Using Architectural Salvage Finds to Refresh a Hallway

Some of the best home refresh projects start with a single, unexpected find. For us, that find was a stack of old cedar planks at Earthwise Architectural Salvage in Tacoma. What started as a casual Saturday trip turned into a hallway ceiling project I’ve been putting off for years.

If you have been following along here for a while, you already know how much I love a good vintage or antique find. But when that find also solves a long-standing to-do, it feels like a small miracle.

As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. My blog also features other affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my privacy policy.

Hallway Refresh Project Idea: Add Wood to the Existing Ceiling

This is not a space I show very often.

The hallway runs between our kitchen and laundry room, with the walk-in pantry just to the right of the entrance. It is small. There is no natural light. Over the years, we have relied on mirrors and light-colored walls to keep it from feeling like a cave.

The shiplap wall with the mirror was added after we moved in, created to carve out a walk-in closet on the other side. We traded square footage for function, which made sense.

The original space may have been a small eating area when the house was first built in 1920, though I suspect a new kitchen nook was added at the front of the house sometime in the sixties, making it unnecessary.

The ceiling, though, had been on my list. The drywall was uneven, and the space needed something.

What is Architectural Salvage?

Architectural salvage is the reclamation of building materials, fixtures, and structural features from old homes and buildings for reuse in new construction or restoration projects. It is a cornerstone of sustainable building because it keeps usable materials out of landfills and puts them back into homes where they can be appreciated again.

For older homes like ours, salvage materials also carry something new lumber cannot: character that took decades to develop.

What You Can Find at an Architectural Salvage Yard

The inventory varies from yard to yard, but most carry a rotating mix of:

A Trip to the Architectural Salvage Yard

We have been shopping at Earthwise Architectural Salvage for years, picking through their inventory while renovating our 1920 beach cottage piece by piece. Over time, a pedestal sink, a front entry door, French doors, and ironwork have all made their way from that yard into our home.

Every visit is different. The inventory turns over constantly, and you genuinely never know what you will find.

Vintage Windows

Earthwise carries a wide range of antique and vintage windows spanning from classic Victorian styles to mid-century modern. Pricing ranges from reasonable to “are you out of your mind” depending on the piece. Worth browsing even if you leave empty-handed.

Timeless Columns

Columns add a classic focal point to any room, and salvage yards tend to have them in multiple styles, from Greek and Roman to more ornate Victorian versions. Singles or matched sets are both possible finds depending on the day.

Vintage Corbels

Corbels are decorative supports originally used on exterior features like balconies and porches. At salvage yards, you will find them in wood, stone, and cast iron, in sizes ranging from subtle accents to statement pieces.

They are one of the more versatile finds because they work equally well as functional shelf supports or purely decorative wall elements.

Decorative Crown Molding

Vintage crown molding is often one-of-a-kind and, if you are lucky, less expensive than buying new. The character in older molding is hard to replicate. If you are restoring a period home, this is one category worth taking your time with.

Wooden Trim Pieces and Vintage Doors

Both solid and glass-panel doors show up regularly. Shopping here instead of a big box store means you are also keeping usable material out of a landfill, which matters when you hold an 80-year-old door in your hands.

Door Knobs and Handle Pulls

This is where it gets genuinely fun. Crystal door knobs, cast iron pulls, brass sets, glass backplates.

If you’re looking for hardware with real age and specificity, you’ll find options in a salvage yard that you can’t find in a store.

Light Fixtures

From schoolhouse pendants to wall sconces to antique chandeliers, the fixture selection at most architectural salvage yards covers a wide range of eras and styles.

The inventory shifts constantly, so multiple visits are worth it if you are looking for something specific.

Other Finds Worth Noting

On this particular visit, we also spotted white picket fencing, vintage household appliances, and, yes, a vintage dental chair.

For those who want one, it’s probably still there.

The Hallway Refresh Find: Architectural Cedar Plank

It was love at first sight.

The cedar planks were imperfect in all the right ways. The grain, the variation in tone, the slight roughness of boards that had lived a previous life somewhere else.

I could immediately picture them on the hallway ceiling and, even as flooring at some point down the road.

We selected the four best boards, which ran about 114 feet, and brought them home. Cut in half, they covered the entire ceiling.

The final cost was around $160, roughly the same amount as new lumber would have cost at a home improvement store. The difference is that new lumber would not have had this much personality.

The DIY Ceiling Project

Our contractor was thorough when it came to renovating our home throughout the years, but drywall finishing was never his strongest skill. The hallway ceiling had enough imperfections that something needed to be done, and wood planks turned out to be the right answer. They cover the problem and add something worth keeping.

Wood ceiling planks also work well over dated popcorn ceilings, which is worth knowing if that situation applies to you.

Why Wood and White Work Together Here

My first instinct was to continue the white tongue-and-groove pattern from the kitchen ceiling into the hallway. The problem was that the walls were already white shiplap, and more white felt like too much of one thing.

Natural wood ended up being the right call. It works the same way the dark, distressed beams in the living room play off the white shiplap walls there. A little contrast. A little warmth. The wood tones added visual interest without making the space feel smaller.

The project itself moved quickly. Because the hallway is small, the cost stayed low, and the planks were in good shape, there was no need for staining, sanding, or varnishing before installation.

We could have used wood paneling instead, but real planks carry a different weight and texture than a sheet product. Worth the extra step.

How We Installed the Vintage Cedar Planks

The existing 1×4 trim between the shiplap walls and ceiling was removed first. This allowed us to reinstall the trim over the planks for a clean, finished edge.

If there is no existing trim, planks can be pushed tight to the wall, and any gaps can be covered with quarter-round molding.

The 10-inch-wide boards were cut down with the chop saw and table saw, leaving each plank just over six feet long. The four boards we bought, cut in half, covered the entire ceiling. Installation was done with a 16-gauge finish nailer.

Other Places to Find Vintage and Antique Pieces

If you are looking for decorative vintage pieces rather than structural salvage, an architectural salvage yard may not have what you need. For furniture, textiles, mirrors, clocks, and decorative objects, these are better options:

Why Architectural Salvage Fits Our Home

When someone asks me about my decorating style, ‘cottage’ comes out before I even think about it. But when I look around more carefully, what I see is a vintage cottage style. The two things are related but not the same.

When we bought this 1920 beach house, I became genuinely absorbed with hunting for older pieces. Anything that felt like it had come from somewhere else, had lived a previous life, had a story to tell. Architectural salvage yards were a natural fit for that. The materials they carry were part of other homes, other eras. Bringing them into ours feels like continuing something rather than starting from scratch.

Final Thoughts

Covering a flawed ceiling is one thing. Doing it with cedar planks from a century-old building that someone else cared enough to save is something else entirely.

This hallway refresh was a good project. Some space, reasonable cost, and the cedar plank showed up on our very first salvage yard visit of the year. Those are the days worth writing about.

If you have questions or have used architectural salvage in your own home, I would love to hear about it in the comments below.

Until next time,

Happy Thrifting!

More Thrifting Tips and Flea Market Finds