plywood at Home Depot and had them cut it to 5" strips. Thank goodness they do that since I don't have a table saw. I usually shop during the week for that, because they are less busy cutting pieces.
One 4' X 8' piece was enough to plank both walls. It was less than $30.
I decided on the 1/4" specifically because I did not want to pull out the baseboards and this allowed the wood to sit on top of the baseboards and NOT stick out past them in depth.... I prefer the look of the baseboards put over the wood, but I was not about the rip those out. And it looks just fine.
I started on the short wall and used my nail gun. This wall was easy because you know where the studs are.
This picture shows the spacers I used. Nickels. They worked for me and gave me the look for the spacing I needed. Also, let me remind you to sand the boards. Man, they were rough on the edges. And I wish I had used gloves because I had 2 tiny splinters when I was done, that felt like giant shards of metal under my skin!
I leveled the first piece, not trusting the baseboards to be level.....which they were NOT. I also checked every piece that I put up, because what I found out is that the cuts are probably not precisely exact. Luckily it did not need total perfection, and I am fine with how it turned out.
The outside corner pieces I mitered on my compound miter saw with a 45 degree cut. This way they came to a corner, just like the drywall under it, when I added the other wall pieces which I also mitered.
Next it was time for the long wall. Of course this wall is about 2 inches over 8 feet, so my 8' lengths were too short....
I did think out in advance how I wanted the boards to be spaces related to the joints. I did not sketch it out or anything, I am not that organized. I kinda get a plan in my head and then do it.
I also wanted this treatment to roughly be the level of the counter tops, just for the flow. I used 6 5" boards, stacked over 5+" baseboard, topped with 3 1/4" casing. This casing is the same as the door casing in the entire house, and they kindly left some in the garage for me!
I tried to butt the strait joints up to each other. In one spot I did not do a great job of this, but I just caulked it and no one will ever know!
After I was done I caulked around the bottom, between most the vertical seams, and around the cap molding. I LOVE to caulk. It is like meditation to me. Weird, I know.
This is the entire wall, both areas, before paint and caulk.
I painted it with a left over white (from our old kitchen cabinets) using it as a base coat. Then went over it with matching trim paint which the painters kindly left behind in small containers for me. Perfect for a project like this! So I did not have any painting costs.
I would like to add some hooks just below the cap rail. I also have to rearrange the things on the wall above it. But at least I feel like I got something done. Maybe I will take some staged, finished pictures too..... maybe....
I was planning to use beadboard wallpaper in the 1/2 bath, like I did in our old house, but after doing this I decided that I will do this instead. That will be my next project.
Thanks for visiting and please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great weekend! Take a minute to click and see these great linky parties where I am: Between Naps on the Porch, The Dedicated House, Thrifty Decor Chick, Dwellings, Boogie Board Cottage,
