There’s nothing quite like a statement paneled ceiling, am I right? With a bevy of alternatives to cover popcorn ceilings (tongue-and-groove wood ceilings or paneling a ceiling with decorative tiles, anyone?) it gets pretty challenging to look at your straight-outta-the-80s popcorn ceiling with even so much as a tinge of nostalgia.
When I gazed upon ready-to-be-covered vaulted monstrosity popcorn ceiling for the first time and wondered what was to be done, I could see potential: height… check, skylight… check. But then there was that unsightly texture sprawled out as far as the eye could see. In these situations, there are really only two options: a) scrape the popcorn (more on THAT later), retexture, and call it a day, or b) go over it with another texture. I chose option C: scrape the popcorn AND cover it (not necessary, but I’m a masochist).
1. Picking your modern wood ceiling panel materials
If I’m being honest, this route wasn’t initially my first choice — or maybe even my 100th — but I’m glad I found myself there. I originally set my sights on a bold reclaimed wood look. Thus, I scoured the web and local shops for the perfect materials. And boy were there some beauties. The problem was the cost — a ballpark of $5,000 at a minimum! That might not have been as painful if I were ONLY renovating that area (like a sane person). But since I needed my cash flow to stretch across the whole house, I had to be more industrious.
After a trip to Lowes, I found the perfect canvas in a pack of unfinished wood ceiling panel planks. They were light and adaptable, and their interlocking tongue-and-groove nature added an additional layer of peace of mind for something going overhead. Next up was experimenting with the finish. I tried multiple stains, half-sanded stains, paints, seals, and even “au naturel.” However, none had quite the right vibe. Enter: FIRE.
Yep, I created my own “reclaimed look” by charring the boards myself. This is not a required step, and if it’s something you wish to try, you should take the proper precautions and do some research in advance. I found this tutorial on How to Torch Pine Wood into Blazing Char Shades – Woodworking with Pine from ATKC eWarehouse Home Improvement Store to be a helpful reference for achieving a charred-wood look.
From there, I determined a loose pattern for laying out the light boards alongside the medium charred and thoroughly charred boards. I didn’t want the ceiling to come out too dark and match my dark concrete-look tiles too closely, but I also didn’t want something too blah. I found the sweet spot with a ratio of approximately three light boards to one medium and one dark.
2. Prepping for your wood ceiling installation
This was the non-glamorous part, FOR SURE. I wanted my tongue and groove wood ceiling to be EXTRA secure, so I scraped the existing ceiling to reveal the grid lines beneath — basically, a map of where the studs were located. I used the studs as guidelines to attach a series of furring strips, which would then be used to connect my wooden planks, essentially creating a grid system. Here’s why: I wanted boards of all different lengths, and to do so, I needed something to which I could securely attach. The more attachments, the better. Thus, I laid these boards horizontally to have something to drive into with a nail gun. (You picking up what I’m putting down? I know, nailed it!)
3. Creating a wood ceiling panel design that works for you
Now that my setup was in place, I began the very intentional process of cutting boards to play nicely with the grid system while still appearing to be placed at random. (My particular brand of OCD has an aversion to seams that butt up against each other… shudder.) Just FYI: this step will likely require two people and two ladders to hold the boards in place from both ends. I used a nail gun to drive three nails into every point that hit one of the furring strips underneath. I also ensured that the “tongue” side was adjoined adequately to the “groove” of the board beside it on every piece.
4. Sealing your ceiling panels
This step is ultimately optional, but after the installation was complete, I chose to coat the whole thing with an oil-based polyurethane. In my opinion, the untreated wood was coming off a touch too manufactured. So, I experimented with both oil- and water-based sealers and ultimately found that the oil-based one gave it more of the slightly golden and aged finish I was looking for. With that said, here’s a lesson on what not to do: DON’T APPLY AFTER INSTALLATION unless you’re prepared to have a mess on your hands.
As I hadn’t originally planned on this step, I didn’t correctly ensure precisely how it would play out. With that said, no matter how careful you are, it WILL drip down all over. Also, seeing what you’ve missed is very challenging when you do it this way. So, if this interests you in the slightest, you should probably plan to add your sealer BEFORE installing. Your floors, hair, and cat paws will thank you.
5. Tying it all together with trim
The proverbial cherry on top came by adding trim around the edges, which does the double duty of hiding any imperfections at the points where the boards and wall meet. I used a narrow, flat trim that I painted black and my trusted friend the nail gun to get the job done. I found that this finishing touch gave it an extra air of polish. And now I essentially have a very large piece of custom art hanging over my head.
If you’re ready to roll up the ol’ sleeves and put in a bit of time, you can get a lot of bang for your buck with this project. You’re left with a big look for not a crazy amount of cash — basically, mecca for DIYers.
Cheers and happy creating your very own modern wood ceiling!
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