Beadboard Wall Paneling

It's less formal than raised panels, but is right at home in a country or rustic environment. Beadboard is versatile enough that it looks good in just about any room in the house. You can find it in 4 ft. by 8 ft. panels in the big home centers like Home Depot. Usually, the panels run about $20 each, are 3/8" thick, and are made of pine. This is a soft wood which will expand and contract with changing seasons, so paint the panels before you add the bottom and top rails. The beads on these panels are about 1 1/2" wide. If you want more width, you'll have to by tongue and groove boards and assemble them individually. If you go this route, the cost will be greater, and the installation time will be more, but you have much more choice as to the look of the paneling once it's finished. I have visited several historic buildings over the years, and the Early American carpenters were pretty imaginative about how they assembled beaded wall panels. I've seen three or four widths combine in a repetitive design; alternating 2 widths; and I saw a room where 8" wide planking was used on one wall and 2 1/2" wide beadboard was on another wall. Having imagination about these things is all well and good, but the steady, constant repetition brings a sense of uniformity that I believe is what most people look for. Height is another aspect where you will have a lot of flexibility. The minimum height should be "chair rail height" or 34" above the floor. However, your decorative scheme might be better served if your panels were 40" high, or 48", or 60", or anything in between. The best thing to do is to make templates or sample pieces out of cardboard or some other inexpensive material. Tape them to the wall and leave them there for a couple of days. Then try it again, using a different height. Decide which you like best, and go with it.

Your top and bottom rails should be notched out in the back so that the panels fit inside the rails and the rails touch the walls. This will eliminate gaps between the rails and the walls.

Some of the most popular ways people use beadboard are:

To cover entire interior walls.

As wainscoting on either interior or exterior walls.

To cover ceilings - inside coffers, over a small portion of a room to separate it from the rest of the room, or as porch ceilings.

As backsplashes in kitchens.

Instead of ceramic tileon bathroom walls.

As recessed panels in cabinet doors.

In conclusion, beaded wall paneling has stood the test of time. It has been around for hundreds of years and is versatile enough to have many applications. Beadboard has good looks and charm, and is priced for anybody's pocketbook.

How to Get Started With Home Decor

Getting started decorating your home to a particular style or theme can seem a daunting prospect at first, but if you break it down into steps a difficult task can become significantly easier. Although it would be great to get your entire flat or house decorated in the same style at once it can be much easier to take a piece by piece approach and work towards a goal over time rather than trying to achieve everything at once.

Before you even start any work you need to create a plan of how you want your house to look, what style are you going for? If you don't create a detailed plan of what you are aiming for from the start you might find yourself slowly drifting off course. While your home has the potential to look great in any one of a number of styles what you don't want to do is start off decorating and working towards one style and ending up at another resulting in a hodgepodge of styles lacking a common theme.

To get started creating your plan try to decide on an overall theme by investigating magazines, friend's houses and appropriate television shows and books for ideas and gathering them together to find the look that is going to suit you and your house. You'll need to consider what colours you're going to use, the texture and patterns involved in the fabrics as well as what furniture, lighting and accessories you are going to buy, not to mention the flooring and curtains. If all this sounds overwhelming it can be a great idea to hire a professional designer to help you with your project. Although many people think you can't hire a designer unless you are decorating an entire house many of them will be happy to work on smaller products. If you find the right designer they may well be happy to consult and give you advice for a smaller fee while leaving much of the work to you.

Once you've settled on what style décor you're going with you're ready to begin. It is best to start with one room at a time and to focus on it until finished otherwise you'll end up with an entire house full of unfinished rooms. You should have a budget for each room and you'll need to be disciplined in sticking with it if you want to see the project through to completion. When making purchases buy from more than one shop to avoid looking like your house has been ordered straight out of a catalogue. Once you've decided on your overall style it's up to you to choose individual and unique pieces that will meet this style while giving your room character and individuality. Often the best pieces can be found second hand or created by repurposing older objects in a new style.