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txmarti

I hope I'm not banned for saying this

TxMarti
13 years ago

As much as I like the board and batten look, and the beadboard look, but it's being used so much lately that I'm beginning to get tired of it. Both looks are timeless, in a way, but both will become dated just like everything else. I want to do something to my walls, but I don't want to do anything that requires a lot of effort to take down in a few years.

I remember at the time we bought this house, there were a few older houses with beadboard, and I thought they looked old-fashioned, and not at all what I would want. That is making me hesitant to put any more in this house, even though I had considered doing the ceiling of the new dining room.

Can you think of anything that isn't currently on the bandwagon that is still well-liked?

Comments (27)

  • Shades_of_idaho
    13 years ago

    I guess it depends on what look you want. Are you wanting some thing architectural? Or just some thing to pretty up your walls?

    There is always crown and deep baseboards. The only thing about the deep base is all the dusting needed.

    I am right there with you on trying to make a decision on the next step for our house. So many options.I am already going so off the wall with my crazy mosaics in the kitchen and baths. Do I need more then just paint? I DO need to paint as the builders paint in here is yucky. Wipes right off the walls.

    I would hope any questions a person wants to ask here should be allowed. If we all did the same thing in our houses life would get pretty boring.

  • TxMarti
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    You know, I don't know what I want. Yes, something architectural, or at least something to make this look less like a cheaply thrown together house. What that is, I don't know. One thing I'd like to do is add some molding to the top of the interior door frames. And outside over the doors and windows where the house has siding.

    Our house is just so blah. I have considered putting picture frame molding and chair rail in the living room, but I hate dusting so I've held off. The chair rail wouldn't be so bad - at least I wouldn't have to bend over to dust it. But I don't really want just a chair rail. I've also thought of putting beadboard or a wider plank on the ceiling, but that room is already pretty dark.

    So I'm stumped. Paint is just about the only thing that is easy to change with the trends, but it lacks a big personality.

  • young-gardener
    13 years ago

    Isn't it interesting how things run in cycles? I think it's rather funny, living in an old house, that "old" is in when designing new housing. Shades is right about the dusting, for sure! I have deep baseboards, and the dust drives me crazy. Marti, it sounds like you are on to something with the ceiling. That might be a great place to start! Have you collected any inspiration pictures so you can look for trends in the architectural features? I think you're right about door/window trim. Nice meaty trim around those really changes a room. It's hard to bite the bullet and make a change knowing that you'll be "stuck" for better or worse, I know. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

  • User
    13 years ago

    Marti, in the NOT SO BIG books, what Susanka seems to use is what she calls a "headband" around the room. It goes around the room just above the height of the doors and window moldings, a flat piece of wood, maybe with a lip at the top deep enough to hide something like rope lighting, or to use as a picture rail sort of thing. Now a picture rail is a very old fashioned thing, great for homes with plaster walls let me tell you that is a big problem, and if you have a desire to make the ceiling height look higher, then paint the wall above that headband the same color as the ceiling. It is like a chair rail, can go on the wall and create an expansive feeling by drawing the eye upward, without the low look of a chair rail, which makes the eye go down, and sort of looks like it needs wainscoting.

    I like beadboard for sure, and I know it can reach a saturation point in decorating. That is what makes decorating and remodeling so interesting, our different approaches to it. Beadboard is not for everyone. But what I've added here, I do love. We started with just the sun porch ceiling as narrow beadboard, and on the back porch (a shed roof) there was batten hiding the plywood seams in the sloping ceiling. No insulation behind it, I'm thinking. But I digress.

    About the deep baseboards and dust. Oh boy, in DH's house in MA, he has the deep ones, and the problem arises because the top piece has a deep groove between it and the base board itself. Now THAT is what I really object to. When you want to paint it, you have a LOT of cleaning to do. You can remove the quarter round below and finish it separately to keep a clean painted line, but oh boy that groove requires a brush with me on my hands and knees. I told him to get his groove OFF not ON, when he does the new baseboards down here in Alabama. You can have a lovely baseboard without it being a dust catcher.

    Meanwhile, I am painting the back bedroom. I want to exclaim about the walls and ceiling. The house is 60 years old, and I do believe, since I put a Behr paint w/primer built in on the ceiling and a couple of walls already, that this room had a single coat on it at that time, but NOT ANYTHING SINCE THEN. It is amazing what a difference even a single coat can make to how the room feels. Even though the room had a painted surface, it looked bad enough that I felt another primer was called for. I did not want my color coat to have to sit on the walls next to that gross looking stuff...with 60 years of air pollution from who knows what. Can I say that it just soaked it up? I'll put a second coat on the ceiling, hoping never to touch it again in my lifetime, but now that the walls have that single coat on them, I will proceed to doing the color coat. Classic Taupe, which is DH's choice, hope it is not too boring for a bedroom. But again I digress. Sorry.

  • desertsteph
    13 years ago

    I like the 'headband' idea. I should run that at least between my 2 bedroom windows so I have somewhere to put brackets for a curtain rod. As it is I'm afraid to put any up. I have no idea that there is anything behind the drywall that would support a curtain rod - with the curtains on it.

    marti- I don't remember what your house looks like (are there pics on here I can look up?) I have such a bad memory... but how about a medallion on the DR ceiling above the DR light fixture? they make them in foam board or something real light weight and paintable!

  • schoolhouse_gw
    13 years ago

    I wanted beadboard on my kitchen ceiling and walls for so long and when it wasn't so common, now I can finally realize my dream and it's a trend that's become "saturated". ha.

  • TxMarti
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I don't really know what style you'd call our house. What do you think? I call it farm house.

    I live in an area where Victorian homes are really popular, and I thought about going that direction with this house, except that it's brick.

    The pig snout front bothers me, and I wanted to add a couple of dog house windows over the main part of the house to balance it out, like this

    and some gable trim and porch posts like this

    or maybe this

    And I'd like to do a simpler variation of this inside

    I don't know if all this is a good combination for this house, or if it will just make it a big mess for the next homeowner.

  • User
    13 years ago

    Marti, I like the term "pig snout." Don't think I ever saw a pig snout house before.

    I personally like the last house pictured, but I don't think exact look could be achieved with your house. That house started high and looks like they added the big wrap porch to it later. I think you could add the beefed up porch columns and the brackets on either side of each post. Maybe put another small gable to bring down the size of your gable. If you reroof, are you thinking of metal?

    In your case, bringing a smaller gable forward...or standing ahead and to the left a little of your original gable.....would give you a way to create a large foyer and move your front door to stand in front, instead of recessed and rather hidden. Then, you could beef up the rest of the front porch, and take it around the corner of the house, using a "visor" style porch roof, continuing the angle of roof similar to what you house now does. I think that giving the porch a 90 degree turn around the corner will give you a place to hang a hammock or whatever, maybe add a table and chairs, and it would look more romantic.

    I see that your driveway and parking is off to the right and behind your house. So what is that spot of dirt in front of your porch area off to the left? I cannot make out what purpose it serves.

    You might could jazz up the front of your house as it is, with some hefty porch support posts painted a more attention-grabbing color. How deep is your porch, BTW?
    Can you hang some baskets of geraniums there if it is sunny, or ferns if it is shady? That is an instant touch of Victoriana. Potted plants on stands say Victorian right away.

  • TxMarti
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    "So what is that spot of dirt in front of your porch area off to the left? I cannot make out what purpose it serves."

    This picture is a few years old. That's where I took out a small retaining wall and added dirt to make it slope down to the rest of the yard. It's all grass now on the left side of the sidewalk.

    Porch is only 4 feet deep, but the porch overhang is a couple of feet deeper, and I've wondered if we could extend the porch another 2 feet.

  • Shades_of_idaho
    13 years ago

    Marti your house is really nice. I like the look of the last house. The porch design is what I think we are going to end up with the added on carport on our shop building. Not quite sure how he is going to do the corner where the two meet up but the plan is to fill it in. wooo hoo more outside covered space.

    I really am not good at giving advice as to what to do to your house to make it feel good for you My ideas are to far off the wall. I do like the look of the wainscot in the picture with yellow walls.In fact I LOVE that look.

  • flgargoyle
    13 years ago

    I've seen 'poor man's' paneled wainscoting made of layer(s) of drywall cut with tapered edges and glued and fastened to the wall. You can picture frame each panel with molding, as well as molding for a chair rail. Drywall is about as cheap as it comes if you have the wherewithal to cut it into neat raised panels. When I paint items with raised panels, such as doors, I paint the panels a very slightly different color, which adds depth without really being obvious.

    Another old-fashioned touch is wallpaper. There are now some vintage patterns from the 20's and 30's that I drool over- not cheap, though. In our new house, we will likely have wainscoting (infill yet to be determined), wallpaper, and coffered ceilings with either bead board or embossed tin in between. I'm thinking bead board in the LR, tin in the kitchen. Coffered ceilings are a nice touch, and not that hard to do, as they are basically a hollow beam made out of dimensional lumber, dressed up with moldings. I've noticed that they seem to be another 'hot' trend, though! There are also some lovely period tiles available now, but Yike$$$! You don't get far with tiles that are $40 each!

    I've given up worrying about whether I'm copying a hot trend or not. I like what I like, and if it happens to be trendy, so be it. It's my house, I have to like it. There are so many vintage trends that are hot right now that it's hard to not 'copy' something.

  • TxMarti
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    That's a good idea Jay. I might even try a little faux to create the raised panel look.

  • User
    13 years ago

    Marti, I don't see why the porch could not be extended out the other two feet. If it is already there for the roofline, then the porch itself can move outward too. Actually, that would be a great way to make your support posts stand out better. I still think that hanging baskets of something seasonally changed, would look fantastic. I have a lot of the asparagus fern in hanging baskets, because it stands up to the western sun and summer heat. And it survives our winters without biting the dust. A strong plant, because the root system has sort of "bladders" that it fills with water, and draws on that during a dry spell, or if I forget to water it.

    Jay, take a look at one of Sarah Susanka's books, because she is a big believer in the interior "soffit." Which is like the perimeter of a "coffered" ceiling. Like making the soffit over the sink and prep area give enclosure for that activity. In an open plan house, the use of ceiling variations is used by her to define activity spaces. I've been reading her stuff a LOT, in case you have not noticed.

    It may be a "hot" trend, but it is one they are using to make the huge caverns of McMansions human scale and give folks a more comfortable feeling in them. It is a way of making our homes more intimate and comforting. If it does that, I don't care, personally, if it is a hot trend. I will adopt things I LIKE, that serve my purpose, regardless of their trendiness. Or lack thereof. You look at the old style homes, and they had a lot of similar devices in their construction too. But we don't pass them by for that. I must note, however, that some parts of the features we now treasure fell out of favor at a later date, and we now bemoan the fact that FUTURE OWNERS RIPPED THEM OUT. Oh man, I see that when I go to the old stuff mall, some antiques, because they have all the leaded bevelled glass, seeded glass windows, stained glass, wrought iron railings and brackets with intricate nature designs, and window framing. I just DROOL, and sigh, because I only had room for ONE STAINED GLASS WINDOW in my bathroom. Sigh.....

    If you like it, and it works for your house, I would not let that hold me back.

  • User
    13 years ago

    Jay, et al,
    this is about UNFRAMED beadboard cabinets, old style.
    Thought you folks might find it interesting.
    From Old House forum.

    Here is a link that might be useful: UNFRAMED beadboard cabinets/doors

  • flgargoyle
    13 years ago

    I remember those! I've seen them two places- one was a funky little beach cottage we had when I was a kid, and the others were in my niece's 1920's house in FL. Great- just what the ADD (Architectural Distraction Disorder) guy needs right now- MORE ideas to choose from right now LOL!

  • pjtexgirl
    13 years ago

    Marti8, that's a ranch IMHO. It's only considered a "snout house" ranch if the garage dominates the architecture. Ranches, for all the complaining about them, are easy to modify into just about any style. Your ideas are very nice. Meanwhile,there could be a pergola with a solid or open roof down the front with some friendly climbers across it, while you decide on a conversion. You could also add a 5' wide path up to the front door. That would make it look friendly :)

  • Shades_of_idaho
    13 years ago

    OH the pergola idea would be lovely. Would add the porch look with out so much of the expense. You could do a flag stone floor. Would also add to some privacy inside.

  • TxMarti
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    pjtexgirl, I think it was called a ranch when we bought it too. That part that sticks out was the garage but is now the den.

    shades, I thought about a pergola at the far end of the front porch - is that where you thought? I thought the height of a pergola roof would offset the "snout".

  • Shades_of_idaho
    13 years ago

    I did not even pay that ,much attention the garage is not a garage any more. DOH on me.

    I was thinking the pergola across the whole front from what used to be garage to the snout end. To me it might hide the snout part and make it look like a wrap around porch or maybe wrap the pergola around. There might be set back issues???

    the draw back here is our front porch is only 8 foot deep and it would have been much nicer of it had been 10 foot.

  • gayle0000
    13 years ago

    I'm also tired of the beadboard...exhausted, in fact. I DO like beadboard. I think it's classic. This "coastal" theme in decor now uses beadboard and anything slatted as a must-have...the ultimate base to start from.

    Currently, I find I'm liking beadboard only when it has nothing to do with "coastal".

    Also, true beadboard is made of real wood. They are slats attached to each other in a genuine craftman kind of way. There are so many pre-fabbed sheets and mass-manufactured things to mimic beadboard...the market is saturated with fakes.

    I say, if you like beadboard, pinpoint what applications and uses you don't like. Maybe you can embrace the products by avoiding the current trendy decor and themey looks people are doing now. Trends, themes, and decor go away...the beadboard is always great.

  • TxMarti
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Oh duh. You said pergola and I was thinking gazebo. lol

    I had thought of a narrow pergola across the end of the snout and the garage, since they both have gables.

  • User
    13 years ago

    Marti, in my thread about the master suite you said you liked the beadboard as used there. So I wanted to respond to that here in your thread. My house is an old style house, not as new as yours is. So I think that beadboard was a part of the pre-ranchhouse city house. In my case, I count myself fortunate that I don't have to consider it an anachronism out of place in this simple house.

    Our porch had a beadboard ceiling, all separate boards. It was hell to seal between the cracks when we enclosed it as our sun porch. And painting it was a real pain, overhead for three coats of semigloss paint. With a brush.

    In the master closet, we left the existing exterior stucco wall on the bumpout, removing the windows and casing them out as two doors so we'd still have the support for that wall with the stud between them. The new walls and the 8 foot ceiling were all beadboard. The carpenter/framer bought all the wood and was putting it up when I discovered it, where I had planned on wallboard for the walls, only a ceiling of beadboard. BUT, I figured "it was meant to be" and so I went with it. I painted the beadboard semigloss white all over. With a fuzzy roller too, and took my time.

    I think that the bathroom with mostly beadboard everywhere, except in the portion where plaster ceiling existed in the old bath, looked appropriate because of the clawfoot tub and the 2 inch mosaic tiles (a uniform color). Other than the tub and the beadboard, and the old stained glass window, the bath has modernistic touches. Toto washlet seat on American Standard 1.6 gal flush toilet, a square sink, a square faucet set, vertical sconces, square Kohler mirror, polished nickel or polished chrome hardware in general. My house is a melange of styles, which I feel is consistent with it evolving over time.

    Up north, the basic little cape started out as a small two room house, and was added on to as able or as required. In that same way, I figure that people tied to the land, and to the house, have always allowed their homes to evolve. A seashell starts small, and keeps adding on to its shell, and it looks different at the outer rim than the beginning parts, but it is a beautiful and organic design.

    So surround yourself with what pleases you and feels right.

  • pjtexgirl
    13 years ago

    I like the pergola idea. I hate it when I mix up words and thing WHAT? Then like "duh" when I finally catch on.

    I agree with Moccasin:
    "So surround yourself with what pleases you and feels right."

  • enigmaquandry
    13 years ago

    Marti8a, I LOVE your house! I love the brick and I think it's very attractive!

    You're right about the wall treatments, they are becoming mainstream. I remember seeing decorative fiberglass? panels you can adhere to your wall that were styled after old tin ceilings. They were really beautiful and obviously durable as well. Have you perhaps considered a textured wallpaper that you could repaint if you get tired of it?

    I think that ANY ceiling treatment is fabulous, of course you have tin tiles, wallpaper, beams, coffers, beadboard etc...or you could use a large-scale stencil on your ceilings to create a subtle pattern or wide stripes that could be painted over if you get tired of them. Paint can be cheap and have that big personality all at once :) Even though ceiling treatments are becoming more popular, I think that very few people actually ever do them! Sorry if I've just re-said anything that's already been mentioned!

  • TxMarti
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you! Actually I have considered adding beams, and the stencil idea is terrific, and since most people just glance at the ceiling, it might look real. I might just play with that today. Thanks.

    About wallpaper, I think I vowed the last time I scraped off wallpaper that I should be horse-whipped if I ever put up anymore. lol

  • User
    13 years ago

    Marti, I said the same thing after scraping off wallpaper.
    But then I saw how the beadboard wallpaper could be used to cover rough walls, and then be painted. Someone on the forum used it as part of their kitchen cabinets, and on the ceiling as well. Gorgeous.

    How to do it, and also buying it also, can be found on Rhoda's blog, SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Rhoda's Southern Hospitality blog

  • TxMarti
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I've seen it on her blog and it does look good. Much easier and cheaper than putting up real beadboard. I actually wallpapered a ceiling one time. The ceiling was the tiered cake type too. It was such a pain, and I did a plaid wallpaper. Hey, it was the 80's and popular. What a pain. In the neck. My arms. My temper. lol I wonder how many times the people who took it off have cursed me too. I had to take down the previous wallpaper to do it and I don't remember it being too hard.

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