Adding Character to a Small Space with Beadboard

Since our little guy’s bedroom is so small, we wanted to give it a little something extra.  We wanted a little architectural interest coupled with a place to display pictures and other accessories.  To achieve this, we installed beadboard paneling with picture ledge trim.

The project went a lot faster than we anticipated and did wonders for giving the room some character.

We started the project by deciding how high up the wall we wanted our beadboard panels to extend.  We were sure to keep in mind where our light switches and window ledges were.  Since we wanted to keep the project as budget-friendly as possible and we knew the panels were sold in 4’x8’ sheets, we decided to keep the overall height under 48” so that we could get 2 pieces out of every sheet and minimize waste.

We bought the pre-primed 4’x8’ beadboard panels at our local home improvement store and had the professionals there cut them down to size for us, which saved us a ton of time!

We removed all of the outlets covers before installing any of the paneling. We highly recommend that you also remove your existing baseboards.  Unfortunately we did not do that until after we had started putting the panels up and learned that our baseboards were not level!

You will also want to locate and mark your wall studs so that you can securely nail your panels into the studs.

Before we began attaching the panels to the wall, we cut holes for each outlet. To do this we measured where each outlet was located on our walls, mapped out where the outlet would be on the back of the beadboard and then used a jigsaw to cut out the rectangles.

To install the panels, we spread adhesive on the back and then used a nail gun to attach the panels to the wall studs.

Panel by panel we worked our way around the entire room, cutting out around outlets and window sills as we went.

Once all of the panels were up, we reattached the baseboards. In hindsight, we should have had our beadboard cut long enough so that it would extend all the way to the floor behind the baseboards and then reattached the baseboards over the top of the panels. That would have given it a more polished look and gotten rid of all of the gaps we had.

For the picture ledge trim along the top we used primed pine 1”x3” boards, 1”x2” boards and decorative shoe molding.

The first step was to attach the 1”x3” boards along the top edge of the beadboard using a nailgun (again nailing them to the studs).

Then we added the 1”x2” boards on top, nailing them from the top into the 1”x3” boards.

To cover up imperfections and give the trim a custom look, we attached shoe molding over the joint where the two boards connected.

Since the beadboard in the corners of the room did not match up perfectly, we covered the cracks with cove molding to hide the imperfections.

For the finishing touches, we patched all of the nail holes, caulked all of the cracks and painted everything with 2 coats of a semi-gloss super white paint.

The addition of the beadboard in this room not only gave the space some character, it also provided the perfect ledge for framed artwork and decorative accessories.

We are thrilled with the outcome and our little customer couldn’t be happier with how his room turned out. In fact, he discovered that the ledge is a great place to line up his little cars.

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