Hi pupwhipped--I love beadboard too! It's possible they don't carry 'real' bb at Lowe's. Usually it comes in pieces that look like two 'boards' side by side, and it's clear that if you put two of these boards togetehr it would look like beadboard. These days some folks might think it only comes in panels--who knows. One place to look at a profile is the Anderson-McQuaid site. They have two different sizes--I think 1.5 inches wide and 2 inches. I like 2.5 myself and am slowly looking for a source for that. HTH!

Here is a link that might be useful: Anderson McQuaid

Hi pupwhipped, I like beadboard also, we went with a compromise between the 4' x 8' panels and the real authentic stuff (couldn't fit it in the budget and DH thought it would take too long to install). HD and Lowes carry a brand - I think it's called "Cape Cod" it's a package of beadboard panels that are about 7" wide and fit together tongue and groove style - you get about the equivalent of 4 1.5 inch sections. See if you can find it, might work for you, might not.

We used it in our kitchen and upstairs bathroom.

Good luck.

we have a bead board ceiling in our kitchen - A CAUTION TO ALL: we bought the bead board (tongue and groove boards, not panels)at home depot - painter said prime + 3 coats of paint: did as he suggested and gc installed...looked great...for about a month and then the boards began separating and splitting - called home depot they said we should have sealed the wood first - no where on the package does it tell you this (and HD agreed) - now HD is dealing with the manufacturer and we are trying to get them to replace the entire ceiling (labor and materials - as the entire ceiling needs to be redone)SOOOOOO be careful with the bead board and research how to prepare it for installation (even if there is no indication on the packaging of any special directions).

Thank you all for your responses, especially the one about sealing the bead board. That is most interesting. Is there an advantage of the individual boards as opposed to the sheets? I guess installing would be much easier with the sheets, but do the boards give you a more "real" look? Get this, I'm gonna go crazy with this stuff and put it in two bedrooms and on one wall in my kitchen. This is a lake home we recently purchased that was built in 1952. The bedrooms seem like a good choice for the board just to cover up the current wall mess. I want the bead board in the kitchen to give it a casual look. I welcome any other thoughts, ideas or caveats from all you bead board lovers out there...or bead board haters for that matter. HA!

We just had our GC install bead board in our kitchen. He got it at Lowe's - individual tongue and groove planks. I think it's gorgeous - I'll try to post a picture tonight on this thread.

November, thank you! I look forward to your pics. Most all the pics I see of bead board I love, but I want to make sure I get what I want.

I have the panel of "beadboard in my kitchen" and love it. DH just put it up before Christmas and hasn't had a chance to seal it. I will try to take pics tomorrow and post.

We have beadboard similar to what Hollylh describes. DH put it up in out 1/2 bath and kitchen blacksplash. We're very happy with it. We have "real" beadboard on the ends of some of our cabinets and the beadboard DH used has the same look and feel. The picture below of the bathroom is before the trim went above the beadboard (and before the upper wall was painted.) They have both been up for about 2 years and we had very little problems with gapping--none in the kitchen and just a tiny bit in the bathroom--nothing that another coat of paint won't fit Since we live in an old house with major cracks in our plaster, the slight gap in the paint just makes it fit the character of the house more. DH primed both sides of the boards before putting them up.

{{!gwi}} {{!gwi}}

Try going to your local lumber yard, the place where contractors shop, not HD or Lowes. You will find not only better quality products but also far more variety. If they don't have it, they certainly can direct you to a place that does have it or order it for you. Bead board comes with different type grooves and in different widths too so it is nice to have a choice about which look you prefer. Good luck.

We had "real" beadboard put in a bathroom about 8 years ago in the summer. That first winter, when the heat dried out the wood, gaps appeared between almost every board and looked terrible. When we went to renovate a second bathroom a few years later (also in the summer), another contractor advised us to use the sheets of beadboard since we were going to paint it anyway. It looks great - no gaps! Visually, I don't see much difference in the two styles. I suppose some people might, but if you just like the look of beadboard, go with the sheets. There are many brands to choose from, so find one with the look and size you like.

Sorry for the delay in posting pics - here are some - we installed the bead board in the kitchen on a blank wall and in our mudroom.

Hi~
Just finishing up a kitchen here and we put beadboard sheet around our island and on two walls in the kitchen, which we painted. The front wall of the kitchen has antique red oak bead board that was salvaged from an old inn and we love how it looks. Brother-in-law remodeled a bathroom and used the seperate pieces and he would never do it again~all kinds of gaps, he's considering pulling it all out and having it done again with sheetgoods....

Pictures of our 140 year old beadboard in our kitchen. We have it on the ceiling, walls, and wainscoting. They are original to the house and individual boards. There has been some separation over the years, but nothing that a little caulking couldn't fix. When we remodeled our kitchen about 6 1/2 years ago, we had to replace about six boards in the ceiling. Found them at Lowe's, tongue and groove. Not a perfect match, but good enough.

While looking around the Decorating forum a little while ago I came across an interesting thread.

Did you know there is paintable beadboard wallpaper?

What will they think up next?

Here is a link that might be useful: Scroll to DianaR's post

we used the panels from Lowe's in our mud/laundry room.
Since it was a small area it looks ok.

When we were putting our mud/laundry room in ( this is the way we come in most of the time) DH built in a neat key cabinet and used the faux beedboard. white spot on door is glare from light.

We used the individual beaded boards in our bathroom (3-4 yrs ago). The boards were purchased from Home Depot. We hand inspected and picked each board and primed front, back and sides of each board. We have never experienced any separation some of you have had. I guess we were lucky.

At that time, we also made a shallow depth cabinet between the studs and had problems with wood movement, shrinkage, etc. All sides of those boards were primed and painted just like the beaded board. We think the problems was caused by too wet wood.

So, I wonder if your beaded board problems are due to the wood not being dried out, causing excessive shrinkage and movement?

We put up a tongue and groove beadboard ceiling in the kitchen and purchased it from a local lumberyard. At the time, a contractor friend of ours cautioned us not to get the sheets for a ceiling. He said it just does not have the strength of the boards and would be noticeably wavy in a short time. Glad we listened- it's beautiful, but a ton of work!

we definitely inquired of two local lumberyards about the pricing for their bead board (not panels) - both places quoted us about double for about 425 sq. ft...so the cost would have been considerably more if we went that way rather than hd...

These are the 7" mdf panels we used in the kitchen, we did not use the coordinating chairail and base molding that is also available - liked some other stuff better.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and especially for the pictures. Hmmmm, I am really learning a great deal. One other question, does anyone have a whole room from floor to ceiling done in beadboard?

Hi pupwhipped. We live in an old home and when we renovated the kitchen, we purchased the individual tounge and groove beadboard for a couple of accent spots (under the breakfast bar and above the vent hood). I wanted a specific species of wood (birch) so when we stained it, it would match our cabinets. We live in a small rural town, so choices are somewhat limited. I ended up getting it at vintage woodworks online. The link is below. If it helps anyone, they have about 18 species of wood, three widths and you can order whatever lengths you want. We had a cabinet shop do the finish, and have not had any problems with gaps or shrinkage and the color matched beautifully. HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: vintage woodworks

Pupwhipped, I just came across your message from Jan. I too am interested in installing beadboard in my kitchen. Reading the followup notes about the boards having gaps after a while worries me. Did you ahead with beadboard and if so, how did it turn out? Thanks!

I'm wondering if anyone has information to add about bead board paneling. I found the cautionary note about sealing the bead board before installing in rooms where water/moisture might be an issue particularly useful. Thank you!