I'm going thru the same thing. I am removing old tile to put up beadboard. Its very DIY but you have to be able to rip wood, cut 45% angles, etc. So not too bad but does need some work. I would watch MDF in a bathroom. You have to paint it with oil base paint. MDF is not meant to be near water-it just swells up and distorts if it gets soaked by water. I would use wood rather than MDF. I'm using vinyl for mine. More expensive than wood or MDF but still a lot less I think than buying tile and having it installed.

Thanks for the feedback and ideas. The varnish idea is intriguing; I think I've seen similar applications and they end up looking very shiny and not a match for the paint. This is not so terrible, but would be a bit of a different look. Are there any varnish-type products which would have a more neutral finish? Also do you think I'd need to varnish the ceiling as well to protect from condensation, or only on the walls which would be receiving direct 'splashes'? We are leaning towards keeping the tub, and retrofitting it with a shower. The idea of a hand-held European-style shower is very appealing; we're wondering if maybe a ceiling-mounted curtain ring would be sufficient to prevent splashes if the shower hardware were somehow mounted inside the curtain, maybe from a bar mounted to the ceiling? We did something similar to a clawfoot tub in our previous house - link added to show what that may look like. It would be a tricky install since the curtain ring would probably need to be mounted at the same angle as the slope of the ceiling. We would probably just leave the current tub faucet set in place and add another faucet set that operates just the shower. There's not really an economical way to create space for a separate shower, changing the footprint of the room is off-the-table for us at this point. Here is a link that might be useful: clawfoot shower system

Hi Rhoda - thanks for coming by to take a look. I referred to your blog as I did this project and it was incredibly helpful. Keep up the good work! Hockeymom I'll take a picture of the edges and post it. You can kind of get an idea by looking at the picture above with the clamps. I glued the moulding on flush with the edge of the door. On one of the doors I think the moulding went a little over the edge because it rubbed a little against the door next to it when we rehung them. So my son sanded both edges a bit and I had to repaint, but it was fine. I did fill in the seam between the moulding and the original door. I used spackle pretty liberally, let it dry overnight, then sanded the next morning with an electric sander to get it smooth. I think Rhoda used caulk. Any place I missed got filled in pretty well with paint. It was a little easier to have the wallpaper go almost all the way to the edge of the door (that happened on the hall cabinet doors, but the laundry room doors were too wide for a single sheet to go entirely edge to edge). valinsv - I was a little nervous about using the mitre saw, but my son (he's 19) stepped right up and started cutting angles with no problem. I had him do a couple of trial cuts first just to be sure that the 45 degrees was exact (it was). The guy we bought the saw from showed me how to use it. Next project for my son's summer break from college: baseboards! Lynn I might have to go to Albuquerque in the next couple of weeks. I've seen the pictures you've posted of your beautiful house - I'd love to help, but you're so talented I'm sure you'll have no problem with this kind of project.

I'm not seeing white beadboard with a light stained floor...how about painting the beadboard a darker version of the wall color?