While many people like to renovate their homes in the summer, as a busy real estate agent I usually don’t get around to my own home until the fall or winter. I find it can be a good time to work on my house because there isn’t the craziness of summer and I can give some good time to my designs and ideas while also finding the right contractors to help make my vision become a reality.
I am really loving the farmhouse chic look right now, if anyone out there watches HGTV’s ‘Fixer Upper’ with Chip and Joanna, you will understand that like Joanna, I have a love for shiplap. For those of you who do not know what shiplap is, let me explain. Shiplap is a horizontal pattern of interlocking wooden boards. Traditionally, this style was used to build sheds and barns and is usually painted a solid color. They are a great way to add a little something extra to an ordinary wall and they give amazing character to your home without costing you an arm and a leg. And you want to know the best thing about installing shiplap walls in your house? You can do them yourself! That’s right, DIY shiplap walls are easy to assemble (you might need a partner, and of course the right tools so reach out to the handy people in your life and ask to borrow a few!) on your own and all you need are the following supplies:
· plywood underlayment, ripped down to planks (the sizes will range with the size of your wall so make sure to measure everything)
· 3″x1/4″x4′ poplar “hobby boards”, aka battens
· Sander with medium grit paper
· Stud finder
· Nail gun with 2” brad nails (you could hammer them but geez, it’ll take a while)
· Paintable spackle/wood filler
· Miter saw, table saw, circular saw, or jigsaw (we used a jigsaw because that’s all we had then)
· Speed square and pencil
· Primer
· Paint
· Coins as spacers
· Painting supplies (tarp, brushes, etc.)
For step-by-step instructions, I looked to the blogs to find how to do it all and where I would need help. The one I liked best was good old Home Depot (they really know their stuff there so if you have any questions, make sure to ask someone at the store you get your supplies from!) - http://blog.homedepot.com/how-to-install-shiplap-walls/
There are so many great DIY projects you can work on this fall and winter in your home. I am excited to get these walls up and see how they change the look of my home!