NEW WOOD PLANK WALL

Well it seems that everyone is crazy about wood plank walls these days.

And I am no different. I've always liked the look. Left unpainted

they remind me of a cabin, but painted they remind me

of a farmhouse and that's the look I love. So I decided to go for it and

plank a wall in my bedroom.

Here is the after shot.

But lets look at the before story.

Here is what the wall looked like before the installation of the wood.

  It was a pretty blue, which I loved also.

Here's more of a closeup.

So to get started let me tell you what I did.

I had been looking on pinterest at other sites that had planked a wall.

Some used plywood cut in strips. (more work than I wanted)

Some used actually ship lap boards. 

Then there was plain pine boards. Which I thought about using but I thought

was too expensive and more money than I wanted to put into one wall.

Then I came upon a blog called Stonegable that had used

tongue and grove beadboard planks. Only they had used the back side instead of the

beadboard side. And the best thing was it was half the price of a standard pine board.

They came from Home Depot.

Below is the info about the wood.

Here's the profile of the boards.

See how the tongue and groove fit together.

This is the front side which is a nice look.

Just not what I was going for.

Here's the back side and the look I was going for.

Of course the first thing I had to do was find all the studs and mark them.

Then I started installing. There were two boards to each run.

I just staggered them long-short, then short-long.

It all went fairly quick considering it was a one woman job.

I did have to wait until my husband could rip the top boards before I could finish.

So it took me a day to install. (Remember I was working alone.)

With two people it would take no time at all.

The instructions said to nail into the tongue part of the board

but they were so thick I decided to just nail directly into the boards.

To me it seemed more stable.

The next step was to spot prime the knot holes.

Then I primed the whole wall and added two top coats of semi-gloss.

Here's the end result.

Another look-see.

Here's a close-up.

I added a strip of lattice molding in the corners.

I am so pleased with the outcome.

A little bit farmhouse.

Hope my instructions will help you to try it too!

I'm being featured in a digital magazine called
DIY Decorating Addict Magazine if you'd like to check it out.

Hope you enjoy.

For although the law was given through Moses,

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:17

REDOING THE STAIRS

This is what my stairs look like now.

Read below the story of how this was accomplished.

One thing I've been getting rid of through the years

is all the stained woodwork in my home.

We built our home in the early 80's when

everything ( and I mean everything) was stained.

It makes everything soooo dark.

So all the windows, trim, doors and kitchen cabinets have been

painted over the years. 

Something I have never, ever regretted.

So I decided another thing to paint was the trim on my stairs.

As you can see below the risers, treads and side trim are all stained.

I decided not to paint the risers just in case someone in the future wanted them stained

(obviously not me)

plus since it had a runner not all the riser would be painted

 so I custom cut some thin plywood to attached on each side of the runner.

Then I painted them all before I installed them with a nail gun.

Here's a picture in progress.

Here's some pictures of the stairs all finished.

I think the white paint really brightens them up.

A nice fresh look.

I will sing of your love and justice;

to you, O Lord,

I will sing praise.

Psalm 101:1

GO PANTHERS

KEEP POUNDING

GO PANTHERS!!!

Be thankful in all circumstances.

This is what God wants from you in your life

in union with Christ Jesus.

I Thess. 5:18