Last Updated on October 16, 2012 by Kristi Linauer
On Monday when I posted the before and after of my kitchen, I left out the info about my DIY wood slat ceiling. Many of you noticed that it was different than in the original kitchen, and wanted to know more, so today I’m spillin’ the details.
Before I added the wood slat ceiling, my ceiling was really in sad shape. It all started when we added the recessed lighting. We didn’t remove all of the drywall because…well…something to do with the way that the ceiling joists lined up.
So when we replaced the drywall that had been removed, the new drywall was slightly thinner than the old stuff. So I was left with awful ridges in my ceiling. I’m sure that someone a lot more skilled at taping and floating could have hidden those ridge much better than I did. But taping and floating isn’t my thing. At all.
So I decided that a wood slat ceiling was the answer. I purchased four sheets of 1/4″ plywood at Home Depot, and because I don’t own a table saw, I had them cut the plywood into 4″ strips for me. Then I cut those strips into 4-foot sections with my miter saw.
Then, because I was doing this ceiling by myself, I used construction adhesive on each strip, and then nailed it to the ceiling with my nail gun.
I used a scrap piece of plywood as a spacer so that all of the pieces were evenly spaced.
And yes, as you can see from the picture above, I originally had the idea of staining the boards before installing them. Bad idea. Not only did it waste tons of time, but my kitchen looked like a cave.
So then I tried varying degrees of drybrushing and whitewashing. Those didn’t really work out either.
I finally decided to paint the ceiling, but since I had gone to all of the trouble painting the cracks black, I tried to keep those black. I thought it would somehow add depth. It just ended up looking really harsh and overpowering.
So in the end, I just painted the entire thing white…cracks and all. It didn’t completely disguise the fact that my ceiling was uneven, but it definitely looks better than the drywall….and a thousand times better than the original popcorn ceiling that was in the whole condo when we bought it.
I think I ended up using about 4.5 sheets of plywood for the ceiling in my kitchen and dining area. So at about $20 each, the whole ceiling came to somewhere around $100. And overall (without the awful staining/drybrushing/whitewashing/painting the cracks black detour), the process is fairly quick and simple.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I hope you’ll join me on my DIY and decorating journey! If you want to follow my projects and progress, you can subscribe below and have each new post delivered to your email inbox. That way you’ll never miss a thing!
41 Comments
Brandi
October 10, 2012 at 11:33 amLooks great, Kristi! We did something similar to my son’s bedroom wall.
Suesan
October 10, 2012 at 12:50 pmNice fix, Kristi. I need to do something similar to the ceilings at my house. I may borrow your idea.
Sheri
October 10, 2012 at 2:00 pmIf you need to cover an uneven surface like this again, use something thin underneath to even out the surface. You could have glued up some cereal cardboard or something as a spacer.
Janee
October 10, 2012 at 6:07 pmWhy did you use a spacer between the boards? Expansion worries? I’m thinking of doing this on my laundry room wall instead of beadboard. Looks great!!
Amanda
October 10, 2012 at 6:49 pmIt looks fantastic! We have plans to do something similar in our kitchen/dining room and I hadn’t thought of using plywood!
Debbie
October 10, 2012 at 7:34 pmIt really looks fabulous! So much better.
Debbie 🙂
Diane | An Extraordinary Day
October 10, 2012 at 7:57 pmGreat save!! I think it looks fabulous!!
Runt
October 11, 2012 at 7:57 amThat looks great!
Teresa
October 11, 2012 at 8:36 amJust had an idea…why not use wood grain laminate or real wood flooring on the ceiling? Afterall, the ceiling is a fifth wall, right? Love your makeover!
Beverly Gaydos
September 29, 2014 at 12:19 amI Have Ugly Popcorn Ceiling.And have tons of Laminate Flooring Many different Brands & Colors. With Different T&G SYSTEMS. I have removed Popcorn CELINGS in THE PAST,A tedious job,& dirty ! Being I have a household of popcorn & don’t belive I am at the age or physically capable of DOING BOTH & EXTREAMLY LIMTED INCOME. Ihave vaulted ceilings as well .You can see the joists every 18″ what would you suggest ? I Have Thought about trimming off the T&G ,the variations in colors don’t really concern me being mosaic type colors & grains may look MUCH BETTER than POPCORN!! But the mounting does concern me the GLUING on popcorn will not hold the weight of laminate wood flooring. The laminate all has same width&length Stratling those according to joists dimensions should work a ok but would you recommend the stats that you use with drop ceiling or WHAT!!!!! & how would you mount the laminate certainly finshing nails will not be a option I haven’t tried drilling 1ST & to prevent chipping &splitting.Anyway let me know if your laminate project on CELING WORKED PLEASE ! ILOVED the suggestion on Cutting the 1/4# plywood in4″ Piecies Ibelieve this is the MOST REASONABLE answer I have FOUND! Ibelieve I would ROLL STAIN THE ENTIRE SHEET then touch up cuts.PLEASE HELP with MY DILEMA!!! THANK YOU BEV G.I have even checked on paintable wallpaper that looks like tin& can be faue paintedit says it can be put on ceilings but nobody will answer if I can put it on the popcorn it is prepasted however I believe if vi went this rought I Would Have To Primer the popcorn ceiling with a GOOD primer ! PLEASE HELP!!! THANKS AGAIN BEVG>
Sue
October 12, 2012 at 6:48 amI totally missed the ceiling in your makeover photos because I was looking at everything else. : ) It looks great and the white was the right color with the dark color of the cabinets. Nice job!
Beverly
October 12, 2012 at 10:15 amWhat a great fix! I had a similar problem when I removed the popcorn ceiling in my kitchen but not with unevenness but just bad lumps everywhere. I was going to put up wood, but did textured paint instead. Like the wood better. That’s what I would like to put into our great room.
bekah
October 12, 2012 at 12:53 pmIt looks really good! I would love to do something like this, but we are renters.
I found your blog because I have been looking on pinterest for tutorials on how to reupholster two wingback chairs, and I just wanted to say thank you for posting details!! Im still pretty intimidated by the ones I have, but I think I can do it! Gosh I hope so.
Shirley
October 18, 2012 at 1:38 pmI love this look, I just saw it in person recently at a historic Inn in Georgia and was saying how much I’d love to try it someday… I’ll need to save this to see how to do it!
Thanks,
Shirley
Susan Davison
December 9, 2012 at 7:54 pmThis is a great idea! I love the look of old, weathered barn wood so purchased used privacy fence, dismantled all the pieces and used them on my lanai (screened patio) ceiling. But first, I painted the entire ceiling Black Bean (SW) so that I wouldn’t have to worry about the cracks between the planks. Gives the entire lanai a very laid-back, southern charm. Love it!
cassie
December 10, 2012 at 6:48 pmYour ceiling looks awesome!! I’d like to know how you “stopped” it? I saw your kitchen makeover post too and it seems that the ceiling from your kitchen/dining area flows into another space in your home? Is that right? So how did you handle the cutoff?
Maxsun
December 25, 2012 at 12:21 pmImpressive! The steps are simple and no need to call an expert to do this work. My home is currently undergoing renovation and will try this wood slat ceiling in one of the rooms. This is my first time to visit your blog and I found it very useful and helpful for homeowners.
Oscar
January 24, 2013 at 7:05 pmHi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
Anyhow, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
Bathroom Makeover Day 7 – Faux Wood Plank Walls, Part 1
January 29, 2013 at 10:06 am[…] when I say “wood plank”, imagine something like my kitchen ceiling, except now it’s going on the […]
Paula
February 1, 2013 at 10:45 pmAs I was reading about the wonderful way you did your ceiling it came to mind, that painting the ceiling white 1st then add the plywood strips, which I would paint before applying to the ceiling. I hate painting ceilings, any nail areas that showed could then be touched up. Fantastic Idea, on I think I will try on an ugly ceiling of my own! Thanks!
Becky
March 31, 2013 at 12:41 amI love this! We have a house where they wallpapered every room…including TWO ceilings!!!
My bedroom is like a cave because the put grasscloth wallpaper on the ceiling. I’m afraid to try to take it down, as the walls have at least four layers (we tried steaming it off and gave up and painted over the wallpaper on the walls) I’ve been thinking the ceiling needed something…this could be the answer, you did an incredible job. I’m glad there is one thing you can’t do (mud/drywall like a pro) you do everything else so perfectly (just kidding). You are incredibly talented and skilled.
JoAnn @ SweetPepperRose
May 5, 2013 at 5:52 pmHi again, love this. Question: did you remove the popcorn gunk with the “wet and scrape” deal, or just go over the ceiling with the boards? I have popcorn throughout and HATE it but also know how expensive it’d be to do pine T&G, and I just don’t have the patience or the time to go through the messy process.
Heidi
May 8, 2013 at 2:57 amI have uggo popcorn ceilings and I am SO doing this! Glad to be able to learn from your mistakes too so thanks!
Tiffany Hartman
June 27, 2013 at 1:04 pmI have been thinking about doing this to my living room ceiling except I had seen where you can curve it around a support to make the ceiling appear taller. I think Genevieve Gorder did it in a railroad car! It looked really cool- as does yours! Great job!
Mindy D.
December 17, 2013 at 12:27 amI was remodeling my basement and I did NOT want to keep the drop-ceiling with the “cheezy” tiles. I had my brother look at your plywood ceiling and he came up with the idea of using wood siding. It was already in the 8 inch planks and so we just cut them different lengths to give an interesting pattern. We painted the ceiling bright white and it looks FABULOUS! Thanks for the inspiration!
Corinne
December 30, 2013 at 11:06 pmWould love to see some pictures of your remodeled basement ceiling Mindy. We have cathedral ceilings in the master bedroom and, they have that horrible textured ceilinga….love the idea of a plank ceiling!! Love this Kristi! I was also wondering if you removed the popcorn ceiling first?
Kristi Linauer
December 30, 2013 at 11:26 pmMy ceiling didn’t have popcorn texture. We ripped down the drywall, installed recessed lighting, and put up new drywall. So mine had no texture on it at all.
Kathy B
September 15, 2014 at 10:26 pmDo they charge anything to cut the plywood?
Kristi Linauer
September 15, 2014 at 10:39 pmOfficially, they’re supposed to, but I’ve never been charged for cuts.
Kathy B
September 15, 2014 at 11:50 pmThat’s amazing. I guess all I can do is ask right? Thank you.
Amie Rinier
November 30, 2015 at 11:21 pmThey charge if you have a large amount of cuts (that’s what they told me earlier tonight). Anything over 2 cuts is $0.25 per cut, which isn’t bad. I have all the tools but don’t have a set up to cut 4′ x 8′ sheets of ply wood. I have other priorities since buying a foreclosed home and needing to do a lot of work on it. I knew it used to be 3 free cuts so I called and asked since I’m in a different area now then I was than.
Ty
October 30, 2014 at 10:35 amActually, the uneven areas almost look on purpose. LOL. Looks decorative. Great job!!!
Peyton Cole
January 6, 2015 at 1:08 pmI love this! I am going to do this in the remodeling of our house. The popcorn ceilings all throughout our house is disgusting. How did you go about putting the planks up around lights and such?
Kristi Linauer
January 6, 2015 at 1:33 pmI cut those areas out with my jigsaw.
Caroline
February 11, 2015 at 4:23 pmThanks for sharing the results of your efforts. Now I know that white would be the best colour for my plywood ceiling.
Amie Rinier
November 30, 2015 at 11:17 pmI love this and will be doing it in a room I’m converting into a closet. Depending on how it goes because of my shoulder surgery, I may do a few more ceilings this way. I just trying to figure out the board lengths for my closet. It’s 100″ wide. I’ll just have to play around and see what I like.
Debra Venhaus
March 22, 2016 at 11:06 pmThis is great! I am turning my 2-car garage into a “tiny home” for myself and will rent out the primary house space. I am on an extremely limited budget and I couldn’t come up with an inexpensive yet decent ceiling covering to put over the insulation I will be installing – and something I could accomplish unassisted. This fits the bill. There is no ceiling, just the joists in between which I’ll put the insulation. I think if I tack these up perpendicular to the joists, it should go ok. Thanks for the great idea!
Craig
March 29, 2018 at 6:38 pm2018 and you are still helping people with this post. We have to quickly dress up a failing plaster ceiling for a guest room in the next few weeks. The cost is right for a temporary fix and my wife will be able to do this while I work on the bathroom!
Carly
March 28, 2022 at 5:25 pmHI there, was this done over a previously flat or a stipple ceiling. TIA
Kristi Linauer
March 28, 2022 at 6:58 pmIt was a smooth ceiling.
Sophie714
August 18, 2022 at 1:38 pmThanks so much for the instructions. I will be doing my bedroom ceiling soon (ugly popcorn)
and was wondering how I would manage work and save some $.