DIY Shiplap Wall

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Ever since we discovered Fixer Upper and Joanna Gaines, we’ve been positively giddy about “shiplap!” A year ago, I had never heard this term and now I would love to shiplap every wall in my house. Like seriously.

My three year old talks about shiplap as if it’s just an every day vocabulary word and my sweet husband just rolls his eyes as I tell him all of my shiplapping plans for the future. My guess is that there are many others out there that have also had their worlds rocked by the beautiful possibility of shiplap, but need some help with getting started.

Well, we’ve got you covered! We have two ways for you to get the shiplap look in DIY style and on a friendly budget. I’m sharing my method in this post and Christine will share her’s in another. Happy Shiplapping friends!

Method One:

Our master bedroom is big and I wanted an accent wall to give it some farmhouse character. Michael set off to Home Depot for our supplies and I prepped the room.

Michael bought Sande Birch Plywood from Home Depot. He had them cut the boards into 6 inch planks. (Warning- the boards were less than clean cuts so if you can do it yourself, it’s better)

Once he arrived home, we sanded the boards with fine grit sandpaper. We just did the edges and it didn’t take long.

This is me (Becca) taking the boards upstairs.

We started at the top of the wall and did our best to level the boards. We used a nail gun to make it faster but you can do this job with just a hammer (it might take a bit longer).

Progress on the wall…

Once we finished nailing the wood to the wall, it was time to prime and paint. We used Sherwin Williams primer and Alabaster paint. We opted not to fill the nail holes with wood filler because I wanted the rustic look.

Here is the finished wall. I absolutely love how it brightened our master bedroom!

Let me know if you need help or advice. I will just be at home shiplapping.

DIY: Stenciled Tile Floor

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I had great intentions of writing a blog post about my DIY stenciled laundry room floors immediately after completing the project. But… ya know… life just kept happening. I worked on this project in between taking care of a newborn and three other kids during summer break, so it took a little longer than expected. I can honestly say, these floors are one of my favorite projects thus far! And now that we’ve lived with them for four months, I can honestly tell you’ve they’ve held up really well!

I’m going to break this down and keep it really simple. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I was inspired by others on Instagram and was able to take their projects and spin it to make my own. Hopefully, this post will help you do the same. The products I used were either recommended by other DIYers and or products I’ve used successfully in the past. Happy Stenciling!

Step 1: Clean the tiles and remove all lint and dirt. I just used Clorox wipes and scrubbed with my hands. Just make sure you get them as clean as possible so you don’t get debris stuck in your paint.

Step 2: Tape off any areas you don’t want to get painted by the roller. I’m super lazy with this, but I recommend taking the extra time to do this well.

Step 3: Prime the floors with the primer of your choice. I thought I bought white primer which is what I was planning on using, but once I opened the can, I realized it was gray. I went with it, and it was fine because I was going to use charcoal gray as my base. If you are planning on using white as your base, make sure to get white primer. I used a roller for this step and a brush around the edges. I only had to use one coat because my primer was dark, but depending on the color of your floor, you might have to do two. I could have gone with the quart instead of the gallon size, but now I have some for the next project.

Step 4: Paint the floors with your base color. I used one coat of Rust-oleum Charcoal Chalkpaint. Let it dry really well before beginning the stencil process.

Step 5: Stencil with your stencil of choice. I used the 12 x 12 Augusta stencil from Cutting Edge Stencil. I also ordered their roller for the stencil part. The stencil comes with great directions for how to use it best, so I recommend following those for this project. I did not use any other stenciling brushes and or tools because I wanted it to have some distressed look to it. I just used rolled the best I could and didn’t worry too much about the bleeds or imperfections. If you want a cleaner look, you will probably need to go back and touch up some areas with actual stencil brushes. I started in the middle of the room and stenciled every other tile so that I could access each one without stepping on the drying paint.

Step 6: Seal the Floors. I used Minwax Polycrylic protective finish with three coats. I just used a regular roller and brush to cover them. After each coat, I waited a day, and then after the third and final coat, I waited 72 hours before putting any real traffic on the floors. I think this was key to allowing the floors time to set. I also chose the Matte finish because I didn’t want a shiny look.

Products I used:

**Four months later and these floors have held up so much better than I’d anticipated! This room gets so much traffic every day because it’s where the kids cubbies with shoes and bags are located. It’s also our laundry room, so with 6 people, it is always being used! Because the tile is so pretty, it motivates me to keep the laundry off the floor.**

Lorena Canals Rug

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I’ve been on a mission lately to find quality area rugs, that can handle the madness of four little kids and two old dogs. We had to discard our living room rug recently because it had become unsanitary in our house. Gross. It’s just really hard to clean most rugs.

Basically, we need rugs that can withstand all the messes these tiny creatures tend to make, and that is hard to find. Except… this type of rug does exist, and we’ve been thrilled with its addition to our home! We’ve had the Bereber Beige rug by Lorena Canals for a few months now, and I am absolutely in love!

We put it in our son’s bedroom since he plays on the floor all the time, and it has become the spot we all go to roll around with the baby. It’s 100% natural cotton with non-toxic dyes, and the best part is… it’s MACHINE-WASHABLE. Yes, that’s right, you can throw that beauty in the wash, which I did after the flu swept through our house a few weeks ago, and actually clean the rug.

Not only is this rug durable, its also versatile! I picked the Bereber because I can envision using it in multiple rooms in my house. I also use it for many of my IG posts when staging photos.

Baby photo shoot! This is also the space we bring her as she’s learning to roll and crawl, because it’s soft and safe.

A lifestyle look. I will seriously just stand in this room and rub my feet into this rug because it’s so soft.

We love this rug and highly recommend you check it out at Lorena Canals!

They have a variety of rug styles for kids and home. They also have washable cushions and baskets that are adorable.

**I was given the Bereber Beige Rug compliments of Lorena Canals. As always, the reviews and opinions of products are my own.**