I know I’m not the only one out there who is absolutely loving HGTV’s new show, Fixer Upper, and Jo’s amazing farmhouse style, or the only one who would love to use some of her ideas like shiplap as inspiration! Do you have a favorite house she’s done? I’m currently rewatching season 1 and even with them fresh in my brain I still couldn’t choose!
What I CAN choose, however, is my favorite part about each and every house- the amazing shiplap walls! Every time we peel back some drywall I look for it to miraculously appear behind a wall, but I have had 0 luck. Dang you Michigan. While it’s very tempting to move down to Texas so I could wake-up to chippy-woody-reclaimed goodness every morning, I decided to bring the look into our (slightly) more northern home instead.
I used the same method as in the closet in our main bath, (that material was actually leftover from this project!) and as I previously mentioned, I did not invent this idea, but will share the tutorial on how we did it just in case you have not run across one yet!
First off we scurried over to Home Depot to pick up a few sheets of floor underlayment for around $10 each. We had the sheets ripped down into 5 1/2″ strips at the store, thanks to an amazingly nice employee.
We had previously painted the top half of our dining room wall in BM’s Hale Navy, and then primed and painted each strip of wood before adhering to the walls. Having no flooring in the house yet definitely helped this step go quicker : )
All it took was a few cuts to fit the strips to the length of our walls and after marking where our studs were, a few nails to keep them in place. An oscillating tool was used to cut out spaces for electrical outlets as we went along.
We started from the bottom and where we could, we used one board to cover the whole wall. Where our boards were too short, we alternated long to short, short to long, to give it a staggered effect. As you might be able to spot in the picture, we used the easiest spacers ever- nickels! This helped give it that rustic shiplap look and made the process go by quickly and easily.
Once it was all up on the walls, I gave it a final coat of white eggshell paint to cover up the nails (but did not fill them first since we are going for rustic here.)
Next up was the trim! We chose a decorative trim from the depot (aka our second home) as well as a few corner pieces to cover up our “seams” where the shiplap met in a corner.
The cuts were a bit tricky, but once we got the hang of it to get the look that we wanted, it went up fairly easy! Basically when in doubt, miter it. A few more nails, some caulk, another coat of paint, and we were ready to call this project done.
I love how the white pops against the navy walls, and how easy and inexpensive this project was to complete. I’ll be back soon to share how we built an inexpensive shelf & table for the room, and of course lighting and accessories, so make sure to add your email if you’d like to follow along : )
Update: Tutorials on the shelf and table are posted!
And, just for kicks, here’s a shot of the room when we moved in. Amazing what flooring and paint can do in a short time : ) Can’t wait to share the rest!
What do you think? Is shiplap your favorite part of Fixer Upper as well? I have another project inspired by the designs on the show that we’re working on right now, and I can’t wait to share!
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Great project! Love Fixer Upper on HGTV!!
Thanks Holly! We just can’t get enough of her fabulous designs : )
Hi Jodie…love the wall. I am sharing on fb today! Have a great day!
Thanks Denise!! This made our day : )
Wow it is amazing to see the room when you moved in. I love the navy and white contrast. Great job!
Thanks Jordan! Yes, not sure why white carpet was ever chosen for a dining room, but so glad to see it more our style now : )
Oh, I love it! I’m in love with navy – I use it anywhere I can work it in. The shiplap walls are a fantastic touch! Great work 🙂
Thank you Natasha! : ) Totally agree on the navy- it’s practically a neutral color in our house now!
Looks great! Couple of questions: Did you glue the back at all or just use finish nails? What size finish nails did you use?
thanks!
Hi Art! So sorry for the delayed response! I did not glue the back at all since the pieces were so thin, and we used 1 1/2″ 18 ga. brad nails. Hope that helps!
What was the exact underlayment, brand, etc?
I see it on a post below! No need 🙂
My wife and I are SOOO excited to try your method of adding shiplap, but we’re running in to an issue finding the underlayment you used for your project. Do you happen to have link? Or know the material type (pine, maple, oak etc.)?
Thanks in advance!
David and Jodie
Hi David! Of course! The link to what we purchased is below. Let me know if you have any other questions and best of luck on your project!! I hope you love it!
http://m.homedepot.com/p/Underlayment-Common-7-32-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Actual-0-196-in-x-48-in-x-96-in-431178/203183010/
This is beautiful! It’s funny how the old style has come back to life. Simplicity is so elegant!
Thanks Laurie! I’m a big lover of simplicity too : )
That is so beautiful! Love the navy and white. Is there any way you could add a photo of how you trimmed out the outside corners on the ship lap and also the top rail? Would really like to see that process. Thanks.
Great idea! Was just taking about putting this in our laundry, but didn’t want the costs of shiplap!
Wow, the “shiplap” room looks wonderful. Thanks for your great tips.
Thanks so much Haydee 🙂
Is the underlay sturdy like traditional shiplap or does it have a “wavy” “bulging” look on the wall? The pics look great, just trying to think through potential issues! Thanks!
If you see this (its a number of months after your post. found it on pinterest 🙂 ). do you think this could easily be undone? we live in a rental house that i am not a fan of. trying to figure out ways to make it look nice but that can easily be undone when we move out (probably in a few years).
Hi Valerie! Thanks so much for your message! Sorry this is a few days late 🙂 As long as you don’t use any type of adhesive when hanging the boards, and you’re able to fill the small nail holes I think this definitely could be done! All depends on your landlord, but it’s definitely a budget friendly way to make a space your own!
i am just glad you saw it and responded at all. we might just have to try this
My wife and I finally finished the room we had planned to use this ‘faux’ shiplap in. We’ve worked with regular shiplap plenty, and if it wasn’t so much work, we’d pull down all the existing shiplap and replace with this:) SIMPLE to work with, no need to build out trim or wall plates, doesn’t shrink/warp, it just might be the perfect shiplap solution!
I love this idea! It looks so great. We want to do something similar in our new house! Have you found that any of the boards have “popped” or have they held up well?
Thanks so much Ashley! The boards have actually held up great with no popping and no glue! I’m excited for you to try it out in your house – hope you love it!
Hi! LOVE your shiplap tutorial! My hubby and I will be building a new home very soon, and I definitely plan to add some shiplap! I do have a question … from the pictures you posted, you painted the wall white behind where the shiplap would go, correct? And you left spaces the width of nickles between. I am assuming when you painted your “shiplap” boards, you also painted the edges, as well. So, Having said all that, my question is this: Would it change the look of the finished wall if you had painted the entire wall in the Navy Blue before adding the shiplap boards? Is there enough of a space between the boards that the darker color behind would give more of a “shadow” between the boards?
Thanks so much Paula! I definitely think there would be a shadow behind the boards if the wall was navy – so it totally depends on the look that you’re going for! We did loosely paint the sides before hanging them, and used a longer roller when putting the final coat on once hung. Either way would be gorgeous!
Tell me…your wall is made by wood? concrete ? plaster?
Beautiful! What color white are the planks painted?
Thanks so much Jennifer! We used Behr Marquee white straight out of the can, untinted to match the rest of our trim 🙂