AN EASY, INEXPENSIVE SHIPLAP TUTORIAL

If you’re like me, then you love the look of shiplap and the clean, fresh blank slate it brings to any space. I adore how it adds interest and makes the decor in the rest of the room really pop. And it works beautifully when you want to add a farmhouse, cottage, or even modern feel to a space.  However, it can be a bit daunting to shiplap a space if you’ve never done it before. That’s why I created this easy, inexpensive shiplap tutorial. 

Two years ago I desperately wanted shiplap in our Master bedroom. I researched a number of tutorials and came up with a plan- of course, there were a few bumps on the way, but I didn’t get discouraged and was happy with the finished project.  This tutorial is for a single wall.  I find that one wall is a good place to start and, when applied to a well-chosen wall, creates a wonderful focal point for the space.

For other ways to create feature walls, check out my posts Child’s Room Makeover – Style and Storage and How to Install Faux Board and Batten.

What is Shiplap?

In case you don’t know what shiplap is (my husband didn’t- he thought it was a naughty word the first time I said it!), it’s horizontally applied wooden boards that are often used for constructing sheds, barns, and outbuildings. It’s a construction technique that was also used on interior walls in old farmhouses. Traditional “real” shiplap has grooves that allow the pieces to fit together snugly. This tutorial is for “faux” shiplap that can be applied on top of drywall, meaning that it is decorative and doesn’t serve to create a real barrier to the elements.

Tools and Supplies Needed:

• Several (4′ by 8′) sheets of 1/4” thick plywood underlayment cut in strips according to instructions below
• Compound mitre saw or good quality cutting box with hand saw
• Air compressor with brad nailer attachment (and safety glasses) or a hammer and finishing nails
• Tape measure, pencil, level, stud finder, step stool
• Spackling compound (like Polyfilla) and putty knife
• Several sheets 220 grit sandpaper
• At least 3 spacers (I used 2 dimes taped together for each spacer).
• “No More Nails” (2 large tubes or more) and a caulking gun
• Primer, paint, rollers, brushes, and tray

Instructions for the easy, inexpensive shiplap tutorial:

Step 1- Determine Board Width

Measure the wall (height and width).  Decide if you want to leave the baseboards on or remove them and add shiplap underneath.  Our baseboards could not be removed easily, so I left ours in place.  The wall height will help you determine the width to have your boards cut. Measure the wall height from the top of the baseboard to the ceiling and divide by a number that will give you between 6 and 7″. Our wall height was 85.5″, so dividing by 13 gave us 6.577″. Then take this number and subtract the thickness of the spacers you plan to use. In our case the spacers were about 1/16″ (0.0625″), so 6.577-0.0625 gave me 6.5145″. I decided to have my pieces cut at a 6.5″ width to give me a small amount of wiggle room. It’s better to have your pieces cut at a width slightly too small as you can always increase the gap size between the wood pieces, but you don’t want gaps that are too small or non-existant.

Step 2- Determine Amount of Wood to Purchase

Measure the width of the wall and the height (in feet) and multiply them together to get the square footage of the wall. Our wall is 7′ tall by 14′ wide, yielding a square footage of 7 x 14=98. The plywood underlayment is typically sold in sheets of 4′ by 8′, which is 32 square feet. Therefore I needed 4 sheets of plywood underlayment. Make sure to purchase half a sheet more than you need, as there will be some waste wood.

Step 3- Purchase Wood and Other Supplies

Now that you know your measurements, head over to your local home improvement store to stock up on supplies. I shopped at Home Depot and they were very helpful cutting (ripping) the plywood underlayment into 6.5″ wide by 8′ long strips.

Step 4- Prepare Your Walls and Wood

Use a pencil and studfinder to mark all the studs as vertical lines on the walls. If you plan to paint the neighbouring walls, then cut in along the edges so you won’t have to worry about taping off the shiplap later. Sand the edges of each piece of shiplap to avoid getting splinters during application.

Step 5- Apply the Shiplap

Take the first piece of shiplap (8′ long) and apply a thin bead of “No More Nails” around the perimeter of the back of the board about 1″ in from the edges. Have your level, brad nailer, spacers, and step stool close at hand. The first pieces goes on in the top right corner of the wall. Apply the piece at the ceiling using the level to ensure the piece is level. The adhesive will keep the wood in place while you get you brad nailer ready. I applied a brad at each end (top and bottom) and a pair of nails at each stud. Each 8′ board had a total of about 12 brad nails.

Make sure to use spacers at the end of the boards. To get the offset pattern of boards shown here, first apply an 8′ piece, then then cut the second piece to fit the wall (our wall is 14′ wide, so I cut the second piece at just under 6′). Use the leftover piece (2′ in this case) to start the next row on the far right side. Never cut a board unless you’ve reached the end of the wall. This will give you a nice staggered as shown in the photos. If your walls were an exact multiple of 8′ you would have to cut your first board for the second row at 2-4′ depending on your preference. I used my compound mitre saw to make the straight cuts. Sometimes I didn’t cut my board quite short enough and I had to return to the saw to shave a little more off. Since our saw is in the basement two floors down, this is how I got my exercise during DIY days!

Continue adding boards in this manner, using the spacers (2 or 3) between the rows of boards and checking that everything is level as you go. Since you measured carefully, your final board should have just the right sized gap between it and the baseboard.

Step 6- Preparing to Paint and Painting!

Fill all the holes with the spackling compound and sand the entire surface of the boards lightly once dry. Apply one coat of primer to the shiplap and between the boards and allow to dry. Sand the entire surface very lightly as the primer will have brought up the grain of the wood and made the surface rough again. Apply 2-3 coats of paint, allowing it to dry between coats. I used Sherwin Williams Alabaster- it’s a beautiful creamy white that looks amazing in photos.

Finishing the easy, inexpensive shiplap tutorial

To compliment this DIY shiplap wall, I added these rustic sconces from Canadian Tire (only $50 each). The rest of the furniture in the space was already in our home, though I did give a few of the pieces a makeover.

The side tables were black with small black knobs, so I painted them white and added the cute antiqued brass pulls from Lee Valley.

For this Farmhouse look I used white bedding, buffalo check pillows, a magnolia wreath, and lots of fresh greenery. This is one of my favourite rooms in our home now! I hope you’ll try your own DIY shiplap wall with this easy shiplap tutorial. To see how I decorated and organized our master bedroom closet, click here https://willowbloomhomeblog.com/a-quick-and-easy-linen-closet-refresh/

I hope you have enjoyed this easy, inexpensive shiplap tutorial!