
^ Link to artwork shown, “Succulents”

Do you dream in shiplap? I do! I love, love, LOVE IT! 😍 However, I was reluctant to buy and install real shiplap in my home due to A) cost and B) installation. I needed to find my own way that I could achieve the look, with my own two hands, and without the holes and adhesive mess that a real shiplap install could leave behind, should we ever want to take it down for whatever reason. (i.e. if our design taste should change or if we ever were to move and needed the wall to be plain again).
So I got to thinking…why not try and paint the illusion of shiplap? And that’s exactly what I did!

Supplies I used:
- Disposable, plastic dropcloths
- Roller paint brushes and paint tray
- A white, base color of paint (I used Glidden Complete) I recommend an eggshell or satin finish.
- Duck brand Quick Release Painter’s Tape
- A ruler
- A small hand held level
- A pencil
- A medium gray paint for the seamline illusion. (I used a cheap sample jar of gray, Glidden Diamond (eggshell finish) paint from a misstint shelf at the hardware store).
- An angled bristle brush for edging
- Some dense, black foam brushes
- Some small to medium fineart bristle brushes
- I made a cardboard template that helped me when mapping out the faux seams on the wall.
- I cleared the area where I would be painting by moving furniture and wall decor.
- I setup painting drop cloths over the floor area where I would be painting the walls. I even tacked it down with some painter’s tape, to prevent it from moving.
- I lined the perimeter of the walls that I would be painting.
- Our wall was beige, so I needed to paint it two coats of the Glidden Complete, white. (If the wall had already been white, I could have skipped this step and I could have moved onto step 5).
- Once the base color coats dried, I began mapping out my pin-stripe shiplap faux seams. I did this by using my 6″ high, cardboard template (see in image, below) a pencil, ruler, small level and painter’s tape. I began at the top of the wall near the ceiling and worked my way down. I would use two strips of painter’s tape with a tiny 1/8 or less gap in between the two lines of tape, and this is what would become my faux board seam line, once painted.
-
A VERY helpful tip: Once the painter’s tape was all laid out on the walls as a template, I painted each future faux seam line, (making sure to paint on the tape’s edge) with my base, white color. I did this as a way of activating the painter’s tape’s reaction so that when I moved on and painted all of these lines with a coat or two of gray, any paint bleeding would be minimal or hopefully non-existant! This step saved me a tremendous amount of touch up time! Also, as I’d complete painting a line with it’s final coat of gray, I’d immediately remove the painter’s tape for that line, so that if the paint had bled, I could wipe the bleed off before it dried completely.
- In my master bedroom, I had also painted vertical stripes randomly where they looked right, to serve as the illusion of faux board ends. However, we didn’t even bother with vertical lines in our living-room, and it still looked clean, convincing and great!
- Last step, enjoy your newly shiplaped space!
#diy #designonadime #fauxreno #ourfauxrenohome #farmhouse #farmhousestyle #farmhousedecor #shiplap #interiordesign