We are a full week into the One Room Challenge and our first big project is done. If you’re not already familiar with this challenge, twice a year, you can participate as a guest, alongside 20 featured designers, to join a 6-week challenge to recreate one room. The event was created and is hosted by Linda Weinstein of Calling it Home and Better Homes and Gardens. With hundreds of guest participants, you can be sure to find an endless amount of inspiration and original ideas by following along here. We are super excited to be a guest participant this year and are loving all the design projects we have seen.

Vertical Shiplap Accent Wall

We are breaking down everything needed to DIY a vertical shiplap wall and sharing the process with you step-by-step. It’s a fairly easy process if you’re willing to put in the time.

Here are the supplies you will need. Each tool we used is linked! Note: If you don’t have some of these tools, don’t worry! You may have to get creative, but it can be done. You can ask friends and family to borrow things or even call your local hardware store and find tools available to rent. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

• Shiplap

• 1x4 Boards

• Quarter Round/Trim

• Studfinder

• Pry Bar (if you’re removing trim)

• Level

• Oscillating Tool

• Miter Saw

• Ladder

• Drill

• Nail Gun

• Air Compressor

• Caulk/Caulk Gun

• Wood Filler

Let’s get started! The first thing to note about installing vertical shiplap is that the studs you would normally nail them to are also running vertically. For that reason, we created a base with 1x4’s so that we had four places to nail the shiplap to when hanging.

Step One: Remove and cut the trim. If your wall doesn’t have trim, then jump down to the next step, but if it does you will need to remove it. Before doing anything (we’ve learned this the hard way) take a razor and run it along the top of the trim where it connects to the wall. By doing this you will allow the trim to separate from the wall cleaner and are more likely to keep the trim intact and not damage the wall.

If there is already trim, use your oscillating tool to shave off a couple of inches in the corners of the trim on adjacent walls. Once the 1x4’s and shiplap are on the wall, your wall will be roughly 2 inches thicker and you will need to plan accordingly for that on the existing trim.

Step Two: Mark all the studs. Grab your handy stud finder and get to work marking off all the studs. Since we were covering up the sheetrock completely, we went ahead and drilled small holes where each mark was to make sure we actually had the spots marked correctly. We do not recommend this if you don’t plan to cover up the sheetrock, but it was helpful to locate the studs before we started hanging the boards.

Step Three: Hang 1x4’s to create a base. Like I mentioned earlier, since the studs run vertically, we chose to create a base to nail the vertical shiplap to. We hung a board at the top of the wall and the bottom of the wall and then two spread out in the middle. Use screws to secure the boards into the studs and grab a level to make sure everything is straight.

Step Four: Hang that lovely shiplap. We purchased 12 foot pieces of shiplap for our 10 foot ceilings, so each piece had to be cut. We got in the rhythm of cutting and hanging 10 pieces at a time. The shiplap interlocks, so once it’s in place all it needs are 4 nails and it’s good-to-go. This part goes pretty quick once you get started. Once the shiplap is done, you’ll probably want to hang a piece of trim or quarter round along the top to make the transition to the ceiling look nice and smooth.

Step five: Fill nail holes and caulk. This part is tedious (and sometimes annoying,) but is very necessary to get the seamless and finished look you’re going for.

Step six: Celebrate. Pat yourself on the back — you did it! Celebrate for a second and get ready for paint!

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