Covering walls with pallet wood: The basement bathroom renovation

Nov 07 2016
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Hey guys! I’m so excited to show you the finished walls of my basement bathroom today! I covered them entirely with pallet wood and barn wood from my barn. As many of you know I have been working down in my basement to get it finished as a wood workshop for me and my number one goal was to spend the least amount of money possible. In an exchange we were given a pile of old pallet wood that my husband and I hauled down to the basement for me to start work with. I had a little extra sheet rock leftover and a ton of old closet doors I had no use for so this whole basement ended up covered with basically everything but the kitchen sink lol! During it all I saved the best wood I had for the bathroom, here’s my pile of wood and all of the before photos.

Covering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshopCovering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshop
Covering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshopCovering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshop
Covering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshop

With no plans to buy anything new for down here I knew I would have to get VERY creative. Now, this bathroom is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea but I need to make a note here: This is my workshop bathroom, it actually will not be used very often. The reason we put a bathroom down here to begin with was with the plans on having a rental suite in my basement. Well, the plans fell through but not before I had already completed all of the rough in and purchased just about everything we could possibly need down here. Or, in the case of the bathroom cabinets, I had stashed them (and that gorgeous old sink) just for this purpose. So, though I didn’t need a bathroom down here really at all, there was really nothing to do but to go ahead and finish it! I grabbed my air compressor and my Hitachi brad nailer (one of my very favorite tools) and go to work!

Covering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshopCovering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshop
Covering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshop
Covering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshop
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Covering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshop

I will be posting about the counter top, the sink and probably the mirror too because they were all projects into themselves. As I said before, the idea of covering all of the walls in a place with pallet and barn wood might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I absolutely LOVE how this turned out! I will be leaving the ceilings as-is, totally open with all of the plumbing etc. exposed, this is still a workshop and I like the ruggedness of it all exposed. The floor is still a conundrum for me, I am leaning toward painting it as it is a rather ugly many-times-patched concrete floor so there is a still a lot of work to do! And, of course, at some point I’ll need to get a toilet for down here too! I also plan on giving all of the walls a good vinegar scrub and then putting a couple of coats of sealant on them, right now they’re a little splintery and dirty. As far as the work goes, this was easy! It was just cut the board and tack it on and only took me a couple of afternoons to do the whole bathroom.

Covering the walls of my basement bathroom with pallet and barn wood instead of sheet rock during the renovation of my basement workshop

Comments

  1. Jenny Young
    November 7, 2016 at 7:34 pm

    It looks amazing! I absolutely love it.

    I’d paint the floors as well & you may even consider painting the sealing – even though it’s all exposed. I’ve seen some really cool looking basement ceilings painted black. They just sprayed everything & it all blended together.

    • November 7, 2016 at 8:25 pm

      Jenny, now that is an idea! I didn’t consider just painting everything the same color in the ceiling, cool, thank you!

  2. November 14, 2016 at 1:32 am

    You continue to amaze me! You are one talented lady!!

  3. Sue
    November 16, 2016 at 2:37 pm

    Tarah, I LOVE this room! You are so talented, and this is a great design idea… Just so “familiar” and “down home” my very favorite way to do a room…

  4. December 1, 2016 at 2:59 am

    What a fantastic looking bathroom Tarah! You do such great work–those walls are amazing. Thanks so much for linking up with Vintage Charm ๐Ÿ™‚

    • December 1, 2016 at 3:31 pm

      Thank you Diana it is my pride and joy!!

  5. December 5, 2016 at 6:03 pm

    This is SO clever!!! I love it! Thanks for sharing with Thursday Favorit things

  6. January 10, 2017 at 2:54 am

    I think it looks great! Great job on using what you already have. I love the sink too!

    • January 10, 2017 at 3:53 pm

      Thank you Pam, we pulled the sink out of one of the sheds and I literally screamed I was so excited when we found it!

  7. January 10, 2017 at 2:25 pm

    Now that is one major project! I love the rustic look. Thanks for sharing on the Pleasures of the NW’s DIY link party!

  8. January 12, 2017 at 11:47 pm

    I love that look! So rustic. The sink, vanity and mirror look great too.

    • January 13, 2017 at 3:46 pm

      Thank you so much AnnMarie!

  9. January 15, 2017 at 2:56 pm

    Great renovation on a shoestring budget. I love the wood it creates such a cozy feel to the place.

  10. Jann Olson
    January 18, 2017 at 3:58 am

    It turned out great! I love the rustic feel. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

  11. January 18, 2017 at 10:18 pm

    I love the rustic feel of the pallet wood walls and I’m excited to follow along with this project. Thank you for sharing with us this week at Celebrate Your Story, have a great week.

  12. January 21, 2017 at 2:07 am

    I love your walls. I might have been a little reluctant to do all the walls, but once I got started, I probably would have kept going. I like the final result.
    Thanks for sharing at Over The Moon party,
    Bev

  13. January 22, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    Wow! It turned out great!!!
    Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

  14. January 27, 2017 at 2:58 am

    I think this looks great! You really have done an incredible job at using materials you already had on hand. Keep up the great work!

  15. January 27, 2017 at 3:01 am

    That is such an awesome idea! Good to see new ideas! Thanks for sharing at Funtastic Friday.

  16. January 27, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    I would have never thought to do this, but it all turned out cute! Great job! You are my designing hero! Thanks for sharing this at the #happynowlinkup!

  17. February 11, 2017 at 7:43 pm

    This looks SO amazing!! ๐Ÿ™‚

    I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

  18. February 13, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    We’ve given at least one bathroom some type of renovation in every house we’ve owned, but never had to totally install a new one. I love the look of the wood but am wondering how it will be to keep clean…? I’ve seen rough-textured walls collect dust pretty badly, so I’d love to learn how you maintain this look. Thanks!
    Blessings, Leigh

    • February 13, 2017 at 8:17 pm

      Hi Leigh, yeah I’ve wondered that myself, because it is our basement workshop bathroom its going to be used very rarely but I would probably not do this in a high traffic bathroom without putting several coats of sealant on those walls! Thanks for commenting and coming by!!

  19. Sam
    February 16, 2017 at 3:32 am

    I love this . I say , the more rustic the better !

    http://www.huckleberrystreet.com

  20. February 24, 2017 at 3:37 am

    Great idea to go ahead and finish your renovation. Looking great. I love the rustic look. We need to finish ours. We have the new tub in, and made storage shelving behind the tub area for towels & misc. I wish I was as handy as you. I’d be tiling it right now. ๐Ÿ˜‰ Thanks for sharing at the Inspiration Spotlight party. Pinned & shared.

    • February 27, 2017 at 4:17 pm

      Sounds like you’re really coming along with your project too Theresa! Thanks for coming by ๐Ÿ™‚

  21. Patrick Buntin
    September 13, 2017 at 4:41 pm

    Thanks! NOW, i HAVE to attempt this in my home!!!

    • September 13, 2017 at 4:44 pm

      Hey Patrick, this turned out SO much better then I had hoped, honestly I was really flying by the seat of my pants but we just love it!

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