DIY - Rustic Coffered Ceiling

Hi friends,

The final piece of the puzzle for my dining room makeover is here, the coffered ceiling!  

It took me quite a long time to get to the final details because of my break during the holidays.

I was building the bookcases when out of the blue I looked at the big white expanse of the ceiling above me, and without thinking twice, I grabbed two pieces of wood and tried to visualize how to give my plain ceiling a new look.

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The plan was set right then and there: I was going to build a coffered ceiling. 

Well, a flat coffered ceiling, and I thought, perhaps, to give it some texture by adding beadboard in between the beams, because, in my mind, it all was going to be white.

However, after finding out I had no budget for the five full beadboard sheets I needed for this project, I had to settle for five sheets of ¼" underlayment. They're around 12 bucks per sheet.

The good people at The Home Depot made all the cuts for me. Sometimes it's free, sometimes it isn't. I paid 5 bucks for them to cut seven of these sheets. I'm so thankful for this, It would've been crazy doing it by myself. 

So, this is how the building of the flat coffered ceiling went: 

(Ceiling approx. area: 12' x 10')

The materials:

• ¼" Underlayment sheets cut at 8" width lengthwise. ( there's one plank on each sheet that's only 7½")
• 1 x 4 primed finger-joint pine for the perimeter of the room.
• 1 x 6 primed finger-joint pine for the beams
• Crown molding (9/16 x 4-5/8) all around the room.
• Small molding or half-round all around the coffers.
• Liquid Nails
• Caulk
• Painter's Putty
• Behr Swiss Coffee - Semi-Gloss finish, and Painting materials.
• 120 grid Sandpaper

Note: the 1 x primed material was lightly sanded, cleaned, and painted two coats of Behr Swiss Coffee Semigloss finish before cutting it.

Tools Used:

• Corner Cat Finish Sander
• 18-Gauge Cordless Brad Nailer
• 15-Gauge AirStrike Cordless Angled Nailer
• Miter Saw 
• Jigsaw
• Tape Measure
• Stud Finder
• Level

Directions:

This project's most important step is done even before driving that first nail. 

Using a stud finder, locate the ceiling joists. Snap chalk lines all along the center of those joists.

Measure the ceiling area and draw your design on paper. Then, bring those measurements to your ceiling.  I marked the placement of the beams on the ceiling and I also made little marks on the walls.

I decided to use 1 x 4 material around the perimeter of the room. I left a 1½" gap between the boards and the wall since that space would be covered by the installation of crown molding later on. I'll explain this below in the post.

The plank installation has to be done perpendicular to the ceiling joists.
The other important thing to consider while making the plan is how to hide the seams. Remember that the length of each plank is only 8' and most ceilings are wider or longer than that. Hide those seams by placing the beams right on top of them.

Once the design is in place and your ceiling marks are done, it's time to give it a go.
Start by giving all your planks a good sanding. Those edges are full of splinters, but they're also fragile, go easy on them. I used 120 grid sandpaper to smooth them all out.

Apply adhesive to the back of each plank and start the installation. Make sure the first plank is level, and keep on checking that level line while installing the boards.

You need a helping hand for this part of the project, it's difficult to do this all by yourself, those planks are long and flimsy.

My spacers were two wooden rulers, 1/8" of space in between planks. The installation continued, adding the adhesive to the back of each plank, and setting them in place with two 1¼" brad nails driven along those ceiling joist lines.

The planks were marked to go around the lighting fixture, then, they were cut out with a jigsaw.

This is the look of the room with all the planks already in place. The arrow is pointing at the seam that later on will be covered by one of the beams.

The next step is to add the 1 x 4 material all around the room. I used scrap pieces of 1 x 2 as temporary spacers, why waste material that the crown molding is going to cover. The spacers bring those 1 x 4 outside the crown.

Liquid-Nails adhesive was generously applied to these 1 x 4 boards before bringing them to the ceiling.

Installing the long 1 x 6 beams was again a two-person job. The adhesive was again generously applied to these boards.

I used my angled nailer to drive 15 gauge, 2½" brad nails to secure the beams to the joists on the ceiling.

Crown molding was the next step. All cuts were done with the miter saw, and then they were fine-tuned, especially those inside angles, using the Dremel.

The angled nailer was again, the perfect tool for installing the crown.

As I said at the beginning, my plan was to paint all those planks, but the more I looked at my two-tone ceiling, the more I loved the rustic look. So, I decided to leave it just like that. I might paint it in the future.

Though, all those little gaps were driving me nuts.

Just a few days ago, the small molding was added. I used a simple miter box and a regular saw to make all those 45-degree angles, the day was too cold to go outside to use the miter saw. :)

And, as they say... It's all in the little details!

The final task is to cover all the nail holes with the painter's putty, run caulk all down the seams, and paint all those areas.

Needles to say, I'm delighted at how my new dining room, oh well, my office, looks now! :)

I think this is something you can totally do if you have the proper tools.

For all the other projects done in this room check these out:

Part 1: The Starting Point

Part 2:  The Base Cabinets

Part 3:  The Decorative Toekick

Part 4: The Shelves

Part 5: The Bench

Part 6: The Table Makeover

Part 7: The Ceiling

Part 8: The Cabinet Doors

Part 9: DIY Pull-out Drawers

*Ryobi Tools were given to me to try out, 

I love them so much so that they are the tools I use for my everyday projects. 

All stated opinions are my own.*

Affiliate links were added for your convenience.

*This post contains affiliate links.

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