The "Outhouse" project

This has got to be my favorite project I've done. My parents live in a log cabin, the one I grew up in. Off the kitchen is this little half bath. I think from the time I started painting I was telling them they should let me paint it to look like an outhouse. Finally, a couple years ago they gave me the go ahead. I wood grained the walls (except the existing log wall), wood grained the door and built a wood bench around the toilet. I also wood grained the cabinet and replaced the doors for a more rustic look.



I started by patching and prepping the walls. My mom had already removed the wallpaper that was there.

Once the base coat was dry, I taped of the sections for each board and wood grained them. I let them dry, then taped of and did the next section.

Once the walls were wood grained to look like boards, I added the shading between the boards. I also added some knot holes and nails at the top and bottom of each board.

I followed the same technique for the doors, but also added the "Z" cross boards on the front and back of the door.

I love the way this door turned out. It sure shows how a little shading and highlights can give it dimension. Would you have guessed it's a flat door?

Once I got started, my dad said he wanted a mouse hole too. So, I added a little mouse hole and a mouse... actually, it's a little bigger than I'd like, so it's more of a cute little rat. I'm very happy with the way the room turned out, it fits in perfectly with their rustic decor.

Recently, I was there to paint the kitchen walls outside the bathroom to look like stone. I'll post more on that later.