Bead Board Plywood Ideas on a Kitchen Island

• A flat planed kitchen island can be given texture with the addition of plywood beadboard. Ivan Hunter/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images

  Applying beadboard plywood to a kitchen island is an ideal way to achieve the vintage look common in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The original product was made from solid wood planks routed with parallel vertical lines in several configurations of cut, depth and spacing. Today's beadboard is available in plywood sheets that are usually 4 feet wide and 3/4 inch thick.

Wood Type

• Beadboard plywood is commonly available in oak, maple, birch and cherry. All of these varieties are classified as hardwood and therefore durable enough to resist the bumps and knocks from kids perched on kitchen island stools or the scratches possible with the use of floor cleaning tools.

Appearance

• The configurations available in plywood beadboard include standard bead, V-bead and V-groove panels. Standard bead panels come with beads placed 2 or 3 inches apart while V-beads are spaced either 1 5/8 or 2 1/2 inches across the panel. Wider spaced panels are visually appropriate for larger spaces, such as wainscotting along a long wall. For your island, you may prefer the more thinly spaced V-beads.

Finish

• The finish applied to plywood beadboard depends upon the underlying structure of the board. Some plywood beadboards are covered with a stainable or paintable wood veneer. Other plywood products arrive from the factory with a prime coat designed for the application of a painted finish or an untreated surface that must be both primed and painted.

Application

• Attach plywood beadboard to your kitchen island using construction-grade adhesive and finishing nails driven directly into both the vertical and horizontal studs of the frame, which will allow the glue to set up properly and avoid movement and/or warping of the panels.

Other Considerations

• Beadboard need not be applied vertically. Applied horizontally, plywood beadboard can make a small kitchen island appear longer. Whatever your choice of product, beadboard should be stored flat and slightly elevated for three or four days in the location where the board will be installed. Placement directly on concrete is ill-advised as it impedes air circulation and may result in warping due to moisture pickup.