Easy Wall Panelling

by Aileen of Shabby.ie

Hello again and welcome to another blog post on my exploits in interior decorating .

If you follow me on IG and Facebook you will probably realise I am quite impulsive and not always great at planning ahead. You might call me a ‘winger’ but hey ho, it works for me lol ….!

I got so many messages and comments when I posted this panelling on IG stories , asking me for more detail ,that I decided to put this blog together. If I had prepared better I would have had more photos for you, but I have a few, so lets see how we get on. 

I started in the smallest bedroom and as I had never done anything like this before, I did a little research first. Anytime I think of a new project I browse Pinterest and start a board  saving the pins I like. On Pinterest you will see many different ways you can panel a wall. They all say it’s easy and I believed them ! This was the photo that inspired my project. Simple clean lines

Panelling is very ON TREND at the moment and the main way to do it seems to be buying large sheets of MDF or Plywood and getting it cut ( usually into 4inch strips) . I had no idea who would do that for me and knew instantly that would create such a problem, that it would end up stopping me from doing it at all. So I went down an easier root with very little cutting.

I decided to use 2 x 1 lengths of planed timber, available in any good timber merchants. My local store always has a ton of it in and they deliver. So that was the supply issue sorted.

Remember if you decide to use 2 x 1, get the planed version, as the other is rough wood.

Here is my step by step tutorial for how to create and install simple batten wall panelling.

 Measuring

There are many blogs telling you how to install the panelling, but a lot of them don’t go into detail on HOW to measure everything and thats the trickiest bit. So I am going to go into detail on that. If you want to skip this bit… scroll down to the paragraph on INSTALLING

 I’ve used my actual measurements, but you will use your own.

Get yourself some paper a pen and a measuring tape. And if you are terrible at figures, like me, grab someone else to do this part with you. I gave this bit to my hubby who is a maths man !

• Firstly, measure the full width of your wall to work out the length of your one top horizontal board.  Make a note of the measurement. Mine was 300cm. (If you are doing a horizontal board at the bottom you will need to include that measurement when buying the wood) I didn’t do a bottom board, I just let the vertical ones rest on the skirting. I did say an easy version right …

 

• Next, you need to decide how tall you want your vertical battens to be. You can make your   panelling any height you want, but I decided to go approximately 2/3 of the way up, to match where the grey paint changed to white

 

• Getting the spaces right >You can space the uprights to the size that you like. I spaced mine just over a foot ( 32.5 cm )and how I chose this space, was by standing a few uprights against the wall and looking at them. It can be hard to visialize otherwise. This would give me 8 spaces, for which I needed 9 uprights… are you still following me ?

Getting the space measurement right ! I got this wrong !

I wanted 8 spaces right…but I forgot to take into consideration the width of each board.

So here is what you SHOULD do .

My example

300cm was the width of the wall. Take away the width of all the boards which was 40.5 ( 9 x 4.5cm) which gives a total of 259.5. Divide THIS by 8 ( for your eight spaces)  gives you 32.43 for each space

INSTALLING

I bought  six 16ft long lengths of 2 x 1 ( they also come in 12ft lengths) as I could use one for the top board and I would get 2 out of every length for the uprights. I was only doing uprights. I didnt want to create a square panel like this… that would have been too busy for this small room. I wanted simple clean lines. I am thinking of doing this in another room though so watch out for that.

Add the top board first

I have a chop saw which makes cutting wood like this very easy. The first piece I cut was the top piece that would go the full width of the room. I measured it and cut it to size and then stuck it to the wall with  instant adhesive. Our walls are block and cement so it was easier to stick it first, then go in with a couple of screws to secure it, but if you have plasterboard you could use some panel pins ( much easier )

Then cut your uprights

I then cut all the uprights and I did them individually after measuring the exact place it was going. This is because I have learned over the years that walls and floors are rarely even  and of course this turned out to be true again. There was a full centimeter in the difference between one side and the other.

When I had all the uprights cut and standing against the wall, I attached the side two. One right and one left. From there I could mark the top board with all my measurements.

So basically

…………I  marked the top board 32.5 cm out from the first side upright.

…………then I marked the 4.5cm for the upright,

…………then I again went a further 32.5 cm,

………….then marked the 4.5 for the upright and so on until it looked a bit like this….excuse my very basic little drawing lol lol I used a level to ensure I put it up straight. In hindsight I should have cut ONE piece of wood 32.5cm wide, to use as a guide. I would recommend you do that. I filled in any gaps with white pre mixed filler and then primed the wood with BLOXX IT primer. The timber has knots in it and I wanted to ensure I sealed them in.

After priming I went ahead and painted the wall and the boards in the same paint that it had just been painted in .  TIP : Another mistake I made… don’t do like I did and decide to panel AFTER you got the whole room painted !!

The paint I used was Shabby Light Grey mixed into Prestige Washable Matt from Fleetwood Paints . The quality of the prestige range of paint is superb and both me and the painters I employed to paint the room initially,were very impressed with it. You can buy the prestige range in any good Fleetwood Stockist.

( Find your local stockist here)

I then added a moulding to the top board to create a little shape and put LED lights in behind it. As it is sitting on the 2 x 1  I had the space to do that.

So what do you think ? Would you give it a go ?Please tag me in any photos if you do have a go. I would love to see them.

I am thrilled with it and my son got quite a surprise when he came home from school .

I painted the pine headboard and pine bedside locker in the lovely Shabby Dark Grey from the shabby paint collection for Fleetwood Paints. I still have a small wardrobe to do and I want to MAKE a cool light for the locker ( one that will hang from the panelling) and hang some photos.

You can follow my progress on both Instagram and Facebook. But I am well on the way to creating a nice room for my teenager son. He certainly approves so far.

 

Thanks for reading guys If you enjoyed it please check out some of my other blogs by clicking here

Aileen