Project Plank: Part 1

Chris and I started a project this weekend that has been on our minds for a while now: planking a wall.

We plan on doing it in our downstairs bathroom but decided to try it out in our bedroom. 

Here are a couple pictures that inspired us:

via HGTV

via The Shabby Creek Cottage

After researching it and reading this blog post, this blog post, and this one too, we decided to go for it.

We decided to use 5.0 mm 4x8 plywood from Lowe's because 

a) it is light and thin and 

b) the price is good.

It comes in big sheets like this...

...that we had cut down into 6 inch wide planks.

It was free to have the planks cut and only took about 15 minutes.

The first plank goes up!

We were going to use our nail gun but Chris found it easier to just use a regular hammer and nails.

After reading all of the blog posts about planking, we made sure to use a level after each and every plank that went up to ensure that everything was straight.

As for spacing, we used two nickels because we liked the size of the gap it left between each plank.

Once we really got going, Chris and I started to fall into a rhythm.

I held each plank up with the nickels as Chris checked that they were straight with the level and hammered the nails in. 

Team work!

I was also in charge of spackling the nail holes.

Because the bedroom wall is so long, the planks didn't span the entire wall.

We contemplated having visible seams like we saw here, but decided against it. Just personal preference.

So, I spackled the cracks to mask the seams.

Most of the wall was easy to do as there are no windows or anything to work around.

There was though this little space behind the bedroom door which required Chris to cut the planks down to these small sizes.

Working around the thermostat was kind of like a puzzle and reminded us of working around the outlets when we subway-tiled our kitchen. Nothing a little jigsaw can't handle.

Once all the planks were up and the spackle was dry, we sanded the spots down a little, sucking up the dust with a vacuum as we went.

Next, we began painting using Benjamin Moore's Decorators White in an eggshell finish.

The wall clearly needs another coat or two of paint, which we will tackle this week.

We also need to extend the outlet on the bottom of the wall, safely cover up the other two outlets where there is wiring before we plank over it, and caulk any unwanted gaps (aka around the thermostat).

I can't wait to have this finished and share the final product!
Have a great week :)

- Caitlin