Well, what once looked like this:
Now looks like this:
I know, I know- it looks like a big white box (and the outlets are still the wrong color), but I have big (inexpensive) plans for that drywall this week and I’ll bring in a lot of color once our backdrop is done! (I’ve got plans to add warmth and dimension to that ceiling, too. 😉 )
So, remember when I wondered “why we always do our bedrooms last?”. Well, I figured it out. It’s because I always envisioned all of our bedroom walls covered in some kind of planks and that kind of makeover just hasn’t been in the budget yet. Then I saw Emily’s “Fake Planks” tutorial:
She drew them on with a pencil, y’all!! 😀 (She used a clear sealer on top of the lines so that the pencil lead wouldn’t smear.) What a great solution if you’re not quite ready to spring for the real thing!
So, I was *thisclose* to breaking out a pencil and recreating that look, but Kevin decided he reeeeeally wanted to do board & batten- like the walls in the inspiration pic I shared the other day:
I did the math, and I think it’ll only take eight or so ($3) 1″x2″ boards to clad the wall behind our headboard, so we’re going to go ahead and tackle that project this week. Here’s another board and batten inspiration photo that shows it on the wall behind a headboard:
Pretty, huh? 🙂 We’ll move on to the wall to the left of our bed sometime after that. The wall to the right of our bed is going to be under construction soon with Kevin’s mom and dad’s barn being built (their roof line will fall somewhere in the middle of our wall, and our windows will need to change), so we’ll wait ’til that project wraps up in a few months to worry about cladding that wall. We won’t have to clad the wall opposite our headboard because we’re going to create a home office area there. We’re going to build a desk for two. I’m thinking it’ll look something like this…
…but we’ll do a wall full of shelves above it. Kind of like this, but maybe a little deeper so we can use baskets and boxes up there too:
I’m thinking we can curtain or door the whole thing off so we don’t have to look at our work messes all the time too. Maybe something *kind of* like this:
Plenty of time to think on that and decide. Boards and battens up first! 🙂
I love this idea. When you do the board and batten do you use trim paint on the whole walls then? If they were true B&B, they’d probably be painted in a semi gloss, wouldn’t they?
Love love love the white!! And the board and batten is excellent.
We did our room in a light gray — I truly feared that it was too large to do in white. I have white trim and just did the furniture a darker gray. Drapes are gray with white branch design and got a great area rug in West Elm that is a gray berber. The bedding, pillows and accents will bring in color. Guess what? After all these years of experimenting with color, I’m going back to adding blue!
So exciting! The white has already made a huge difference. I used Simply White in our sunroom and going to use it in our sons’ bedroom makeover this spring. Excited to follow along on your board and batten. xx
Oh, I love your style! Can’t wait to see your next posts! Thanks for sharing, as always!
Layla, that has been my inspiration bedroom too!!! Wondering when doing B &B if you calk down EVERY side where wall and board meet? thank you for sharing
I adore B&B. Its on the outside of our house so I think its only right it should be the inside too! love it!
Wow! Layla, it’s so fabulous!
I love the woman who drew the planks in! That’s brilliant! I think I should check that out, as I’m curious about the plank wall look but not sure if it would work for me, and that’s a fabulous way to test it out before investing!
Do you always have to do the plank walls in white? If I went with real plank walls could they be a “soft” colour too? I don’t want to say a pastel as that’s not what I’m thinking but a light colour… Would that look weird?
And if you do a room in B&B, do you have to do the whole thing in B&B? Would it look funny to do a wall or two in it? …Or what if you did one wall in wallpaper and then other walls in the “painted plank”? Ooh, all these questions! I wish we were neighbours. 🙂
Hi Maryjane–when you mentioned the colored plank walls I thought of this cottage in my home state. Beadboard is always thought to be white. This home was painted in everything but white on the beadboard! May help you decide.
http://www.coastalliving.com/homes/decorating/colorful-lake-michigan-cottage
I love this idea. Kind of makes me want to do this in my bedroom too!
I bet you will be glad when your plans all become reality! Love the wall plans!
I’m kinda nerd’n out right now! I can’t believe I just came across my picture while reading your blog today 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing it. My fake planks are an easy solution to getting the look of planks, but I’m really loving your board and batten idea. They add so much more character to the walls without costing a whole lot. I can’t wait to see how they turn out.
Wow, the white makes the large master bedroom look even bigger! What fun plans you have, I love the B&B look against the headboard!
I’m going to enjoy seeing this room progress!
Thanks for sharing!
In our boys room we did a fake (much cheaper!) board and batten. Small trim on top, baseboards on the bottom, and used inexpensive lattice boards for the strips. Painted the whole wall with a Sherwin Williams trim paint called proclassic extra white that we’ve used again and again. When people compliment our board and batten I even forget it’s drywall! Turned out beautifully!
We ended up using lattice today too, Jessica!! 🙂
Gorgeous! I totally love the whole scheme! I wish my bedroom was big enough to do that idea as well. My Nanna had wider board and batten in her 1930’s California Bungalow house. (Very popular here Melbourne Australia in that era) I’ve always wanted to recreate that look , and your ideas are though narrower, are wonderfully reminiscent of that house! Me wanting!
Lovely plans! I’m interested to see how you do the board and batten. Do you have textured drywall? I’ve been thinking about doing this in our house for years, but the textured walls scare me. I also wonder/worry about how it will look next to the baseboards. I’m sure you will make it look great! 🙂
Looking good!! Can hardly wait to see the next update!! Btw, what sheen do you use on your walls?
I just read today’s post of Starfishcottageblog, she shared her first year after adopting a 4 year old boy. Thought of you instantly and thought you might it helpful! Here’s a link, set aside some time as its lengthy but a great read!
http://starfishcottageblog.com/adoption-story-part-two/
I had to smile at the Muskoka Living reference photo. My parents have a cottage up there, and my sister and I will often take a rainy/or too hot afternoon to wander around the Muskoka Living store’s showroom. Just to dream a bit.
Ohhh now this sounds awesome!! That board and batten is so pretty and I love the wall door idea. The room looks so big and bright now, sigh I just love white.
Lauren | Lovely Decor
xx