I’m sharing how to DIY shiplap walls to get the look of true shiplap on the cheap! From prep to install to the finishing touches, I’ll walk you through it step by step!
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When we first moved into our home, our bedroom had light blue textured faux finished plaster walls with lots of ugly cracks. Instead of skim coating & sanding the walls and fixing all the cracks in the plaster, I decided to cover the walls with shiplap instead. I figured out a way to DIY shiplap walls that was a lot less expensive than installing traditional shiplap and I’m so happy with how it turned out:
Sources: Upholstered Bed (similar) | Gray nightstands | Camp stools (similar) | White table lamps (similar) | Semi flushmount light (available {here} and {here}) | Gray & white patterned linen duvet – no longer available | Gray & white dragon/floral pillows | Quilt in king (color is Flagstone) | Drapes (mine are single-width blackout lined) | Diamond jute rug
Since I’ve gotten so many emails with questions about how I knocked this project out, I thought I’d write up a quick post to share some what-to-do and what-not-to-do tips that I learned along the way!
For Cheap Shiplap, Faux is the Way to Go!
There’s definitely a significant cost savings to creating the look of shiplap with plywood strips instead of using true shiplap boards so that’s one reason that faux is the way to go. But also, since true shiplap boards are about ¾″ deep, it means that you have to remove ALL of your molding (baseboards, crown molding, door trim) to install “real” shiplap and then reinstall the molding back on top of it. Umm… no thank you! We went with plywood strips that are only ¼″ deep so we were able to leave all of the molding in the room in place and simply butt the wood strips up against it. So much easier!
Shiplap Prep: Paint Your Walls & Do Your Math!
Prep work for a shiplap wall project is key! First off, you want to paint the walls in the room the same color that you’re going to paint your shiplap. Why? Because there’s a small gap between the boards where you can see the wall and you definitely don’t want a different color showing through. Seeing this lovely light blue wall color (which is what they looked like before doing this project) between the white boards wouldn’t have been such a great look!
I also painted the top and bottom edges of each shiplap board before it went up on the wall because I knew it would be a little nightmarish to try and paint the edges by sticking a paintbrush through the small space between the boards once they were hung. Truth be told it took me a LONG time to pre-paint them so I’m not sure if this part of my prepwork was a time-saver or not in the end. I used Farrow & Ball White for my shiplap paint – you can read more on it and other great whites in my post on the best white paint colors.
The other prepwork that’s a definite must is a little bit of math – you want all of your boards to be the same height rather than getting to the end and realizing that you’re going to have an awkward thin strip at the bottom. So measure the space between the crown molding and baseboard and figure out a good height to cut the boards so that they fill the space exactly. Just don’t forget to take the spacing in between the boards into account when making your calculations! I ended up going with a height of 6 ¼″ for mine.
Beware of Home Improvement Centers Saws
The cheapest way to get thin wood shiplap strips at an exact height is to cut them out of ¼″ plywood or MDF sheets (I went with maple plywood sheets because they seemed to be the smoothest of the ¼″ plywood options at Lowes). Lowes and Home Depot will cut your plywood sheets into strips for you for a small fee and while I know some people have had this done successfully, I would definitely proceed with caution – their saws are made for doing rough cuts and often leave jagged and/or uneven edges. If you’re going to try having them do it for you, I would try just one sheet first to check that you’re getting a nice clean and even cut. If not, hire this job out to a contractor if you don’t have your own table saw.
Another option that’s become available since doing my shiplap walls is pre-cut mdf boards like {these}. I used them for my bathroom shiplap and they worked great!
There Is Such a Thing as Too Many Nail Holes (when you’re the one filling them…)
For installation, we nailed each board to the walls using a nail gun (being sure to get some nails into studs) in addition to applying Liquid Nails on the back of each board. Here’s what it was looking like at this point:
Those suckers are definitely going nowhere which is great but here’s the thing… I was the lucky one that got to fill and sand each and every one of those nail holes before I painted and oh my gosh there were soooo many nail holes and it was sooo time consuming. I’m pretty sure we could have cut the number of nails used in half and those boards still would have been super secure. Thank goodness I had a cute assistant to help me knock out the nail filling:
Nickels Make Great Spacers
It’s important to keep the spacing between your wood strips consistent and an easy way to do that is with nickels! The amount of space you leave between boards is totally personal preference – if you want less spacing you can use pennies and if you want more spacing, use tile spacers.
The Key to Seamless Seams is Auto Body Filler
Unless you’re doing faux shiplap in a small room like a bathroom, you’re going to have vertical seams where one board ends and another begins. Some people don’t mind the look of the seams and leave them as-is but I wanted a look of seamless planks along the wall. Normally I would use wood filler for a project like this but my contractor gave me the great tip of using {this Bondo putty} – it sands just like wood filler but leaves a smoother finish and is less likely to crack over time. The auto body fillers come in two parts – you simply mix the putty with a little bit of the activation cream (I did this on a plastic plate),
smooth it over the seam with a putty knife, and then sand smooth once it’s dry:
The only negative is that you have to work fast and only mix it in small batches because it hardens quickly.
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That about covers it! I wrapped up the project by vacuuming the dust off the planks and out of the spaces between them and then I calked the corners and primed and painted the shiplap. It definitely wasn’t a quick project but I feel like I got the true shiplap look for a fraction of the cost and love my room as much today as the day that I finished it:
Sources: Dresser (no longer available) with these knobs | Large round mirror | Acrylic lamp | Colorful abstract print | Small lily print
Want to see another option for how to shiplap a room? Check out our bathroom shiplap project using pre-made MDF shiplap. It was slightly more expensive but was quicker to install and easier to paint. Also take a peak at our shiplap ceiling in the room off your kitchen – we’re so excited about how it turned out!
XO,
Peggy Ramsey says
I loved what you did with the ship lab. I did the same thing a month ago including the ceiling in the bathroom. Still working on things like the floor the counter top. new sinks etc. What I am trying to find out is how do the get the paint that dripped between the board. I used a penny.
Karen says
I’d live to see how it looks in the walls and ceiling!
Prandy says
I love the way this came out! All the details and tips you added have made it so easy to do this ourselves. I’m going to do this in my dining room along one 12ft long wall. Quick question….. When you had the vertical seam and used the bondo, did you stagger the seam as you went down each row or did they all line up ? The bondo is a great suggestion I would have never thought about that and it really creates a seamless look which is exactly what I’m looking for.
Gin says
I so want to do this… Wondered if the corner boards were cut on an angle or butted up against each other?
Karen says
Good question
Chris says
What size plywood sheets did you get at Lowe’s? We’re you able to get the maple plywood in 4×8?
Judy says
Hi Kris, I am new to your blog and love it! What paint finish did you use ( satin, eggshell, etc) on the planked walls? I am attempting to plank my first wall. Thanks!
Travis says
This isn’t really shiplap. Real shiplap is expensive because it’s a solid wood covering. You basically just put paneling over drywall. This sadly will not holdup over time as many have seen before, and this overuse of faux shiplap is why real shiplap is going out of style.
Kris Jarrett says
I explained in my post that this isn’t true shiplap – it’s a way to get the same look for less and without the hassle of removing all of the molding in the room. It’s now been over three years since we installed it and it still looking amazing!
Carolina Hill says
I’m looking at doing shiplap in my new home, I just bought. Thanks for the tips and I’ll definitely take your advice on the fake shiplap, instead of the real wood. Your room looks beautiful!
Judy says
I love this idea. But ship lap is so expensive. But I have a question…
Why do you want to leave a space between the boards? Couldn’t you butt them together tightly? True ship lap doesn’t have space between the boards. They actually overlap. So I’m not getting why you want to space between them.
Kris Jarrett says
With true shiplap the boards interlock and there’s a groove between the boards – the gap mimics that groove. If you butt the boards right up to each other, it wouldn’t look right…
Omar says
Great detailed post. I did exactly the same project.
Now that it has been a while, can you tell us if the Bondo All-Purpose Putty was a good choice for the ‘seamless plank look’? Did it ever crack over time?
Thanks!
Debbie C says
I am thinking of doing this in an attic bedroom of a house I’m buying so I loved your post! One idea I had about painting the edges I’m going to try…..lay the boards on a flat surface close side by side, edges up, so paint can’t drip in between. Put bookends or something heavy to hold them steady on each side of the group. Then use a roller with a light amount of paint on it and paint a whole group at once! Dry and flip to other side to paint. White shiplap ceilings and eaves, and a gray painted floor will look amazing I think!
Jrose says
Painting the sides all together is very strategic just make sure they don’t dry together and get stuck. You will ruin them when pulling apart. So You may want to put larger spacers between each board and hold all the ends together in some fashion to prevent tipping… like book ends, Maybe? It may even help when flipping altogether.
All great tips. Great article! Definitely taking lots of notes for our new bathroom sink wall 🙂 curious how a black wall with white Shiplap would look? Anyone seen anything like that? We will have black hexagon tile floor and a few other black accents so pondering the continued black accented look between boards. Just having trouble picturing it on a large scale- like the wall. The other walls would be a medium sage green (not black).
jen says
It turned out beautiful. Thank you for the tip in using auto body filler. I am like you, I like the seamless look. I did have one question. You said it sanded smooth, but was the paint able to cover it well…is it noticeable? Thanks so much.
Kris Jarrett says
Hi Jen – the paint was able to cover it really well (I primed those spots first!). A few of the joints had a little bit of cracking over the first winter but most of the joints are still seamless.
John May says
On your white paint. Is it a semi gloss, egg shell or flat?
Kathleen Beck says
Hi! I love this room! Can you tell me what color your dresser is painted? Thank you!
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you! It’s Farrow & Ball’s Worsted
Sumer says
Did you stagger the planks so the “bondo” ends weren’t all in the same spot?
Kris Jarrett says
Great question – yes I did!
Teresa says
Agree, and it’s not a DIY if your Contractor does the installation.
Kris Jarrett says
The only reason I had my contractor help is that it’s a two person job holding up the boards to nail them if you want to make sure they’re straight and my husband couldn’t take the time off of work to help me. But it is definitely a doable DIY and something we could and would have done the same way on our own if his work schedule had allowed. Everything that could be done as a one person job including all of the prep and finish work I did myself.
Andrew says
No offense but most guys would love to help their wife with this! Your husband is very lucky, Kris! I’m so lucky my wife helps me 🙂 Nice job BTW, I am going to attempt the same project. Did you use a roller on the edges? Wouldn’t it be an advantage to prime the entire board before installing?
Deann says
Hi Kris – I have beautiful crown molding and baseboards that I don’t want to take down when I install the shiplap – do you have any recommendations or tips to make sure it looks good?
Kris Jarrett says
I think you should be fine as long as your crown and baseboards are pretty level. I wasn’t planning to replace my crown molding but it was nowhere near to level so the shiplap wasn’t going to hug it along its entire length. BUT I have a pretty old house so there’s pretty much nothing level – if your house is newer you should be ok!
Jane says
Looks beautiful. I found your website when looking online for coin widths to use as spacers. After pricing out planking at various home improvement and lumber stores. I went with 6 x 8 cedar fence board at only $2.77 each.. I picked out the best ones and had them sanded on one side and they were perfect.
Kris Jarrett says
Thanks for leaving a comment and letting everyone know what worked for you – sounds like a great solution!!
Cbc says
Thank you for this post! I just finished using your shiplap plan on my bathroom. I am so happy with it. Would be happy to share a pic but I don’t see that option here. It was putsy to do. Sanding was the worst part. But in the end it turned out beautiful! Thanks!!
Kris Jarrett says
I’m so glad to hear that!!! And I agree – the sanding is a total drag. I’d love to see a pic!