And because I got all the painting done, I was able to get the accent wall done ( thanks to my husband for his help!). When I began planning, I wanted to do something to the walls that would give it some interest. I thought of beadboard or a rough plaster texture but I wanted a more rustic look. Rough wood planks (as in old fence pickets) or what I really, really wanted was rusty tin. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough old fence pickets or somewhere to get rusty tin for either option.
I had just about decided to go with beadboard when I just happened to mention the rusty tin idea to one of my sisters. She said she knew where she could get some, so how much did I need? Yes! I quickly measured, told her, and in a few weeks had some tin panels. Perfect...only they weren't rusty. She told me the rusty ones were too far gone so she decided to bring me these. Ok, I can rust them myself. So I googled "how to rust tin" and got started.
I must admit most sites said the best way to rust them was to use muriatic acid as you have to get rid of the galvanized treatment first. I was stubborn though and (can you read scared of the acid?) decided to proceed without it. Fail - no rust. Ok, so what is corrosive yet "safe"? I know! You read about how cola can eat through all sorts of things so I promptly took a small piece of tin and sprayed it with cola, reapplying it to keep it wet for a day. Rinsed it off and sprayed it with the vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and salt mixture and set it in the sun to bake. It actually developed some rust. Hurray!
That weekend at the farm, I laid out all the big pieces and sprayed them down with cola.
No rust. Had to come home. Next trip sprayed them again. Again, nothing although they were losing their shine. It was time to leave. Sigh. By now, I was getting impatient. I wanted to get them rusted so I could put them up - yet I really wanted this method to work. So I sprayed them one last time and left them out to bake in the sun.
When we got to the farm this past weekend, I ran out to look at my tin...no change. Rats! I then told Bruce to go get some muriatic acid. He did a happy dance. (Ok, not really. But he was nice enough not to say "I told you so"). And he was nice enough to spray the panels for me. It works quite well and very fast. The next step was to rinse it off and spray it with salt water and ta da! Rust! So if you want to rust galvanized tin panels, take my advice - just start with the muriatic acid. Save yourself some time.
Of course, while he was doing that, I was painting and getting the room ready. I pulled everything out (yikes):
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| Was I planning on using the kitchen?...must not have been as I piled everything in there! |
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| A big mess |
Here's the tall shelf unit with the bottom 3 shelves knocked out to make my broom "closet":
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| broom "closet" |
With that done, we started putting the tin up ( or Bruce did with a little bit of help from me ). We finished it off by topping it with some old fence pickets. Now I have the coolest looking wall!
I really do love the way it looks! It is the perfect rustic look for my farmhouse laundry room. Next up is the "new" old door, organizing the shelves, painting my small dresser, plus some artwork for the walls. I am also trying to decide whether or not to build a screen to hide the water heater...what would you do?
Until the next visit,
:o)
Cecilia
Linking to these fun and fabulous parties:
The Dedicated House Make-it-pretty-monday-week-62
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Coastal Charm Nifty-thrifty-tuesday-no175
Lavender Garden Cottage -Cottage-style-party-worlds-longest-yard
A Stroll Thru Life 177th-inspire-me-tuesday
Farmhouse Porch Welcome-to-farmhouse-porch-and-scoop
Brag About It Link Party on VMG206
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Lewisville Love Tips-and-tricks-tuesday-link-party
Stone Gable Tutorials-tips-and-tidbits-61
Posed Perfection All-things-thursday-blog-hop-6
I think this is an awesome laundry room wall! Really cool :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Denise! I really do love the way it looks! Thanks for dropping in.
Delete:o)
Cecilia
I have to admit, when you said rusty tin, I thought "uh-oh"... But I really do like the look! What a creative idea!
ReplyDeletehaha, oh Karen. But you're right...it could have been scary. LOL. I'm glad you like my wall. I thought it was quite Texan if not farmhousish. :D And just enough.
DeleteLove this application Cecelia, pinning!Looks great, cant wait to see the laundry room finished keep us all posted
ReplyDeleteI will, Brenda. Thanks for dropping in and pinning.
Delete:o)
Cecilia
It's so stinkin cool, I love it! You make a great team!
ReplyDeleteYes we do! He's a sweetie - not only puts up with my wild ideas but helps me make them a reality. Thanks for the nice comment!
DeleteWhat a great idea for the wall...it truly is a work of art...I just love your tenacity of getting those tin panels to rust...and you did it...your laundry room certainly has great storage space....I cannot wait to see the next step of your project....Water heater?...ours was located in the garage and after 8 years it started "acting up"....so we replaced it with the tankless water heating system....best thing we ever did...it takes up little to no room..
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shirley! It turned out even better than I imagined! It is a wonderful space - I am truly excited to have the storage. I will have to keep the tankless version in mind when this one needs to be replaced.
DeleteHope you are well.
Cecilia
How creative is this. I love it. Can't wait to see more. Thanks for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty
ReplyDeleteMarty,
DeleteI can't wait to show off more...right now, I am waiting for some vintage door knobs to show up that I ordered. Then I can finish the door. I need to organize all that stuff I pulled out too. At least, I was able to put some of it away where it really belonged. I will have to be careful not to make this room a dumping ground; one reason it's getting a makeover! Thank you for your sweet comment!
:o)
I love this - we are currently building a guest room/ apartment for friends when they come to visit our little cabin home and this would be perfect to do in there. Thank you so much for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteAdina - www.simplycountrylife.blogspot.com
Oh thanks, Adina! If you do, please share - I'd love to see it. I am going to pop over and check out your blog.
Delete:o)
Cecilia
Love it!! Perfect for you laundry room :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! Glad you stopped by!
DeleteWhat a unique material to put on your walls. I think it works perfect for the room. I cant wait to see when its finished.
ReplyDeleteIt is at that. :o) I really thought it was perfect too. Should be posting more in a couple of weeks. Thanks for stopping in.
DeleteThis looks great Cecilia! I admire your patience with the coke too! Those of us that only have weekends can appreciate how much longer things take, and then we have to wait 5 days between projects :(.
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks Doreen! It can be extremely frustrating if not downright annoying to have to wait. I try to fill the down time with easier projects here at home but when I'm working on a big project, I just want to stay until it's done! :-/
DeleteI absolutely love it!!! How did you attach the panels to the wall? I have an idea...thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteBruce found the studs and screwed it in. He then used extra screws into the wallboard to hold the overlapping areas together. Thank you for your nice comment!
DeleteLove the tin.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to put tin up in my shower surround.
Eventually, it will rust, ...but I probably woulnd't have started with it. However, in my laundry room...I'd definitely love this! (it is a mudroom too)
The rustier the better!
As to the water heater...sure! I'd say create a bi-fold piece from rustic pallet wood/ fence panels/ barn wood, etc. As long as your gas water heater is vented properly out the top...I don't think a surround would hurt!
Just found your blog...love it.
Pat
Thanks Pat! I think the tin would look fabulous in a shower! And I was thinking the same thing for the surround. It should be easy enough. Glad you found me...I'll pop over and check yours out too. :)
DeleteL-O-V-E it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is a sweet young couple I know who have this tin on the ceilings in their whole house, if I done it right, here is the link to their home, you will love it: http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/24338282
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda! That sounds really cute! I am going to pop over and check it out!
DeleteIt looks fantastic...so rusty and perfect! What a great laundry room!
ReplyDelete~Trisha
Thanks Trisha! I finally got the amount of rust I wanted....should have just gone with the acid to start with BUT then the rest would still be shiny so I guess doing the other was a good thing. :)
DeleteHow exciting!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see the finished product!!
Have a blessed and wonderful day!!
Thank you, thank you! I am excited to get it finished...hard when I only have a few weekends to work on it. But it will get there!
DeleteWOW, what a great look! I'd be a little scared to use the muratic acid too! Thank you for sharing this fun project on Fluster's Creative Muster. Now that you found our party I hope that you'll continue to join us every Tuesday evening.
ReplyDeleteRobin @ Fluster Buster
Thanks Robin! I will certainly come by and check out the party each week and add my link when I have something! So glad you get the whole scared of acid thing. ;)
DeleteI L O V E the way it turned out. After your explanation, I understand why the buckets I tried to rust didn't work. I don't know what muriatic acid is, but it sure does the trick.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun room you have created.
My husband said they used the acid to clean tools in the oilfield and I think they use it for swimming pools. It comes with a warning not to get it on you and well, I tend to get stuff on me. Lol. It works super fast though and I'm very glad my husband sprayed it for me. Can't wait to finish the rest of the room!
DeleteYOU ARE BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG - I absolutely LOVE that wall - what a fabulous idea Cecilia - it's just perfect!
And unless you can rust that water heater I would definitely try to hide it lol - it doesn't look
vintage at all :)
XOXO
Fortunately, it's not vintage. But I know what you mean....thinking of getting some longer sheets of tin to make a screen or use some of my fence pickets. It is an eyesore as far as I'm concerned although Bruce rolled his eyes. ("It's a utility room")...I think our husbands would understand each other way too well. LOL
DeleteCoolest laundry room wall ever! The room is going to be perfect. I've actually been thinking about using the metal sheets in my laundry room (a much uglier place than yours) but that won't be for years to come.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. It was pretty easy once I figured out the whole rusting thing. I sure hope the rest turns out like I've envisioned
DeleteSo cool, Cecilia! Can't wait to see more!
ReplyDeleteThanks Roshel! Downloading more pictures; will post tomorrow!
DeleteLove it love it...you know you could build some kind of hinged "hedge" to stand around your water heater out of chicken wire. I would probably use old lumber if you have it and then paint the wire so it would stand out. You could use it then to hang those cute country wooden laundry signs on. It would hide and decorate at the same time. Also an easy move if hubby ever needs to work on it.
ReplyDeleteCan you send or post a real close up picture of how you did the top piece of wood? I am making one of these walls for my garage right now. (Minus the fun and excitement of Acid as I don't need the rust look.) Does your wood lay parallel to the wall or is it slanted a bit?
ReplyDeleteI will see if I can find a close up. Otherwise, I will have to take one this weekend. It is parallel if I remember correctly. Also, you are a no reply blogger so you'll have to send me your email so I can send the picture or check back here.
DeleteAnother way is to use 4 parts vinegar to 1 part clorox, use a weed sprayer and wallaa...rusty panels. Tried it and it works great.
ReplyDeleteDid you seal it with any thing? We are doing a bus conversion/tiny house on wheels and found three rusted panels of corrugated tin behind our building some are just too rusted but there's a few parts that are, I think usable I just don't want to put it up and it disintegrates so do I need to seal it I'm not finding anything online but we're sort of doing kind of like your kitchen so I figured I would ask you.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you'll get this...you're showing as a no reply blogger. I'll answer on the blog too.
DeleteNo, we didn't seal it. It was fairly new tin that we had to rust ourselves. Not sure how older would do. Not much help, sorry. Good luck. I bet it's going to look really nice!
Hi Cecila, we have some old tin off our old church building roof. We have a bedroom that we needed to replace the sheet rock due to mold issue. Your metal is about 4 years old now is there any rust flaking? Thinking of washing the metal with soap and water and hanging but maybe put some polyurethane on it. What are your thoughts or anyone's? not sure how to blog so Kim Glosson, kglosson@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for sharing them. I was thinking of doing it soon, just so I can torture myself, LOL! Seriously, this is so stressful for me… I will bookmark your post for futur references. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFunky coffee mugs online