Mmm, doesn’t that sound nice? Polished pearl is the color of the walls of our new home. We’ve gone from brown OSB walls, to primed OSB white walls (right side of picture below), to papered walls (left side of picture), and now to a lovely cream-ish pearl color (you’ll have to come visit to really see the color, it’s tough to capture in a photo).
Here’s the last shots of Jeremy finishing up the wallpapering:
And here’s our friend Sarah helping roll on the polished pearl paint (thanks for your help Sarah!):
We chose a low-VOC, more mold-resistant paint so that it will hold up well and be healthier for us. We think it looks pretty darn nice!
Next step: sleeping loft! The 4×4 inch hemlock beams that we’ve been drying out since the summer are finally being put to use as the base of the sleeping loft. There was a learning curve with hanging the first beam, but now that we’ve gotten past the first one it will go faster and smoother. Here’s the basic steps. We bought Simpson Strong Tie hanger brackets, and Jeremy spray painted them black for a nicer look (rather than silvery metallic). Then we cut a beam to length so that it will fit across the house, in between the two lengthwise poplar beams that are already screwed into the walls. Next we use a block plane to trim some wood off the sides of each end of the 4×4, since the beams are slightly too big to fit in the brackets. Then it’s time to hang. We figure out the placement of the beam and brackets, and screw a bracket onto each poplar beam (we quickly learned that the large nails that go with the brackets were way too much of a pain to install, so we found screws that we believe will be strong enough). Use a level along the way, although as you can see here nothing’s perfect…
Then once the brackets are screwed in, place the 4×4 beam in the brackets! You can screw the beam into the bracket too, but it’s not necessary. Wash, rinse, and repeat. Here’s the proud homeowners with our first beam up:
All this was done in the warmth of our home while the snow fell outside, which sure is nice:
We’re now working on getting the rest of the loft beams up. The sleeping loft will add a whole new feel to the house, eeee!!
Go Tiny 
Hi there! I’m building a tiny house on wheels with SIPs, too, and have been puzzling over what interior finish to use on the walls. I love your paintable wallpaper approach! What a great, simple way to cut weight and add–what–an inch of interior space versus the plywood panel/drywall/etc. options that I’ve seen elsewhere. If I go that route I’ll definitely credit you guys for the idea. Thank you!
Thanks Anna, and glad to hear that you’re building a SIPs tiny house too! Yes we really like how the walls turned out, it is a very light and space-saving option. Plus it’s pretty easy to install compared to paneling, drywall, etc. Best of luck with your house building.
Hi, just dropping by to say I went ahead with the wallpaper liner and recently finished painting it with two coats of Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls, after two coats of intumescent primer. It looks great! It was trickier to install than I expected and you can definitely tell the different installation quality between where I started and where I ended… luckily/smartly I started in a test area where I plan to cover the walls with something else, anyway. I thank you again for the idea!
Hello,
I am building a house with SIPs and I am anxious about covering the texture of OSB. What kind of primer did you use?
Your house looks great!
(Just because I happen to be here, too, I’ll share my own experience…:) I primed the OSB with Shieldz One-Step Universal Wallcovering Primer/Sealer, by Zinsser, before installing the liner, but I think it is intended more for improving wallpaper adhesion than controlling the texture. The liner that I used was an untextured one from Steve’s Blinds and Wallpaper, and it does an excellent job covering the OSB texture… at least after 4 coats of primer and paint on top of it… 🙂