DIY plank wall tutorial...cheap!

I've been wanting to plank my bedroom wall for years, and since we were installing the wood floors I talked my hubby into planking the wall as well...yay!! 

There's nothing like a good old white plank wall to bring in the farm house charm :)

This is what the wall looked like before...

Since this is a 20 ft. wall, I knew it would have been pricey to plank in real wood, so we opted for

 4' x 8' sheets of underlayment at $11.97 a piece...which means it only costed $50 :)

The nice guys at Home Depot cut wood for free, so I had them cut 6" strips along the 4' length

(although my hubby is a perfectionist and ended up re-cutting most of them)

Using a nail gun, we attached the 4' strips along the top, but since our ceiling wasn't flush we started about an inch lower, and then covered the upper area with a trim piece. Once we got to the end, we cut the strip to fit, and used the remaining piece to start the following row. That way, the planks are automatically staggered, and there's no waste :)

We separated each plank with a penny both vertically and horizontally to create an even gap.

Painting the planks are kind of a pain, but the most effective form I found was with a mini roller :)

If the paint sticks in between, make sure to use a toothpick to separate it while it's still wet! 

And that's it! Here's a before...

And after...lighter & brighter :)

(still needs baseboards!)

My cute son found this old bottle out digging one day, and I just wrapped it in thick jute, sealed with a dab of hot glue on the back. I love the pop of color and the texture from the jute against the white wall :)

Ahhh, crisp and clean...just the way I like it! :)

Underlayment: Home Depot
Plank color: Akamina- Kwal Howells
Wall color: Old Washer- Kwal Howells