DIY Front Entryway Paneled Wall

Over the weekend we tackled panelling the half wall in our front entryway and I can't believe the difference that it's made. It one of those projects that  when we were finished we asked ourselves, "why didn't we do this sooner!!" because we love it that much! It only took about 24 hours to finish, making this a very fast and doable project for others to tackle!  Keep reading to see how it turned out!

In case you have forgotten, this is how our front hallway looked when we moved in. Can we say blah!  The half wall wasn't doing anything  aesthetically for the space, but at least it does its' job keeping people from falling down the stairs! 

 We had great success with the panelling in our guest bedroom makeover, so that was my inspiration for this half wall. The first thing that we did was determine how many vertical boards we wanted to use and how many boxes we wanted to create. After some discussion and using painters tape as visuals, we decided on  5 verticals creating 4 squares. Many people have their vertical boards closer together, but I wanted the panelling to compliment the panelling in the bedroom so we used the same size MDF boards (1x 4") and stuck to creating squares rather than rectangles. Also, with the small scale rectangle tiles on the floor the large scale squares help balance the space. 

We still do not have a brad nailer (hopefully that changes after Christmas though!!) so we attached the horizontal boards with just a hammer, brad nails, and a nail set. The end result is the same, but the brad nailer would have saved time and effort which is music to your ears in the DIY world. The verticals didn't have studs behind them, so we just used adhesive like we did in the guest bedroom and it worked out great. You have a short window of time that you can move the vertical boards before the glue dries, so this the time to make sure that it's level and equal distance apart before it's secured to the wall for good. For reference,  we spaced the boards 26 5/8" apart. 

 After the panels are are attached, it's time to fill in the holes and caulk all of the seams. After everything is dried, sand down the patched holes so that there isn't extra substance remaining on the surface. Then it's time to paint! We painted the wall using the same paint that is on all of our trim, which is the Sherwin Williams' Pro Classic enamel paint in bright white. Paul thought it was the best option so that it would blend with the doors and trim in the front hallway, but after two coats dried I think it's too bright! That said, I think down the road we will paint it a slightly tinted white so that it's
not so stark white.

Here it is! What do you think? I'm so so happy with how it turned out. We might have to do a third coat in some areas, but for now I'm beyond content with how it is and can't stop starring at it. When we finished we both made comments about how it looks so fancy in comparison to the plan wall!

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