We have a super cute half bath just off the living area in our home. It is quite small but super convenient. I have wanted to add a little character to the space for sometime but I wasn’t sure what I wanted. It took me a little while to figure it out but after some thought and walking in and looking around several times I decided to add the character and charm to the ceiling.
Charming up a ceiling is not something I’ve done before so I was a little nervous but super excited. I was sure it wouldn’t look out of place but since I’d never done a ceiling before I wasn’t 100% confident in my design. I like the times when I can see it clearly in my mind and know without a doubt that it will be amazing. When I’m a little apprehensive I have to fake it so Monte has confidence in me and my design choice.
I decided to add some bead board with some crown moulding, I knew it would be easy, inexpensive and have a beautiful impact to the space.
We went to our favorite Home Depot to pick up the necessary supplies. The bathroom is 5′ x 5.9′ so it is pretty small. We did need to buy two 4′ x 8′ sheets of bead board or bead panel as they call it at Home Depot. I hate it when the project I’m trying to create takes more supplies then I hoped but I was pretty sure I could find a place to use the extra bead board.
When we purchased our home we spent a lot of time trying to figure out the upgrades we were willing to pay for at the design center. We were given a signing bonus so we had a little money to spend at the design center. One item we thought was well worth the investment was upgrading our baseboards. It was only $600 additional cost to take the baseboards from the standard 1 1/2″ baseboards to our pretty flat 5″ baseboards. We thought that was a great investment in our home. We never could have installed 5″ baseboards for $600. The material would have cost more then that and then the time to remove the installed standard baseboard and reinstall newer pretty ones seemed like a no brainer to us. It also would have been such a waste of product taking out the brand new small baseboard and installing the larger ones. I honestly felt like we were getting a great deal, many options at the design center were not worth the investment to us. I knew we were capable of adding the character and charm to our home for a fraction of the cost by doing a lot of the work ourselves.
Because I love the flat wide baseboards I wanted to add some hand created crown molding that would coordinate with our baseboards. We decided to add some primed mdf board as our crown moulding. We used the 3 1/2 ” board along the ceiling and the 5 1/2″ along the top of the wall. We did have to buy double the product because we were using 2 different size boards but it still works out cheaper then buying a single piece of crown moulding. The installation was pretty slick and easy, a lot easier then crown moulding that can be quite finicky trying to get the angles.
To install the bead board there were a couple ceiling vents Monte needed to cut around. He is so good at measuring and cutting the vents. It seems a little backwards in my head so I’m glad Monte can work it out. The whole measuring and marking the back of the board so when it is flipped right side down on the ceiling with the holes cut out for the vents in the proper places boggles my brain a little. Since the boards were primed I gave everything a quick coat of paint and knew I’d just add another coat after the installation.
I was surprised how difficult it was to install the bead board. Thankfully the bead board is very light but it was difficult working in such a tiny space. We were trying to work around a ladder, toilet, pedestal sink and door that was in the way. I was on the ladder and Monte was either climbing up behind me or climbing the back of the ladder, where one shouldn’t but in a pinch we sometimes do what we have to do.
Not only was it difficult getting the ladder in place it was also really tricky bringing in a piece of bead board that was almost the size of the room. Trying to get it in the room with obstacles in the way made it quite the feat as we worked around the toilet, pedestal sink and ladder. We were ducking and trying to get ourselves out of the way as we tried to lift the bead board over our heads and onto the ceiling. So glad it was light. Monte had marked the ceiling ahead of time so he knew where to nail the board to make it secure. Because we were adding the crown molding we didn’t need to make the bead board fit exactly because we had the few inches around the edges that were going to be covered so it gave us a little wiggle room. When we got the big piece up we needed to add another small piece that was much easier to get in the room and on the ceiling. You need to be mindful of the pattern and make sure the grooves line up and are in the proper place. It will look seamless if it is done correctly.
After the bead board was up we went to installing the crown molding. That was a much easier task then trying to get the bead board in place. Monte hung the ceiling portion of the crown molding first making sure all the corners fit well. After it was all in place he hung the wall portion. You also want to make sure the wall corners pieces fit well plus making sure they line up correctly with the ceiling piece. The corner pieces are cut to 45 degrees so it wasn’t too difficult. By getting everything lined up correctly it really looks professional and high end. When we got everything installed Monte took a few minutes and caulked all the seams with paintable latex and I gave everything another coat of paint.
I am so happy with the way it turned out. It makes the room look finished and charming. It makes me really happy to walk in and see the super cute ceiling. One of the design decisions I was back and forth on was which way to run the bead board. We have hardwood in the half bath so I wasn’t sure whether to run the bead board the same direction as the hardwood or go the opposite. I’m sure it’s one of those things that really won’t matter in the end but I decided to run the bead board opposite to the hardwood.
I’m beyond happy with the way it looks and how it made the small space look intentional and finished.
It was one of those simply but so worth it project that didn’t cost a lot. We were able to do the ceiling for just under $100 plus had some extra bead board that I was able to use in a different part of the house. We were able to do the project in just a few hours from start to finish. I love it when we can make such an impact in a single days work.
