Remember my pitiful laundry “hallway”? At one time the walls were white. Then they were yellow. Now they are Restoration Hardware’s Silver Sage, which is a color for the permanent record books. I’ve posted about my hallway before here.
I am constantly trying to figure out ways to make this sliver of real estate more usable and more attractive, since it is actually the most used non-room in our house.
Recently it went from looking like this:
To looking like this:
Not a huge change, I know, but a change that got all the paper work off of my fridge with the addition of ducting sheet metal cut to fit the area above the coat hooks. The air conditioning warehouse I got my sheet metal from even folded the ends so I wouldn’t cut myself. The entire wall of sheet metal was only $25 – a steal of a deal for a family magnet board!
The bottom of the wall got a board and batten treatment for a fresh look. A few of you asked what board and batten is. Our version of this classic molding treatment {which we’ve also applied to the basement walls} involved cutting one and half inch pre-primed boards to size and using a nail gun to attach them to the wall at measured intervals. Caulk was applied to all seams and a generous coat of white semi-gloss paint covered both wall and boards to make them look like one complete unit.
Here are my ‘battens’ before painting:
And here they are after:
Notice I also painted the quarter round molding {which was brown before} at the base of the floor to give my wimpy floorboards some added heft. In a few weeks when I show you the new basement, I’ll explain how we were able to do this treatment without removing a single baseboard.
I am in love with the look of board and batten. But I must warn, it is a multi-step process and not for the impatient! Measure, cut, level, nail, wood filler, sand, caulk, paint, paint, paint – it has taken me weeks to finish it up. The effect is worth it!
Stay tuned - tomorrow I have a wonderful before and after that a friend is going to let me share with you. It is divine!
PS. Both the Hubby and I want to paint the door leading out to the garage. What say you? We’re thinking about grey.
13 comments:
Well done you! Very well done. But I have a question. How in the world did you attach that big piece of steel to the wall? Heavy guage nails?
I say paint that door!
It's galvanized sheet metal, and actually not very heavy at all. We attched it with screws at the corners and middle of both bottom and top, making sure to hit the studs in the wall.
It's galvanized sheet metal, and actually not very heavy at all. We attched it with screws at the corners and middle of both bottom and top, making sure to hit the studs in the wall.
Such a fantastic idea!!! It looks wonderful.
Just beautiful! I think the small, constantly used spaces in our homes are so easy to overlook, yet have such an impact when done right.
LOVE your magnet board.
And if I were to paint a door, I'd hope to screw up my courage and go for a bold color.
That room just gets better looking all the time. Kind of like the people who live in it. Fabulous everything!
Go with your gut on the door and, as usual, it will turn out great.
Looks awesome! Great idea to put magnet board.
That looks fantastic, Sam. I would probably keep the door white, as it matches the white on the board and batten. I wish I had one iota of the creativity you do!!!!
This is my kind of transformation...love board and batten...pretty sure I don't have the patience.
I think I saw your photo brother profiled on mormon.org...noticed him when Adam showed me our pediatrician's (also humanitarian missionary) profile he'd found. How do they pick these people I wonder? A fun feature.
I think it looks great. Love the color, and the wall to show case family moments and highlights.
I love it and I CAN'T WAIT to see your basement updates!!
That looks fantastic. I love it!
I love this so much that I'm stealing the idea for my laundry room! Thanks for the idea! I've been telling all my friends and sending them to your blog for pictures. =)
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