It’s finally time to share some of the details of our budget bathroom redesign! This DIY plank wall was easy to create and install, budget friendly, and made a drastic change in the space.
If you love the whitewashed look, you should check out this tutorial, as it gives what I’ve found to be the perfect whitewashing technique. If you prefer a stained wood wall, or a painted white plank wall, this tutorial will still work for you, you would just stain or paint the wood before installing it.
To keep the cost down, I used 1/4″ plywood for my plank wall. It was by far the cheapest option, but still created the look I was envisioning. If you are planning to stain or whitewash the wood, you’ll want to get a higher grade of plywood. I used birch because I loved the knots on one side of the wood. If you are just painting it, any sanded plywood should work just fine. I would just be sure to prime it before painting.
I ended up needing two 8′ by 4′ panels of 1/4″ plywood. My wall measured less than 8′, but if it was longer, I would probably just stagger the seams between boards in a random way.
I had an employee at the hardware store rip down the boards, but this store had a new policy that they could only rip them down to a minimum of 12″. I stood envious as it took less than a couple minutes to rip down the boards, knowing it would take me ten times as long to make the last cut of each of those boards. So, I went home with 8 boards, and used my table saw to rip each of those boards in half.
It was at this point that I stained and whitewashed the boards.
After adding three coats of Polyurethane, I started installing them on the wall. I found all the studs and marked where they fell with a piece of painter’s tape on the ceiling. That way, I knew I was nailing each board into each of the studs. (You can see the tape sticking out at the top of the top board.)
I had to measure, cut and install each board at a time, because I haven’t met a wall in my house that was level and the same measurement at the top as it is at the bottom.
I air-nailed into each of the studs, and that was about it!
I love how it turned out. You can see how I put together all the elements of the room, and how the entire room refresh only cost me $200!
Like what you see? I’d love for you to follow along!
Facebook || Pinterest || Instagram || Google + || Bloglovin’
Click on the image to sign up!
Linking up with these awesome parties!
Pink When | DIY Show Off | Making it in the Mountains | Refresh Restyle | Huckleberry Love | Finding Silver Pennies | Dwelling in Happiness | The Crowned Goat | 2 Bees in a Pod | Cedar Hill Farmhouse | My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia | Kammy’s Korner | Home Stories A to Z | Just a Girl & Her Blog | The DIY Dreamer | Saavy Southern Style | Dandelion Patina | Gingersnap Crafts | Knick of Time | Posed Perfection | Live Laugh Rowe | Canary Street Crafts | Addison Meadows Lane | Blue i Style | Craftberry Bush | Miss Mustard Seed | The Girl Creative | Little Miss Celebration | Redoux Interiors | Sew a Fine Seam | Craftaholics Anonymous | Dagmar’s Home | Tatertots & Jello | Funky Junk Interiors | House of Hipsters | Confessions of a Serial DIYer | Not Just a Housewife | Remodelaholic | Thrifty Decor Chick | C’mon Get Crafty | Oh My Creative | Our House Now a Home | Natasha in Oz
Join the Refresh Living DIY & Upcycling Community
Join the subscriber list to receive one email per week with updates from the blog. PLUS, you'll gain access to my printables and graphics library. Every new design I create will be added here, and you'll have free access - forever!
What color did you take?
Beautiful! I would love to do that to a wall in our house. The gray and white look of the whitewashed planks would be perfect!
Oh thanks so much! I was a little worried the gray would make the room look darker than I wanted, but I think it works with the other light elements.
I love the wall!! I’ve been looking for a way to cover the former owner’s terrible paint job and rough walls In my bathroom. This is it! Thank you for sharing and the easy whitewashing instructions!
I’m so glad it was helpful. Good luck on your wall!
Oh my goodness! I want to do this to our boys’ bathroom! Such an awesome look!
Thanks so much for sharing your creativity at The DIY Collective this week! Please come back next week to show off your latest project!
Have an awesome week!
~ Ashley
Thanks Ashley! It’s an easy update – you should add one to your boys’ bathroom!
Hello cute lady! Just stopping by to let you know that your plank wall will be featured at our party that starts tonight at 7pm. Pinned and tweeted. Thank you for sharing this with us and we hope to see you tonight! Lou Lou Girls
Thanks so much! 🙂
Love your new wall! Great tutorial, as well. Thanks so much for sharing! Cynthia
Aw, thanks Cynthia!
This is an amazing idea! Thanks for sharing. Hi, I’m Anita visiting from Creative Ways Link Party.
Thanks Anita!
I love this look! It’s taking us forever to remodel our bathroom, but something like this would look great in there. Pinning this.
Great! Plus, it really didn’t take too much time. Thanks for pinning!!
Just Wow! It looks really great! I love the blue vanity and that light as well.
Thank you so much for sharing at the Create – Share – Inspire link party. I hope that you will be by again this evening. Thanks!
Wow! pretty impressive that it is actually plywood! I never would have guessed! With it cut into strips and the grain, it is very believable looking planks. Well done!
Thanks, Liz. It’s fun to find things that look better than they actually are – like plywood! 😉
I absolutely LOVE this! I’ve chosen it as my favorite link from Link Party Palooza, and we are going to feature it on all of our sites this Friday! Thanks for linking up!
xoxoxo,
Stephanie
I’m so glad you like it, Stephanie! I’m so excited to be featured this Friday! 🙂 Thank you!!
Can you tell me the color of the stain you used
Hi Anne – Everything you should need to know about how I got to the color I did for the wall is in this post: https://refreshliving.us/2016/01/the-best-way-to-whitewash-wood.html Let me know if you have any questions!
It looks great! How did you get the horizontal spacing between the planks?
Hi! Thanks for your question. I used a quarter and put it in between the boards before I nailed the next board in. I will admit, sometimes I just eyeball too, though and it seems to work!