DIY, Home Decor

Shiplap Accent Wall

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I have decided that I don’t think that you can ever have too much shiplap! I mean, think about it. Shiplap is wonderful! Although I do feel it is a little trendy, which I am normally not a fan of, I think it is going to be around for a while. And since the teenage boy said that I was making the house too white (gasp) I decided to add a shiplap accent wall to our hallway and dress it up a bit! Doesn’t he know that the walls aren’t white and that our color is Valspar Creamy? Have I taught him nothing in this farmhouse makeover?

Now, I know what you are thinking. You can’t really dress up a distressed wall can you? Well I think you can! To avoid the white err Creamy takeover of my home’s interior I decided on a light shade of gray! Ha! The best part of this project was that I didn’t have to visit the home improvement store for additional shiplap! I decided to use the leftover pieces that I had laying around from the other shiplap walls in the house! I love a good cost savings, don’t you!

Once again, I struggled with finding how to have three decent sized pieces per layer of shiplap. I don’t know what has happened to my math skills and I have been trying to give them a little break thinking it would get better! Not yet, I guess! So I went with alternating rows of shiplap having only two different sizes of wood pieces. Based on the size of my shiplap accent wall, I think it was a good decision! So on a Sunday afternoon after church, I decided to tackle this wall! So inspired by the look, I got it up in no time!

So after installing the shiplap accent wall I gave it a quick coat of Minwax stain in Classic Gray. I did two rows at a time so I could go back and wipe off before it got too dark. After I finished that layer of color, I wanted to distress the shiplap accent wall even further so I added a coat of chalk paint. Let me just say, I am pretty sure that my chalk paint was old and in need of tossing. It had a horrible stench to it and was thick and lumpy! So I added water, slowly, until I achieved the consistency that I wanted. Now, this next part didn’t work out as I had hoped. It was pretty labor intensive. I put a light coat of the chalk paint on, but before I could finish the row it was drying. So I had to take a clean cloth and dip it in water and rub, rub, rub until I achieved the light color I wanted. Each row probably took me 5 minutes or more. And the next day my arms were a tad bit sore. Okay, more than a tad bit!

The only issue I ran into with this project was that the crown moulding and corner pieces were very snug and somewhat trapped by the attic door. I finally got them all off! But only to figure out that it was now too thick to put back up of course! Not to worry, I had my very handy Dad trim the corner pieces down and they fit perfect! Too bad though that I cracked the crown moulding in not just one, but two places when putting it back up. Ugh! All I have to say about that is when you are tired, just stop! I so badly wanted to finish and was too lazy to go back out for the air compressor and nail gun so I decide to use a hammer and finishing nails. NOT a good idea as you can clearly see!

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But the end result was worth it! I am thrilled with the result of my shiplap accent wall and the teenage boy even approves of it! Whew! Good thing I didn’t paint this shiplap white – he may have gone cuckoo on me! Now I just need to figure out what I want to put up on that wall…I think I have a project in mind but you’ll just have to wait to see it!

On to the next project!