When re-modeling my bedroom, I wanted to do something different on the ceiling that was cost effective and easy to install. What I came up with is creating a painted faux wide board ceiling made from cheap luan. in the end, the ceiling looks great, installed in a weekend, and only cost about $0.65/square foot in materials and paint.

Step 1: Tools & Materials

First lets gather the tools and materials.

Tools:
Compressor with Brad Nailer
Circular Saw or Table Saw
Paint Brush and/or Roller

Materials:
Sheets of 4x8 luan (each on covers about 32 sq/ft )
Nails
Construction Glue
Paint

Step 2: Circular Saw Jig

This step is optional but if you are using a circular saw, this will make the job much quicker.

In order to easily cut multiple uniform strips from the large luan sheets, I created a cutting jig for my circular saw.

1) Take a scrap piece of luan that is slightly longer than the base of your circular saw and wider than the width of the boards you are going to be cutting.
2) Mount the circular saw to the sheet of luan with the blade fully up. This may require drilling two holes in the base of the circular saw.
NOTE: Make sure to counter sink the screw heads so that they don't catch on the work piece later on.
3) Once the saw is completely secured to the luan, hang the saw over the edge of your work bench, plug it in, and lower it through the luan sheet.
4) Now, unplug the saw with the blade down through the laun. Take a piece of thicker scrap wood or scrap metal and mount it parallel to the blade at the distance of your desired board width (I chose 6 inches).

Now when it comes to cutting your sheets down to size, all you need to do is run the piece of wood along the edge of the luan.

Step 3: Ripping the Boards Down to Size

Now we are going to prep the boards. Using the circular saw jig or table saw, rip all of your sheets down to boards.

Using a table saw, set the fence to the desired board width. Rip all of the sheets down to width.

If using the circular saw guide, place a sheet a work bench and clamp it down. Now ride the guide along the edge of the sheet. When you reach the end of the piece, let the board fall to the ground. Then shift the sheet over a few inches and repeat until all of your boards are complete.

Step 4: Attaching the Boards to the Ceiling

This is when everything starts to come together. Take the first board, lightly sand the edge to remove any splinters left over from the circular saw, and place some construction adhesive on one side of the board. Starting at one end of the room, place the board in the corner running along the other wall and nail it up to the ceiling. Continue along that length of the wall and then move on to the next course. Repeat this until the entire ceiling is covered. Like in flooring, try to avoid the seems from lining up.

Step 5: Paint

Once the boards are up on the ceiling, you can either fill all the nail holes or paint. I painted the ceiling with the nail holes visible to give it a more rustic look.