Easy DIY Shiplap Tutorial

Whatever you call it: shiplap, planking, paneling…can we all just agree that it’s so SO pretty?  Much like wood floors, it’s something that at one point people wanted to cover up…and now remodelers everywhere are tearing down sheetrock just to find it.

Well I know there’s no shiplap hiding behind my walls, but I still really wanted the farmhouse look that it adds. I read through tons of tutorials and decided that we could start small–and “practice” the DIY method on our little mudroom space in the pantry. Chris doesn’t love the idea of changing things about our 2-year-old house…but he does love me, so he goes with it. Smart guy, right?!

For this project we decided to use plywood strips instead of true shiplap boards because we just didn’t feel like it needed to be quite so heavy duty in this space. Honestly, I don’t think anyone could tell the difference from looking at it–and the plywood cost us $20, rather than close to $70 that we would’ve spent on the boards.

So here’s what our plain little mudroom nook looked like before…

Wait, who am I kidding…THIS is what it looked like before!!! 😉

And this is what it looks like now. I looooooooove it!

Now here’s the step by step in case you want to add a little shiplap in your life too…

1. Measure your space. Determine how many 6-inch planks you need and how long they should be.

2. Purchase a 4×8 sheet of plywood. Lowe’s or Home Depot will cut it into 6 inch strips for you. Be sure to tell the person cutting the plywood which side you plan to use as the finished side. They will need to cut it so that in doesn’t splinter on the side that will be showing.

3. Bring your plywood home and cut the planks to length. (They might do this at the store if you don’t have a saw at home).

4. Use a piece of sand paper to smooth the edges of your plywood pieces.

5. Decide how you want to hang your plywood. We originally planned to attach with Liquid Nails but realized quickly that the planks were bowing and not sitting flush up against the wall. That’s when our neighbor came to the rescue with a finish nailer. You could also go the route of just nailing (which would be less permanent), but you would end up using more nails. By using both glue and nails, we were able to minimize the number of nails used. Phew…that’s a lot of info, right?

6. Make sure your plank is level and attach it to the wall.

7. Repeat all the way down the wall, using nickels for spacers (3 to 4 should work).

8. Once your shiplap is in place–get to painting!

And paint some more…

Pretty simple, right? I love the cozy country look that the shiplap adds to this space. It even makes me want to keep it more organized–that way we don’t have a bunch of junk covering up our hard work!

Next I’m hoping to take the shiplap to our master bathroom…and someday our basement. Heck, if I get really good at this my whole house is going to be covered in it! And I’ll have to get one of these shirts of course 😉

Happy shiplaping, y’all!!!