Use a really good primer and double prime the nails and knots, etc. It's gonna be rustic, which is fine if you like that. Do keep in mind that they were not meant to be exposed so weren't exactly the best-looking pieces of lumber to start with. Good luck, from someone who's been there, tried everything, and gave up. (My house was not a style where painted rough wood would be appropriate, but I tried!)

So embrace the boards, and if it turns out badly, don't be ashamed to cover 'em up! :)

I would even clean it and see what it looked like without painting. If you still want to paint, consider leaving a squared off "window" of a nice area bare. I saw this in an elaborate house with a frescoed ceiling where most of it could not be salvaged. They plaster most of the ceiling but left the most intact corner uncovered showing the original ornamental plaster and frescoed paint.

Adding another layer of drywall or thin board will require more work than you may want to invest. If you added another layer, you would then need to remove trim and crown molding so that they overlapped the 'new' edges.

For the gap along the edge of the crown molding, I'd clean it up as much as possible and use caulk to hide the gap or I'd buy a thin strip of quarter round and glue it along the base of the crown molding.

Buy an electric sander for sanding those boards........they aren't very expensive!

OMG, painting and sanding them was my first thought too...even a white wash would look cool. It's perfect, especially for the look you're going for.

Following on previous suggestions, I would sand them down and see how you feel. I am seeing a lot of "raw" wood out there right now, as well as bleached or white-washed wood, ÃÂ la Axel Vervoordt. You'd be the first on your block! (not that you care...)

I have the exact same bedspread the Lettered Cottage people have in their bedroom with the board on the wall. lol.

Jen, my vote is to paint the board, and I agree that a white wash would be beautiful!

It's also a perfect color to go with your new vintage collectibles. :)

I agree...use the boards if you can. I just saw an episode of Kitchen Nightmares and in the remodel they exposed walls just like yours and I thought it looked amazing.

Thanks to all for the inspiration! When I first posted this morning, I had very little "vision" for what might be! After I had already determined to paint the boards, I spoke with my dad who is "King DIY Craftsman Guy" and even he said, by all means - paint those boards and use them as a feature!

This is gonna be fun! Well, once we get past the mess. Last night as we were removing shred after shred after shred of wallcovering, our cat Pip walked into the room and looked around, all wide-eyed, like it was the biggest disaster he'd ever seen. He meowed, so DH said, "Pip - did you do this?" I like that. Blame the innocent.
;-D

Auntjen, I am loving what you are doing! I asked in your other thread, but will ask here too. Could you post a couple full room shots of your kitchen? That would give us a much better idea of the room and your cubboards. Would be so much easier to make suggestions. But I am loving the direction you are headed! Cottage kitchen here you come!

AJ,

I don't now where you live (climate/zone) and don't know what you have inside the wall cavity for insulation but paint will most likely allow more air in/exfiltration than the wallpaper did. This could be either good or bad for your heating costs and the structure itself. But I would think about that aspect before committing to leaving the boards uncovered except for paint. How old is your house?

If you have a household steamer, I find it works like gangbusters to soften and dissolve old wallpaper glue.

L

LOL after seeing your old blue paintable paper - that's what I have above the wainscot in my kitchen, it's also my backsplash and goes up the stairwell in my living room - all in warm white!!!!! I love mine, but I'm excited for you for all your possibilities! Yes to more before pics of your kitchen!!! - Penny

is there a way to get at the stuck paper?

Yes - slide a putty knife under it (going behind the molding) to loosen any glue and then tug it out of there.

Or the razor blade trick.

Try painting them and see if you like it. If you do, stop! If you don't, it's at least tidy while you figure out what to do.

I didn't read your responses, sorry, short on time but I about died when I saw your boards. OMG. Those are wonderful and I would not cover them up. I would LOVE to have walls like that.

Check out these photos in the new SL...

Here is a link that might be useful: Southern Living

I was going to suggest sanding and white-washing or sanding, priming, and painting. I see my two cents isn't needed. Carry on!

yeah, you have plenty of advice up there. Don't worry about me, I am just drooling.Why, oh, why doesn't my old house have wood boards like that for a wall.

Well ... I honestly don't even know how I'm managing to type this morning. I feel like I have literally worked my fingers to the bone. My fingernails are down to the nubs and my hands positively ache. This business of peeling off old wallcovering is incredibly tedious. Having to do so with arms stretched overhead has made me sooooo sore! I've made progress - have painted the small upper section of wall that is the passageway between kitchen/breakfast nook - and I can tell you that it's very rough. Uncovering the boards in this section revealed that a couple are split/gouged and imbedded in places with remnants of kind of a cheesecloth backing (for the original wallpaper) that refuses to budge, so I just painted right over those places. So far, the overall effect is "Grandma's Ancient Back Porch." It definitely doesn't look all nice and smooth - it's very rustic. I also realized what a hideous job I did when I painted the wallcovering with that dark blue, as it's on the red woodwork and now that I've painted the boards a soft green, the trim around them just looks sloppy. Ugh. I don't know how to try to make that look better.

Maybe it will all look better when I get the wall over the stove done. The boards there are in better condition than the boards I painted last night.

Oh, and mclarke - your trick to remove the old paper using the vinegar and water solution worked like magic!

How exciting that you found such a treasure in your home, Jen! I would *love* to have those boards! I can't wait to see the end result!

auntjen--please take care of your hands/wrists/fingers. I am on week three of wearing a wrist splint with a spica thumb brace 24/7 because I didn't listen to my body. If you can take oral NSAIDs (aleve, ibuprofen) do so...rest as much as you can and ice 4 times a day. (Frozen peas work really well!) If you can't take oral NSAIDs (I can't) there's a prescription gel called "Voltaren" that is a topical NSAID. It is VERY effective.

My hand/wrist/thumb will be fine...eventually. Mostly. (I've got osteo-arthritis in the thumb--pretty typical for a 51 y/o.) But it's not very comfy right now!

mjsee, I'm so sorry you're suffering! How easy it becomes not to listen to our bodies, and you're right - I'll be mindful of not overtaxing my hands. I too have some osteo-arthritis issues beginning to surface (thanks a lot, genetics!) and know what you mean about the non-comfy factor!

My plan is continue on painting the wall boards, but if I find I just can't live with them when the room is finished, I think I'm going to look into this product. I just read about on the blog linked below. It's very thick wallpaper - I'm sure it's similar to the paintable wallcovering that we just removed, but I really like the style of this beadboard stuff.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blogger's

Isn't that paper what Oceanna used in her bathroom? I think it might be. If I recall correctly, she liked it a lot.

BTW, didn't read all the posts, so if this a duplicate I apologize...but are you using fabric softener with water to get the paper off? If not you may want to try it. It's messy but smells and works great. Just soak the paper w/the solution and it should come off easier.

Oh, and mclarke - your trick to remove the old paper using the vinegar and water solution worked like magic!

YAY!!!! I'm so happy that it worked for you!

Please post more photos as the project progresses. So we can all, you know, droooool.....

Glad you are going to listen to your hands!

auntjen, love the boards! We just bought and old/new house, and most a lot of the walls are covered in horizontal cypress boards, which thankfully someone already painted! I was left with one wall, hidden by large mirrors, and a pantry that was unpainted. I used a palm sander and had to try a couple primers, but finally found one that covered and stopped the brown knots coming through. between each coat of primer (3-4) I lightly sanded, and it took a couple coats of paint.. and they are much nicer! It was a bit of work, and like mjsee.. my hands are so sore! I think I too have arthritis.. just a part of aging and over using my hands through the years (renovating a few other home!) Good luck, I think it will be worth the effort keeping the boards!

DISCLAIMER: These are photos taken with my phone, so the quality is lacking and the colors read as garish (I promise they aren't)!

... but this will at least give an idea of how things are looking. At first I wasn't so sure about this, but the more I live with them, the more I am loving the exposed boards! As I said, they are imperfect and rustic, but I think they won't be too overwhelming once all of the other (drywalled) walls in the space are painted the same. On the wall over the stove, I think I'll add a vintage-looking (schoolhouse style) clock over the pot rack, and that's it for wall decor. It feels fresher to me to live with less clutter in this area.

This pic shows the poor condition of the boards over the passageway. I don't know whether to try to caulk to fill in the spaces, or just leave it be. I plan to hang 5 vintage Franciscan Apple plates (that my grandmother had) in this space. You can glimpse the Mexican decor/clutter on the gag-me-gold walls in the background. I'll be so happy to get rid of all of that!

I think it looks great! I vote for leaving the cracks be. They don't bother me aesthetically...unless you are worried about them FUNCTIONALLY. (They do look like spots for critters to skitter...that might be upsetting for some folk.)

One caveat about a clock over the stove...do you cook on your range much? Remember all the greasy/dusty comments about open shelves? Same thing applies...

Pots work because they get taken down and WASHED regularly. Kitchen clock? Not so much. (Feel free to ignore me! Visually I think it would be appealing...)

Oh, oh, OH!!!

I absolutely love the way it looks! You have been busy, Auntjen -- and it looks wonderful. Magazine-layout-worthy!!!

Thank you so very much! This is turning out to be a really fun (albeit exhausting) little re-do. I can't wait to get the remainder of the space painted and then start really honing in on decorative items. Right now I can't think of much of anything I want to live with on the walls, especially in the breakfast area - but I'm sure that'll come to me in time.

Mjsee, that stove gets a lot of use. DH is the cook in our house, and he can be a messy one, so your point about greasy splatters is quite valid! I think if the clock is up high enough, though, it won't be too much of an issue. I'm looking at possibly this clock:

I've placed an eBay bid on this. DH is going to think I've completely lost it if I do win the bid and end up paying entirely too much money for what he will surely consider a "rusted out hunk of junk." But I love it. It will probably go on one of the buffets in the breakfast nook.

I love the boards and don't try to make them something they are not (like brand new perfect lumber). We had a summer lake cottage when I was growing up and the entire cottage was boards painted just like that.

Love the way it is looking! So much work (in such a short time!) I think the clock will look great and fit right in with the look you are going for. Agree that it will probably get messy, but as you said it won't be that hard to wipe down occasionally.

On my monitor the color you painted looks pink, but you actually painted a green color, right?

Hmmmm ... red clock (above), or green clock? I'm kinda liking the green!

Thanks - I am inclined to just leave the boards as they are. I do need to do something where they butt up against the woodwork - maybe paintable caulk would work there? But as far as those gouges go on the overhead planks, I think I'll just let 'em be.

Mary_lu, we did indeed go green. We chose BM Warren Acres, shown here (but it has a slightly more minty look on our walls):
{{!gwi}}

So, I know you were planning to do green, and there were many suggestions that cream or pale yellow would be more authentically vintage with your red trim... so is that primer right now or did you decide to do a cream after all? I'm LOVING the way it looks right now and hoping that's not just primer! Also digging the 1st red clock.

I couldn't help but notice that the fun bread box you're bidding seems to match the sugar canister on the magazine I posted on your 2am link. ;)

Here is a link that might be useful: Vintage art from Good Housekeeping

Paintable caulk would, indeed, be the way to go at the woodwork. It's not just greasy spatters...it's aerosolized grease (in smoke) that coats stuff. Then household dust sticks to it. If you are down with pulling the clock down from time-to-time and wiping it down, it should be fine. As to clock color---do you want high contrast (red on green) or more of a blend (green on green)? That's how your decision is made. And that school-house clock is available SOMEWHERE in a battery operated version. I had one years ago...

Here's one like mine...it really WAS years ago. Scary that the 80's is now considered "vintage"...

Here is a link that might be useful: Linden Wall clock on etsy

Jessicaml - that is indeed the paint color, and not primer. I'll definitely take photos with my camera instead of with the phone (as I did for the pics above), and the colors should be truer then. The wall color is a very soft green that reminds me of the way my grandmother's house was painted when I was a child. I love the old Good Housekeeping prints you linked to, and just might have to consider a couple of those framed for the breakfast area walls. (I need that sugar canister too! LOL!)

Mjsee, it really is disconcerting with 80s is considered "vintage." Heck, by that token, I'm an antique - since I was born in the 60s! ;-D

Will need to check out my paintable caulk options at Lowes, I suppose. I have never been good with caulking. Most people make it look so easy, but I seem to have a knack for making a mess of it.

I think I would order both colors of the clock, then try them and see which color you like best! They really do have a "vintage" feel to them. Where did you find them? I am needing a new kitchen clock too.

I think what will make the final decision for you is how the red goes with your red or how the green goes with your green! :-)

Mary_lu, I found both clocks on Amazon.com. They are fun, aren't they? Price isn't bad either.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to the red one

For holes in the boards themselves, use wood filler and sand smooth.

For cracks between the boards, use flexible (door windows kind) paintable caulk. Get the water clean-up kind and you can use a damp sponge to smooth it out if using your finger doesn't work so well.

Check out etsy, Jen. Lots of vintage goodies there and no bidding worries.

auntjen--I was born in 1960...so...yeah.

As to caulk...is it the caulking gun that messes you up? Ben Moore makes a paintable caulk that comes in a tube. It can be less intimidating. The big thing with caulk is to KEEP MOVING. Also--get LATEX paintable caulk. Then you can clean up with water. Lastly...there's this cool tool I picked up at my Ben Moore paint store...it gives one a nice edge. I've linked a version below. Now the one I bought...but close. Look for one like it.

Here is a link that might be useful: caulk tool

Allison is right; I just happily killed another 20 minutes after doing an etsy search for sugar canister under vintage items, and I think I may have found a set I can't live without... There are definitely at least one or two that could fit nicely in this kitchen!

Oh my! If I had walls like that I'd be crying for joy!

A year or so ago, we toured the cottage linked below. It had plank walls in the kitchen/living room/dining room/hall. It's a bit hard to see in this particular set of photos, but I think there are others out there. It was just gorgeous!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sugarberry Cottage SL

FYI on the old schoolhouse clock -- if you like the authentic ones, it is a pretty easy fix to replace the plug-in clockworks with a battery powered one. I bought a vintage schoolhouse clock on ebay a few years ago -- mine didn't plug in, but was part of a master/slave clock system, so there was no way to get the clock to run without changing out the works. Because I wanted to use the original hands, I took it to a local clock repair guy -- I think he charged me like $15 to take out the old clockwork and replace it with a new battery powered one to which he fixed the original clock hands. And if I didn't want the original hands, I could have just bought a clock kit at Michaels and done the swap myself -- I am not mechnical at all, but it was pretty easy to take the clock apart and I think I could have made the swap fairly easily as well -- it was just that the original hands didn't have the right size holes to fit on the new clockwork (but the clock guy got it to work!)

You probably wouldn't get the second hand going that route (as a battery powered second hand would drain a battery pretty quick) but if you like the authentic old schoolhouse clocks, it's an option to keep in mind.

Well ... it's finished. The painting, that is. It's been non-stop painting around here for the past week. Painting around all the kitchen trim was more labor-intensive than I realized it would be, and as of this posting, I am beyond exhausted. But thrilled with the new look in the kitchen! I went to take a couple of pics, and discovered that my camera battery needs charging, so pics will have to wait for now. I wasn't sure about the BM Warren Acres when it first went up on the walls, but now that the entire space is complete, I'm thrilled with the color and don't think we could have chosen anything better. It's warm and soft and definitely provides the vintage vibe I was after, especially against the red woodwork. Think old red and green wooden handled kitchen gadgets!

I have a collection of about 60 (gasp!) Mexican decorative items and themed artwork that are now going to be sold. It feels a bit like parting with old friends, but I'm ready to shift gears. DH keeps wandering into the kitchen and remarking about how open and airy it feels without so much clutter everywhere, and even he can't believe what a difference the lighter wall color makes.

Pics will be coming, but for now I wanted to say thanks again to everyone for encouraging me and inspiring me!

Young-gardener, Sugarberry Cottage is to die for! What a wonderful place! And Lkplatow - thanks very much for the info on the old clocks! I was just looking at one a little while ago on eBay that had been converted from electric to battery-operated, so from that I knew that it was possible. If I find an oldie that I like, I'll just need to find a local clock repairman, and I'm sure that will be fairly easy to do.

auntjen, I checked several times tonight to see if you had posted pics yet....

Not yet! I really want to take them during the daytime when the lighting in the rooms is a bit better, and unfortunately I won't have an opportunity to do so until the weekend. I thought about having DH take pics for me since he's home during the day, but he would probably "style" the room in such a way that the dirty laundry and breakfast dishes in the sink were plainly visible. ;-) I've got a couple of goodies coming from eBay that are integral to my new decor and I'd like to have them before I take photos too, but we shall see.

Would you believe that I started painting the bathroom in the same soft green used in the kitchen? I think I've become addicted to green paint in the past month!

I do understand, just anxious to see the outcome! I love vintage things. Saw your bread box and love it.

I am a big fan of green so all I can say is go for it! DH says if I had my way all the rooms would be some shade of green!

Just to make you feel a little better about the bread box...and play the little devil on your shoulder, I'll share my bread box experience. I paid way tooooooooo much money at an antique store in Dallas for my green bread box. We had visited Big D twice and I kept looking at the box but never bought it.....third trip was the charm and I got it. I've had it almost two years now and every time I look at it, I LOVE it! "Too much money" turned out to be money well spent.

LOL I can't believe you're still painting! It is a little addictive to see such a big change, though, isn't it? Can't wait to see it all!