Create Character with Bead Board
Character is the main reason I love old homes. Quirky rooms, quality wood trim, built-in cabinets, and more. All those things that lend charm and interest. You can create character in your own home with something as simple as bead board.
Photo by ML Interior Designs
Bead board is fairly easy to install and it really makes a great impact in a room.
Photo by Cushman Design Group
I love the look of natural bead board. It immediately adds depth and warmth to a space.
Photo by Dolphin Architects & Builders, Inc.
Use it to add texture and dimension to a wall. Similar to wallpaper except you can paint it and easily change the mood of a room.
Photo by Minette Hand Photography
Here’s a great example of using a favorite color to change the mood of a room.
Photo by ColeBuilt
This kitchen uses bead board for a back splash – I did the same in my kitchen. I used a higher gloss paint on my back splash which makes it super easy to clean.
Photo by Cushman Design Group
Adding bead board to the lower third of a wall helps break up the expanse. This is especially effective in rooms with high ceilings.
Photo by ML Interior Designs
Most people hang bead board vertically, but it’s just as attractive in a horizontal pattern. Whether used on walls or ceilings, you’ll find it’s a great way to add character to any room in your house. Not only that, but it’s economical, too.
Photo by Sethbennphoto
Do you have bead board in your house, or have you thought of adding it? I think it’s a great way to add some character.
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I love the look of bead board. I do have it in my laundry room. Did you know it also comes in vinyl which is great in the kitchen and bath.
Hi Debra! I didn’t know it came in a vinyl version. I was thinking of adding bead board to the risers of my steps. The vinyl would be a great option for this!
Bead board is the decorator’s duct tape, right?!!! When we were renovating our new home there was lots of wallpaper that needed to come down in the bedrooms. It had been up a L-O-N-G time and parts of the wall board came down with the wallpaper along one bottom bedroom wall in both rooms. We decided to put up 4’ high wainscoting. Not only did the bead board save us LOTS of time and effort but we were delighted with the charm and character it brought to the rooms!
I’m considering using it to cover a very wonky bathroom wall behind my vanity. Don’t want wallpaper and tile is out of my budget, so beadboard appears to be a possibility.
I have beadboard in my kitchen, both bathrooms, where i don’t have tile and half way up in my living room. Some is painted and some isn’t. I really like mine, thanks for all these ideas.
I also love beadboard. I have it in my laundry room. I have also used the paintable textured beadboard wallpaper in several areas. I used it in my powder room because down the road I will change out the countertop at which point I will put in the real beadboard. For now I have the look without making it hard to get the counter out later:
https://www.houzz.com/photo/45787943-my-pics-work-in-progress
And as a backsplash in a budget kitchen basement – again in time it may be replaced with the real thing:
https://www.houzz.com/photo/65270573-my-pics-work-in-progress
I love the bead board in the dining room – I’ve thought about that off and on for years. I plan on beadboard or planks for the family room ceiling which needs replacing. I am excited to get someone working on that project after the new year.
Hello Jennifer, just wanted to wish you a very happy new year and I hope 2019 brings you all that you wish for yourself. Thank you for the joy you have brought me with the blog posts this year. It’s 33 degrees here today, the frangipanii is in full bloom and we are watching the cricket which sadly we are about to lose!
I have bead board in my powder room, and I love. It’s white, and it always looks fresh and clean, nice contrast with the gray walls.
Happy New year to you and your family!
We live in a house built in 1915, bought from the original owner in 1980. Last year we tackled the kitchen, and tried to honor the old house’s character. We put natural beadboard in the backsplash area, and continued the beadboard part of the way upstairs, in our open stairway. The guy who built our cabinets understood our goal for our house, and was a pleasure to work with. If there was any way to add photos to this message, I would, as they say more than words ever will.
We recently purchased a newly built house and walls are not as thick as our previous 1985 house. Our guest room is right on the other side of the master bath and I have been racking my brain on how to create some type of attractive “insulation” between the two. This would be perfect for both spaces! It would also be great in the laundry room as other comments have mentioned. I’ve always thought bead board was so charming, now I just need to convince my husband. 😁
In 1980 we bought a 1915 house, from the original owner! As we have renovated, we have tried to honor ‘this old house’. When I was little I remember my grandma had beadboard in her farmhouse kitchen, so we used it as the backsplash, continuing up the stairs a bit.
When we redid the kitchen a few years ago, we chose a builder who understood our goal in remodeling. He even added decorative walnut dowel joints (cabinets are oak) on the drawers and door.
I am wondering if you have written books on decorating?
Every room in my house is the original heart pine bead board that is unpainted, house built in 1910. I’ve always wanted it painted but can’t talk my husband into. It is easy to care for though and hard as a rock, nails don’t affect it at all.