{Entryway Reveal} DIY Plank Wall Tutorial

How to create a beautiful and inexpensive faux shiplap wall! 

You guys, I am SO excited about our new faux shiplap entryway wall!  This was a spur of the moment project that popped in my head on Friday night and by Saturday morning I was putting planks up on the wall!  The best part about this DIY shiplap wall project is that the total cost was less than $50.00!  

                                

My husband pretty much gives me full reign of the decorating in our house, but that doesn't mean he doesn't shake his head at a few of my ideas.  When I mentioned I wanted to plank the wall in our entryway, he looked at me and asked, "Can we just finish one project before starting another one?" Well, no....no I can't.  I have a slight problem of not being able to sit still.  I have to be doing some sort of project or I go a little crazy.  It may seem like I've been jumping around from the garage and mudroom to our laundry room and now to the living room and I have.  That's just how I roll.  

So, while I'm waiting on the weather to warm up to coat the garage floor,  the final inspection to lay the mudroom floor and help on replacing our laundry room tub sink, I decided to add an inexpensive plank wall to our entryway. 

Here's how our entryway looked before adding the plywood planks.

Now for the fun part.

Before I started putting the planks up on the wall I added a quick coat of white paint. 

Then my wonderful husband went to Lowe's and bought three sheets of 1/4" plywood that he had cut into 6 inch pieces.  A word of warning, they do not guarantee that the cuts are even.  There were a few boards that were shorter than 6 inches and some that were 6 inches at one end and 5 1/2 inches at the other.  Thankfully, there were only about 2 or 3 boards incorrectly cut and I was able to catch myself from putting them up on the wall. 

The wood that we purchased was about $12.00 a sheet and already primed.  All it needed was a good sanding to smooth out some of the rough edges.  

Before I started nailing up my boards, I used my stud finder and marked all the studs.  After the studs were marked, I started at the top of the wall and worked my way down, making sure to level each and every board.  Do not use your ceiling as a guide and assume it is level.  

You can see that there is a gap on the right side, which was easily filled with caulk.   After my first board was level and in place, the rest of the boards went up fairly quickly.  I used nickels as spacers and just worked my way down the wall.  Since the boards varied, the space between each board did end up varying slightly.  

  

When it came to the electrical outlet, I used a drill and skill saw to cut two boards to fit around the outlet.

I filled all the holes with wood putty and caulked where the boards met the crown and base molding and the wall by the front door.   I was going for a more rustic look, so I left the gaps where the vertical boards joined.

Owen and I then got to painting!  He was asking all day when he would be able to help me paint and was super excited to help.  This boy definitely takes after his mamma!  

Tip:  Use a credit card to swipe between boards to remove any paint drips.  

After we were done painting, I went to nail the trim piece to finish off the wall and after just 2 nails the fuel cartridge ran out on my nailgun.   I didn't feel like running out to buy a new one, so let's just pretend that part is finished, okay? 

Are you ready for more after pictures?

If you're really observant, you may also notice that I changed the mirror.  This black beauty was previously hanging in our little hallway between my kid's bedrooms, but now it has a new home.   I just love how it pops against the white wall!

It's incredible how much adding a $50 plank wall completely changed hthe look and feel of this space. 

I have one more update for this space and if you caught Wednesday's inspiration post you may be able to guess what's coming next!

****UPDATE****

I finally painted our front door with Sherwin-Williams Iron Ore and it was exactly what the space needed!

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