Hello sweet friends! So glad you stopped by! If you visited a couple of weeks ago, you may have seen my recent board and batten foyer makeover. I have been on a board and batten kick lately- I first hung it in our family room and now in our foyer! To say I am addicted to room transformations might be an understatement. Today I am trying something new. Join me as I share how to hang faux shiplap!
The Fun Begins- Let’s Hang Faux Shiplap!
I love our home. I fell in love with the model for our home five years before we actually purchased it! It is a large home, five bedrooms and 3.5 baths, perfect when our kids were smaller and we needed space. My style has changed a bit since we moved in, and I have taken on some projects in the last year to really reflect it.
Click here to see step by step how I created this beautiful board and batten wall!
The layout of our home works. In recent months, I have gotten annoyed with the amount of wasted space. For example, we have a formal living and dining room, and it is the first space you see when entering our home. We put an old couch and loveseat in the formal living room and an even older dining room table and chairs in the dining room. And pretty much that is the end of the story! We rarely use the space. And I think because of this, I have done very little to decorate or style it.
Photographic evidence of how blah this room was before- I put zero effort into it’s decor and it showed!
Good grief- what is that picture that is hung?! Forgive me for I have sinned… lol…
It’s Time for a Change
So because of my annoyance over the wasted space, I decided everything needed a makeover. Not a major, knock down walls type of makeover because, well, that is way above my skill level, but some aesthetic design that may make us want to spend time in this area!
I did the board and batten along the wall of our foyer a couple of weeks ago. Below is the finished product! The main wall in the dining room would look great with shiplap! So that is what we will do, friends.
Step One for How to Hang Faux Shiplap
A trip to Home Depot to get our supplies is in order.
We (me and the hubs) made the trip together. And this, my friends, is where his involvement in the project will end! Well, that may be an exaggeration but it is close. My husband hates projects. Hates, hates, hates doing them! He is plenty capable and early in our marriage and in our first home, he did a bathroom remodel and laid tile and flooring and refurbished wood floors. But these days the idea of a project makes him question his life choices.
I, on the other hand, am just reaching my stride when it comes to handy work! Six months ago, I had never operated a nailing gun or a circular saw. Now I am rocking both like a BOSS! Well, that could be an overstatement but hey- I am using both and doing things, so go me!
Back to our Home Depot trip. Home Depot was a fail, as they refused to cut the plywood board for me. So stop number two was Lowe’s! I bought four boards of 1/4 inch plywood. We found a super helpful guy named, and he cut the board into 6 inch strips. The Lowe’s in my town makes the cuts for free. Love this!
This is my second time hanging faux shiplap. Earlier this month, I did a “practice” shiplap project on our kitchen island. Here is how it turned out:
Hanging shiplap was not hard. Hear me when I say this, friends, it was NOT HARD! And the end result is beautiful! I could easily become addicted to this stuff! With any project, you learn from doing it.
When I shiplapped our kitchen island, I hung the bottom board first and then worked my way up.
This picture is our kitchen island after the 6 inch boards were hung. Pretty, right?
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Step Two for How to Hang Faux Shiplap
One thing I learned is it can be challenging when you come to that last board that needs hanging. I am not a professional carpenter (surprise, surprise) and cutting that top board was tough. In truth, I did not worry about the cut being straight because I knew I was going to put a trim piece over top, so it would hide any imperfections in the cut (which in my case, can be plentiful)!
To avoid having a weirdly cut piece at the top of this wall, and because I knew I did not want a trim piece at the ceiling, I worked from the top of the wall down on this project. It was a little more challenging with the spacers, but I made it work.
Hanging the Boards
So let me walk you through how I hung the shiplap boards. For this project, started at the top, placing the boards snug to the ceiling. I did not use spacers between the ceiling and the first row of boards. I used a circular saw to the cut the board to fit the wall. Initially, I planned to put a trim piece of both sides of the shiplap. This would give me “grace” should one of the boards not be the exact same length as the others.
To my surprise on this project, I was able to get all the boards exactly equal on the right side, and mostly equal (close enough ;-)) on the left side- so I left both trim pieces off!
I used nickels as spacers. Depending on the length of the board, I used between 2-4 nickels to position it. I hung the second row, the. The third, and so on.
Something to Consider Before You Hang Faux Shiplap
I should note here that I painted the entire wall white before I hung the boards. I am not sure this was completely necessary, but I worried bigger gaps might look weird if the wall was still tan. When I did our kitchen island, I left the wall gray and it was fine. I think you could paint it prior or not paint it prior and you would be okay!
Step Three for How to Hang Faux Shiplap
So let’s chat about the outlets! Definitely a challenge but trust me when I tell you it is not hard to cut around them! The easiest way to do it is to have the board stop at the halfway point of the outlet.
See the seam above? I had the board stop there, as my circular saw could easily make the l-shaped cuts. I used paper to draw where the cut should be, as seen in this picture. It helped that I drew the lines onto the board and made the cuts.
Click here to see a great step by step for making cuts around outlets and light fixtures!
Next time I will do a video tutorial! It is much easier to see and copy!
Step Four for How to Hang Faux Shiplap
Once all of the beautiful boards are hung, it is time to fill the holes and sand the boards, getting everything ready for paint! I used wood filler for this job. Sometimes I use joint compound to fill the holes, but today I do not have any on hand. Wood filler goes on pink so you can see exactly where you have placed the filler. I let it sit for at least 30 minutes before sanding.
Once everything is sanded, clean with a damp rag. I know a lot of people do not worry about taking this step but I guess I am OCD about it! The truth is I hate the sanding process- it makes a mess and feels sticky on your skin. I like to make sure everything is super clean before I break out the paint!
Painting Your Faux Shiplap
Now, for the final stretch- let’s paint! I use a roller on the boards and a brush on the edges. Valspar Ultra White is my color of choice today! I apply two coats.
And there you have it- an easy way to create texture on your walls that is inexpensive and looks gorgeous!
Helpful tips when doing your own project:
Get all of your boards before you start. This entire wall took 5 sheets of 4 x 8 quarter inch plywood. Each sheet cost $16.
You will need outlet extenders for your outlets! Super cheap and you can get them in packs of two or four from most hardware stores. Easy to install, just make sure to shut off the power to the area first. Click here to see how I installed it!
When doing a wall, start at the top and work your way down. People will see the top board, the bottom not so much. If you have imperfections in the cuts, because it is unlikely you will need exactly 6 inch boards for that last row, it will be less visible.
Use a sharpie marker to enhance the seam in places where the boards touch (trust me, as hard as you try to not have this happen, it will!). It works beautifully!
So there you have it! Let me know if you have any questions- I am happy to help!
