Since I have tried all forms of shiplap, I decided to try a new one! A completely faux shiplap where no power tools are required. Intrigued? 

Well, this little spot in our upstairs hallway doesn't get any love. It's the one spot that usually acts as catch all of school artwork, toys, dirty clothes, etc. I always wanted to brighten it up and make it more inviting. I had ideas about doing shiplap but the molding on the door adjacent to the wall was too close to the wall and actually somewhat crooked. So, then I decided I would do floor to ceiling board and batten. Even bought the boards and everything. That was like 3 months ago :) On a whim, I decided to try something new last night. And I completely love it! It was so quick, easy, and cheap....practically free. Plus, no power tools required which is the best!

Here's the after:

 And here's the gloomy before. Of course, this was at night but it really didn't get much prettier or brighter than this. 

 So, how did I do this faux shiplap? 
First, I painted the wall Swiss Coffee by Behr. 

I then took my level and measured down from the ceiling and marked every 6 inches. I did this on about 4 areas of the wall. I then took a pencil and connected the horizontal lines, making sure they were level. I've done this type of shiplap twice now and wouldn't skip this step even though you can. It just makes sure the next step stays accurate.

Next, I took a black marker, or a sharpie (fine point). Since all my sharpies are not fine point, I borrowed one of my kids markers initially for the bathroom one. Mainly because I didn't know how this would end up looking and new it would be easier to wash away than a permanent sharpie :) With the marker, I lined the level up again with the pencil drawn lines and then went over the lines with the marker. I made sure not to pick up the marker at the end or the beginning too fast since it would sometimes leave a vertical mark. Just took my time with it.  

 On my big wall, it found that doing horizontal sections was a lot quicker than doing whole lines by themselves. 

 I taped off the wall initially when I painted it white and took the lines to the tape. But, I didn't like how undone this looked. So...this is the part that does require some tools, but it's technically not apart of the shiplap :) 

 I took a small 1/2"x1 1/2" mdf board and secured it to the end. I feel like this finished it off much better than before. If you were to do a whole entire wall that doesn't randomly end, you wouldn't necessarily have to do this. Or, if you do a whole entire room, wouldn't need it either. 

 Here's the finished look:

 I can't get over how bright this looks! And be truthful....if I showed you this picture without you knowing how I did the shiplap, you would have no idea it was just marker! 

 Okay. Now for my first initial try at this. I did it in my bathroom. Above the bathtub I did a stencil a few years ago, and truthfully hated it ever since. The molding kept falling off and it was a big mess.

 So, I did the same technique, and rehung the molding...

 And I am in love! Just some lines, that's all it is. I've shown a few people this in person, and they had no clue until I told them. Yep. Like, had to go up and touch it to figure it out.

White ruffle curtains: Link

 Now, here's my two cents. I think this looks amazing on small spaces. I'm sure it'll look great doing this to a whole room. But, if you are going to sell your house soon...I don't know :) I think it would be a big let down to buyers to find out it's just marker. Also, this is something you would have to be willing to repaint your whole entire room if you decide you don't like. Which is of course, totally doable but a big pain in the butt :) haha. 

That being said. I have a big ledge loft thing in my entry way that I am totally going to do this on! Serious. It's up high so no one will ever notice that it's not. Now, only if I can get some nerves to get up on that ledge :) 


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I've been a mission to add more and more character to my house. If it were up to me, I would live in a couple hundred year old house just full of the best old world character. But, instead, my house is circa 2007 :) only 189 more years to go! ha! Awhile ago, I added the planked walls (shiplap) to my dining room. Next, I envisioned some old beams across the ceiling. I had loads of ideas saved for these and just never did it. The real reason why it took me so long? Because I had to paint the ceiling. Seriously. I despise painting ceilings! Our ceiling was the same beige found around our house, and I knew it would look so much better against white. So, I finally tackled the ceiling, and seriously the next day added the faux wood beams.

 I kind of wish I had waited to add the beams so I could enjoy the white ceilings longer, but I try to do things big like this when I know my husband will be gone. He doesn't quite approve of all my ideas :) So, it happened overnight pretty much!

First step was painting the ceiling. Here's a good picture of how beige it was. I taped it all off and painted it Swiss Coffee by Behr in Satin.

 Next, I took the straightest and most beat up 1x4s I could find. This was pretty easy considering most people don't like the busted up boards.

 Then I stained them. I started with a stain I wasn't a fan of and then changed it up to Dark Walnut by Minwax. I didn't do any sanding or anything. Left everything super rough. I stained the sides and the top, left the back alone.

 I then measured out where I wanted the beams. I ended up having 40" between each one. Not knowing if my husband would approve or make me take them down immediately, I just nailed them in place with my brad nailer. I didn't want a whole bunch of screw holes in my ceiling if they were to come down any time soon. If you are sure you want to keep them up and are afraid of them falling down, secure with a screw and anchor or into a stud, or you can also glue them up. My 1 1/4" nails have held up fine so far, but that's not saying they won't fall down without me knowing :)

 The 8' boards weren't long enough for my ceiling, so I had to butt up a second board to it. I wasn't sure how it would look, but I made sure it stayed consistent in location along each "beam". You can barely notice the seams now.

 As for the end where my planked wall is, I had to work around the 1x2s that were already attached. So, I just cut out little squares with my jigsaw which allowed me to kind of puzzle it in place.

 I did luckily get a decent shot of my white ceiling before the beams went up.

 And here it is afterwards.

Jute rug: Amazon    Farmhouse Chairs: Amazon     Striped Turkish Towel/Blanket: Amazon

 I am such a fan of the character it added with minimal effort and expense!

 A couple of things if I were to do this again: I would use 1x6 boards instead. Once these 1x4s got up on the ceiling, they just look a lot smaller than what I had planned. Next, I wouldn't leave them outside to dry overnight. Most of them got warped and were really hard to work with. I ended up having to go back to the store and get some more wood to finish. So, my lessons learned :)

 Here's a before picture of the beige ceiling from my Summer home tour.

 And now! I am the biggest fan of wood tones against white, if you haven't noticed. So, this space just makes my heart happy :)

So, how did my husband feel about it? He got home from his fishing trip and just gave me a knowing look with no words. I didn't expect much else. He doesn't hate them enough to make me tear the down immediately. So, that's something :)

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