Ooh, wood paneling….I am not a fan. I know it was all the rage back in the 60s and 70s and as much as I dislike it I understand why it was used. It was an inexpensive and easy way to update a room and for that, I give those who used it props. I am all about inexpensive and easy to install. But the times have changed and out it must go!
Wood Paneling Removal
If you have never removed wood paneling it should be fairly easy. After removing the trim from the floor you should just be able to use a pry bar to pop the sheets off in big pieces. Ours was installed using penny nails so most of the sheets came off without the nails. Then we just had to pry all the nails out with a hammer.
Drywall Installation
Originally we were going to hire someone to do drywall but they were booking out over a month. We had moved in at this point and all four of us were sharing the small master bedroom. The kids’ mattresses were on the floor surrounding our queen bed and taking all our floor space. So needless to say we were looking forward to getting the kids into their own rooms!
So the hubby and I decided he would tackle the drywall with the help of family and friends.
We ended up using 1/4″ drywall instead of the standard 1/2″ due to the shiplap being the base of each wall. If you decide to do a similar project just keep in mind that although there is less material the 1/4″ is slightly higher in price than the 1/2″.
Materials:
- Drywall screws (the ones we used were 1 1/4″)
- Tape
- Mud pan
- Hamilton Green Line Wall Texture
- Taping knives
- Joint Compound
- Texture Spray Gun
- Drywall texture
- 5 gallon bucket
- Mixing paddle (this is for mixing the drywall texture easier with a drill)
- Measuring cup to use when mixing the texture and water
Justin and family installed as many full sheets of drywall as possible first. (Just a note: we are not professional installers of drywall but this process is what worked well for us.)
When cutting to fit the irregular spots make sure to measure twice and cut once! Also try to make sure that all the cuts are as close together as possible with no major gaps. But also know that the gaps will be covered with mud and tape.
After the drywall is hung you will need to mud and tape. The first and easiest step will be to apply joint compound to all your screw holes using the putty knife. Joint compound comes ready to use and if you are doing a large area use your mud pan to make it easier. We applied 2 coats of joint compound to all the screw spots after letting the first coat dry for a couple of hours.
Next comes the taping of the seams and corners. Take some mud and press it into the seam and then apply the tape in one long piece if possible. Try not to wrinkle the tape as you press it into the mud. This is definitely easier done with more than one person if possible.
This will need to dry for a couple hours as well and then you will want to go over the tape with another layer of the joint compound.
We were lucky to have the help of Justin’s co-worker, Soheil who had previous experience with drywall. Because of Soheil’s awesome job we didn’t need to sand a lot of the joints and screw holes. If you don’t have help from someone who has done this before or your seams and screw spots aren’t perfect you will want to sand them down before applying texture.
Drywall Texture
The easiest and most efficient way to apply texture is with a texture gun. With Soheil’s instruction we used this type of wall texture, it can be bought in large quantity and it worked great. You will also want a bucket and measuring cup for mixing the water and texture to the correct consistency (like pancake batter). The mixture needs to be very thoroughly mixed so it would help to have a mixing paddle that attaches to a drill.
Closet Transformation
As you can see in most of the progress pictures the closets were still covered in the wood paneling and we decided not to remove the wood paneling on those as they would need to be rebuilt. They were primed with 123 Zinsser Primer and painted with Behr’s Premium Plus Hi Gloss Enamel
Paint
We let the kids choose the paint colors that they wanted for their rooms and they both went very bold!
Addie’s color choice: Behr’s Apple Blossom
Sawyer’s color choice: Behr’s Very Navy
Because of their bold color choices I really didn’t want to paint every wall. So for Sawyer’s room we did an accent wall in the dark blue and for Addie’s we painted the bottom half of her room the pink so that we can put up a chair rail. The other colors we used were Behr’s Cascade Beige for the top half of Addie’s room and Behr’s Sawgrass for Sawyer’s other 3 walls.
Carpet Installation
The last step was to have the carpet installed, we went with a local company that we know through our community. The carpet is one that is good for a high traffic area and is a variegated gray and we love it! As you can see from the pictures below the kids enjoyed the new carpet after it was installed.
As much hard work as it was to install the drywall we are both very happy with all our hard work that went into the project and we are happy with the results. Justin and I are very grateful for our family who helped us with install and helping to get all the painting done before carpet was installed. If you plan to tackle a drywall project and you are new to it I would advise to do your research, read reviews of products and ask questions to anyone who may have experience with drywall before. We are by no means experts at this but Justin and I feel confident that we would be able to install drywall again if needed.
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3 Comments on Goodbye 1970s Wood Paneling and Hello Drywall
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This inspired me to do a chair rail in Kaycee’s room so we could do dark blue on the bottom without making his room look like a cave! Thanks for the idea!
No problem friend! I am glad it worked for his room too!
I thought it’d be way more difficult than this, but even I can do this! Thanks for the insight, the results for the drywall are great!