KH: Shiplap Wall DIY

This room got a complete overhaul! Part of that was adding a shiplap wall. Although I've always loved shiplap walls I never thought I'd have one in my own house. I put one in my Mom's house, and was pretty sure I never wanted to do it again!

However, the second time went much smoother. Here are my tips & tricks (and a good before and after) of our shiplap wall!

What you'll need before getting started:

Wood - Measure the square footage of your wall to get the right amount

Wood screws

Stud finder (you won't want to have to use anchors)

Wood filler

Paint

Drop saw

Table saw

First thing you will want to do is find your studs. You can do this by using your stud finder. They should be 16" apart, so once you find one it should be pretty easy to find the others. Go ahead and draw a vertical line all the way down the wall where each stud is. This is the ONLY place you will screw your boards in to! You'll notice on this wall there were large tiles, and the seams on each tile happened to be placed a a stud - so this was easy peasy for us!

Next, you get to put together a giant puzzle! When it comes to picking out boards you can make this part easier or harder for yourself. The first wall I did we used authentic barnwood. It was old, and warped and extremely difficult to work with. With this wall I used 1 x 6 boards from Lowe's. They were straight, clean, light and easy to work with!

I suggest starting at the bottom and working your way up. I did my first wall starting from the top because I didn't want to have a stripped board at the top, but this wall I did from bottom up and it was so much easier and smoother. Especially if you are doing this by yourself, because you are able to stack the boards while screwing them rather than having to hold with one hand and screw with the other. Aesthetically it really doesn't matter much!

I liked cutting my boards all different lengths, and not having seams that were too close to each other, or that showed a pattern. Some people keep all their seams in a row, and that looks great too! It's just whatever style you're looking for, and I was looking for a more rustic style.

Normally I would avoid leaving gaps throughout like this, around the light switch and power box. However My husband was gone with his stripping tool, so I just decided to work around these spots! ha. After you get the entire wall done you'll need to go through with the wood filler and fill all of your screw holes. I like to hang the boards staggering so there isn't much of a pattern for your eye to follow.