Beadboard Ceiling

A New Look For Your Ceilings!

Beadboard ceiling

A simple coat of paint is sometimes enough to satisfy a home owner's decorative intent, but for many, the allure of decorating with something textured and interesting such as a beadboard ceiling that will provide an enhanced aesthetic is a better choice. Beadboard has the distinction of providing a versatile set of decorative choices for walls and ceilings along with being the sort of investment that would be easy on the wallet and appropriate as a do-it-yourself project.

Beadboard ceilings are essentially panels of wood that offer a tongue-and-groove design, or bead, appearing as long, thin boards or as wide as 6” on center across the surface or ceiling and are commonly made of pine. We advancements to beadboard, it is widely accepted to use MDF instead, saving costs to the homeowner and environment. They will often be sold by home improvement stores or lumberyards in sizes of around eight feet and they are very commonly installed in white onto most surfaces. The installation of beadboard onto the ceiling can be a terrific focal point for any room.

While a modest amount of home improvement knowledge would be necessary for the best end result with a beadboard project, it is certainly something that anyone could accomplish with a little research and a modest level of elbow grease. Beadboard ceilings provide exceptional aesthetics for a variety of home themes from modern homes to traditional houses.

Beadboard ceiling panels

The ceiling is often an area of the home which doesn't get a lot of attention and even when someone does consider how their ceiling might impact the design of their home, they will look at nothing more complex than a can of paint. Most homeowners don't consider that their ceiling is probably the largest bare surface in a room and that decorating that surface with texture will greatly enhance or change the room's appearance.

In most cases, beadboard will either come in smaller strips of a few pieces of wood that will fit together to create the larger beadboard surface, called planks, or they will come in panels that can be hoisted to the roof and nailed to the ceiling. The choice a homeowner makes regarding which type of beadboard ceiling boards to install is highly dependent on whether hoisting those larger panels up to the ceiling is possible or whether the application of single boards might be easier. Another reason would be the amount of area to cover along with the costs to ship these items directly to the homeowner.

To apply panels to the ceiling often requires more than one individual or a special device that a professional contractor will use to secure the panels and ensure they don't shift against the drywall during installation. A second person can help with this, but it can become difficult to secure those panels without help and so in such circumstances, installing individual tongue-and-groove boards, planks, which are smaller sections might be appropriate.

Vinyl beadboard ceiling

 While the majority of beadboard options are going to be made of MDF, there is also the option to utilize vinyl beadboard and this choice comes with some advantages and disadvantages that are worth considering before purchase and installation. Often the reason someone might want to utilize vinyl for their beadboard ceiling is because of the intended installation location.

A beadboard ceiling is something that is commonly installed into an exterior porch area and a homeowner might be concerned that the ceiling could become wet or impacted by weather. To avoid such issues, utilizing vinyl is something to consider and might even be a good idea for an area that doesn't have a lot of ventilation yet has a lot of moisture in it such as the bathroom or even a kitchen.

One of the only drawbacks of a vinyl beadboard application is that it's not as easily obtained as a wood ceiling by all and often this requires that a homeowner look into a special order. This not only means some extra time might be spent searching, but also that the final purchase can cost more due to its relative rarity against traditional wood ceilings.

The lack of required upkeep for a vinyl ceiling however often completely outshines any drawbacks in price or availability. It's worth noting that while vinyl beadboard is the best way to obtain a ceiling that requires low upkeep, wood beadboard is just as viable if price is the only concern. Here at Elite, we have a large selection offered, eliminating almost all drawbacks, essentially that used to get in the way of homeowners obtaining Vinyl Beadboard.

Beadboard ceiling ideas

Beadboard ceilings do have a rather common appearance to them and are often white in color, yet there are a number of options that exist to make a particular ceiling in a home look different or exhibit a sense of personal style. For example, a room that is small in size, such as a laundry room or a bathroom, might benefit from long planks for the beadboard design that don't have any sort of divisions or angling.

On the other hand, in a rather large room such as a living room or perhaps a long porch, it might be worth dividing the beadboard planks into sections where each partition is divided by a long, thick beam. This approach can add increased depth and texture to the overall appearance of the ceiling and works well in large spaces.

Another terrific design option that utilizes a beadboard pattern is a set of much thicker wood divisions or solid panels that are set in between the beadboard planks. The entirety of the ceiling doesn't have to be a straight shot full of beadboard and creating these dual textures can certainly enhance the design and style of the ceiling.

There is also the classic option of a beadboard ceiling where the lines run in a single direction from one side of the room all the way to the other, uninterrupted by any planks or beams. This can create a lengthening effect for the space which might help the area to look bigger. By installation like you would hardwood flooring this installation is ideal for many varying beadboard projects.

Beadboard ceiling pictures

A beadboard ceiling is a terrific design choice in any number of different rooms inside or outside the house and one interesting application of a beadboard design is inside a room that has a vaulted ceiling:

Another beautiful application for beadboard is inside a room that has a strong connection to the outside such as a porch or covered deck where the natural surroundings of the backyard would be a strong complement to the classic beadboard design:

A beadboard ceiling can even be installed in a color other than the traditional white which is so popular and can create a strong contrast for a room that might benefit from some color or natural wood hues:

One of the most stylish methods for installing a beadboard ceiling is going to be within the overall framework of larger planks or frames that might be designed to surround square or rectangular beadboard sections:

Another option for a different beadboard ceiling design is that of varied directions for the planks in a single space. Often beadboard ceilings will be installed with one direction in mind, but installing the planks in a variety of directions can offer a different look:

A natural beadboard ceiling might be an option as well in certain circumstances where the solid white that is traditionally associated with beadboard might be better designed with the original, natural color of the wood in mind where there hasn't been any staining in a specific or artificial hue:

Beadboard ceiling bathroom

 The bathroom is a space in the home that can certainly provide some design difficulties if it isn't a room with a lot of square footage and this means that to enhance the area with a fashionable or updated design might be difficult because the space could look too crowded. This is when a homeowner should look upward and consider working with the ceiling.

Installing a beadboard ceiling is certainly a great direction to consider for such improvements to a bathroom. The ceiling is very likely the largest space in the room that doesn't have an excess of adornment upon it (outside of lighting fixtures) and the texture provided by a beadboard ceiling can greatly enhance the feel of the room.

There are also some design options which can include beadboard planks that are meant to be applied to the walls in addition to the ceiling and this can create a very stylish effect when more than one surface is given a beadboard treatment.

One of the best reasons to install a beadboard ceiling in a bathroom is that it removes the need for several additional decorative accents around the room and takes up zero space. A beadboard ceiling is nicely textured and beautiful to look at and yet it will never be knocked over like a vase or bumped into when someone is getting ready in the morning.

Beadboard ceiling kitchen

 The kitchen is another area where a beadboard might be considered an appropriate design choice and the effect a beadboard ceiling has on a kitchen will very often add a nice amount of charm to the area, which is often important due to the status of a kitchen as being a gathering place for modern families.

Having a warm and inviting kitchen with some classic style is the goal of many homeowners and a beadboard ceiling helps greatly to accomplish this goal. The first place where beadboard was commonly used was in the kitchens of old cottages and even farmhouses and yet in today's modern homes, this interesting surface can enhance almost any style of residence.

For a kitchen that has a plain, flat ceiling, installing beadboard can be a terrific enhancement to the space and can add a more finished look to the room in addition to offering the feeling of homey comfort that someone might experience upon visiting the home and entering the kitchen. And there are a number of ways that even a simple beadboard ceiling can be enhanced such as with mouldings and beam work.

In addition to being a great design feature for flat ceilings, beadboard ceilings are also appropriate for kitchens that offer a recessed or "tray" ceiling or ceilings that have a series of exposed beams that create measured squares or rectangles across the room.

PVC beadboard ceiling

In addition to having the options of traditional wood beadboard or modern vinyl beadboard, there is also the option to install PVC beadboard, which is often considered the best waterproof option for installation in a variety of areas where it might be important to install decorative accents which aren't prone to water damage or wear and tear.

One of the benefits of PVC beadboard planks is that they are often reversible and will offer the classic double-lined appearance on one side and the single-line approach on the other. All manufacturers may not offer this so if this is an option you are looking to have it is best to advise them prior to your purchase. This allows the homeowner can make the final decision on that design feature after already having purchased the materials for their home.

Another reason why homeowners will often choose a PVC option for their beadboard ceiling is because it's usually the best way to reduce the chance that mold or mildew might develop over time. For anyone who resides in a particularly humid or non-ventilated area, utilizing PVC for beadboard not only reduces maintenance requirements but also means a low possibility of mildew forming behind the boards and out of view of the homeowner.

In addition, PVC beadboard options also look exactly like wood installations. Therefore, the final appearance of the beadboard will not be heavily dependent upon the actual material used for the project, but upon the actual design decisions made during installation.