...because home doesn't happen overnight.

Let’s not beat around the bush and just get to it, shall we?

The travertine tile in the mudroom / dining room / laundry nook is down and done. {Thank you, Handy Hubby!} I can’t believe how much bigger the space feels with a light-colored floor! I’d post ‘during’ pics but I didn’t take any. That’s what a newborn and two other kiddos will do to you – keep you away from any renovation sites!

Once the grout cured and the tile was sealed, HH quickly moved onto the next mudroom project…one I’ve kept a secret until now. Can you say horizontal plank wainscoting? If you can, try saying it three times fast.

From the family room, there’s a clear view into the adjoining mudroom / dining room. The idea was to create some sort of wainscoting about the same height as the mantel in the family room to keep things feeling cohesive. My first thought was to DIY a traditional wainscoting using trim and molding. Something along the lines of this. But the more I turned the idea over and over in my head, the more it felt, well, traditional.

Then I found this image {the one at the top of the page} and knew that horizontal planks were the way to go.

So HH has been busy installing those.

We left the laundry nook’s back wall bare since you wouldn’t see the planks anyway. They would have been hidden behind the washer and dryer. I have big plans for that little nook.

You can see how the planks mimic the mantel’s lines from the family room.

The 4″ tongue-and-groove plank paneling HH used came from Menard’s. That’s it above. Ideally, I would have preferred a 6″ plank {like the ones we used for the ceiling in the great room}, but the 4″ packs were on sale BOGO {buy one, get one free!!}. We couldn’t resist a good deal. It cost us $160 to get enough for the mudroom. That’s pretty amazing seeing as how the planks add a much needed architectural detail to the space.

I should mention that the planks are pretty thin so using them on a wall, like we did, works great. But I wouldn’t recommend them for a ceiling or other feature that doesn’t have a solid, continuous support for the planks to rest on. Things could get a little wavy.

Of course, we’re painting the planks white to match the tongue-and-groove ceiling in the great room. No natural pine left untouched at the Underdog!

HH is using the same primer and paint that he used on the vaulted ceiling.

All of these images are showing two coats of primer – no paint yet. The paint will be the same as the trim…Benjamin Moore White Dove in semi-gloss.

At the top HH added a 1″ x 2″ and quarter round.

HH dead-ended the planks into the back of the mantel wall. Notice how the planks start a few inches down from the mantel’s height.

That’s because we were trying to avoid planking {not the Lying Down Game} around the light switches. We thought that would look strange. This way the plank wainscoting runs along nicely just below the switch plates.

See how the horizontal line of the mantel is now continued into and around the mudroom / dining room? For consistency, we’ll also install tongue-and-groove planks over the bump-out above the mantel…and paint them white. {Right now, it’s where you can read ‘no foam’ spray painted in orange.} That won’t happen until after we move in since we’ll need to hang our flatscreen above the mantel first.

Speaking of moving in…doesn’t the Underdog look move-in ready?? NOT! We’ve got so much to do! I’ve been purging things at the apartment so I can start packing and moving some of our smaller things next week. I plan on taking a carload every day when I drive over to get Layne off the bus in the afternoons. I’m thinking of it as my postpartum workout.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the beautiful women out there who are busy raising kids, have raised kids and/or are preparing to raise kids! It’s a wild ride.

Click here to see who won this week’s Home Depot giveaway!

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

35 Comments

12.May.2012

Love the look so far! Very cohesive, airy & fresh.

12.May.2012

Brilliant idea- going horizontal with the planks to make it more modern. It all is looking fantastic and can’t wait to see it all styled up! :)

12.May.2012

I figured you would go with wainscoting but I didn’t figure the horizontal way ! I love the tile ! What kind of “big stuff” is still to be finished (except a nice big clean up) in order to move in ? Good luck and … take care !

12.May.2012

I am following you in the whole process and cannot wait until you finally bring home your furniture and move in. You are doing a fantastic job, the house is wonderful.
Jule

12.May.2012

All that white gives a messy person like me the hives, but you are an amazing cleaner so I’m sure all that white will stay pristine! It was very clever of you to think of extending the eye-line of the mantel around the other room, it looks really great. I hope your process of moving in goes very smoothly.

12.May.2012

Although I wouldn’t have chose it, I REALLY like this look (white horizontal). I’m very curious what you’ll do with the fireplace.

12.May.2012

Every time you share underdog updates I get so excited! This place has come such a long way from its dilapidated state with its dirty orange carpet. It is already so gorgeous even with construction stuff everywhere.

12.May.2012

I don’t think I have ever commented on anything, but I have quite enjoyed your site. I too have 3 kiddos and I too constantly work on my house! I recently did something amazing in my laundry room. I bought full size LG washer and dryer with a stacking kit so the dryer is on top of the washing machine. It has created so much space that I couldn’t even believe it. I now have room for 3 “sports” lockers for my boys. Worth every penny and who doesn’t love a new washing machine and dryer when you use it 2x a day every day. I urge you to consider this. If you want a picture I can send one…

12.May.2012

We need a kitchen sink {to pass the occupancy inspection}, water heater, and a final plumbing inspection to move in. We’ve got more planned than those few items…since we hired out for the sink & water heater and the inspection has to be done by the county, of course. Other things on our list are: countertops {sink we want an undermount kitchen sink}, closed storage in the laundry room, register covers, finish installing baseboards and trim.

As you can see, we’ll still have LOADS to do after we move in but that’s a-ok with us. The big thing will be getting the place safe and clean for our family! I feel a spring cleaning throw down coming on.

12.May.2012

It looks really fantastic, Dana, great job! I really like the fact that you brought it up to mantel height. Anything tricky about installing the wainscoting (like around the outlets?) I know you are debating whether or not to paint the brick fireplace and I just have to say that I do not think you’d be sorry if you did! Loving all the updates and posts!!!
Good luck with the move.: )

Love the horizontal planking! My husband was planning on doing something like this in our bedroom on the long wall but the weight was too great and things started to crack. Now he’s just going to paint a magnified wood grain. Holy crap, I’m glad it’s not me. He has the time, patience, and skill to do it right. I’m also extremely jealous of your mudroom. They should be standard in any family with boys.

Hope you have a great mother’s day!

12.May.2012

I knew there was a reason you’re one of my favorite blogs, you room looks amazing!! Fantastic job Dana, love the wainscoting.

12.May.2012

You are right. It looks so bright and lovely with a light floor! And the added detail of the horizontal planks is perfect.

12.May.2012

Love it… for some reason I thought the picture of the tile was what was on the wall in the sneak peek post. Looks beautiful and bright!

12.May.2012

Really adds a great touch of sophistication! I love watching a plain little old hose turn into a design showcase –

12.May.2012

Can I just say… /drool

It looks incredible already! I cannot wait to see it all with furniture!

13.May.2012

I’m also loving how the horizontal lines mimic the horizontal lines in the bricks!

13.May.2012

Why do you need to hand your flatscreen first ? You want to “build” your planking around ?

13.May.2012

Your house is coming along beautifully! It’s so exciting to see all the design choices you make. You have a great talent for what you do. (And your kids are adorable!)

13.May.2012

What is the tile name you used and where did you get it? Looks great!

13.May.2012

loves your idea of horizontal planks. Its so beautiful visually. I thought the natural pine state looks good too, perhaps because of the travestine tiles on the floor. Looking forward to see more progress on the house, and more pics of little Mabrey too.

14.May.2012

I just love your house. I can’t wait to see more.

14.May.2012

Beautiful. I’m going to put a vote in for white-painted brick on the fireplace, especially if you add the paneling around the bump out. I could be wrong, but it feels like keeping the natural brick and then adding paneling above could feel a bit hodge-podge.

14.May.2012

I have been obssessed with horizontal planking lately and i absolutely love how it looks in your home! i’m loving it all!

14.May.2012

I love it! I love checking this site to see how far you’ve gotten. Can’t wait to see it “finished”.

14.May.2012

I really love your blog but please a new head shot. All I can see is Princess Leia, the headrest makes it look like a leia side bun.

14.May.2012

Oh, wow, I see it! Haha.

14.May.2012

We’re going to live with the natural brick for a little while. Since it’s not easily undone, we don’t want to paint it only to wish we’d left it alone. I do think it would look fab white just not sure what to do yet.

14.May.2012

It’s travertine in Driftwood, honed & filled from The Tile Shop.

14.May.2012

We want the TV to be recessed and also we want to come up with some way to raise/lower a large art canvas to hide the screen when not in use. HH is thinking a motor of some sort so we need to leave the space open until he figures out what to do.

14.May.2012

Hey, The mudroom looks great! I seriously can’t wait to see everything finished. I am amazed at what the house looks like now as opposed to before, you’ve done an amazing job! I need some navigational help, though. I was trying to find the before pictures of the underdog for my hubby to see and can’t seem to find them. I looked at them before you changed the format, and now don’t know where to look, thanks for your help!

15.May.2012

Here it is! I’ll have it on the ‘See My House’ page at some point.

07.October.2012

The horizontal planks look great on the wall and I would imagine that they add some durability in the mud room. I was wondering how your husband dealt with the seams where the planks met on a long wall. Did he stagger them? fill them in with wood putty and sand to try and hide them?

I have been going through all of your posts again lately for inspiration. In fact I’m taking a break from sanding drywall patchwork to find this post so I can pin it to my “casa nueva” pinboard. Thanks for sharing all of your hard work, I know it takes a lot of time to do the renovations and a lot of time to write up the posts to share with all of us, so THANK YOU!

08.October.2012

The seams are very random. Spontaneously staggered. We didn’t sand or putty the horizontal planks. We wanted them to look imperfect and somewhat aged. They match the vaulted planked ceiling in the great room as we didn’t sand or putty any seams in there either. We love them!

21.July.2014

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