Faux "shiplap" wall for $20 using only paint!

     Yep, you read that correctly! I'm going to share with you how I painted a "shiplap" accent wall in my living room for twenty smackaroos! Keep reading for the details :)

     For months now I've been searching for a way to create a shiplap accent wall in my home. I needed it to be inexpensive and something I could do with little to no help. Let me also add that my husband was not completely on board (but that's nothing new, lol).

     I found several options and none of them were bad...but, for the most part they would have required me to ask for help. I won't go into all the options but if you're curious and don't want to do the research just let me know and I'll fill you in ;) 

     When I stumbled onto the idea of PAINTING a "shiplap" wall I was intrigued to say the least. It was the perfect alternative to actually nailing boards to the wall. And, best of all, when the trend fades and my taste changes I don't have to worry about prying the boards off the wall and patching any damage or holes....all I have to do is paint over it!! HOLY CANNOLI!! 

     Now, I'll be the first one to tell you that it's not the perfect solution and it's obviously not going to be for everyone. But, for me and my home I'm completely happy with how it turned out.

     Here are the tools that you'll need if you decide to go with a painted faux "shiplap" look. 

     You'll need painters tape, paint--at least one color but possibly two if your wall isn't already the color you want as the base color--I was lucky that my walls were already painted gray, a level, black fine point marker, ruler, paint brush, clear glaze and last but not least, you'll need a wood graining tool.

   

The only thing not pictures that you will need is a paintbrush!!!
I used the oldest rattiest paintbrush I had because I wanted to add
texture but I'm sure you could work the same magic with a new brush as well.

Sooo...are you ready to see my masterpiece yet?? Well, wait no longer my friends! Here it is!

A close up view of the faux "shiplap" wall

     
One of the options for the accent wall that I'd entertained had been wallpaper...they have some gorgeous shiplap designs at Lowe's but they were a bit pricey for me. I was looking at around $175 for a half wall and I just couldn't quite force myself to do that. I think my painted wall looks at least as good as the wallpaper would have looked for a fraction of the price.

For this entire "shiplapped" wall it cost me roughly $7 for the wood graining tool from Lowe's and $12.99 for the glaze. I already had everything else, including the white paint. So, a grand total of $20.

And, in all honesty, I think the glaze was a bit irrelevant with the technique I used. From my understanding, the glaze acts to slow the drying time for the paint...but I worked one row at a time so drying wasn't really a factor for me.

     So, tell me what you think! Love it? Hate it? 

     I think it's a good cost effective option and saves a lot of time and headache when the shiplap trend is history.

     The main "ingredient" to achieving this look is this tool from Lowe's (or any other home improvement store I'm sure). This thing is like magic...I'm not sure HOW it works only that it does. 

I hope I've given you something to chew on and if you decide to paint your own faux "shiplap" wall be sure to send me a picture...I'd love to see it!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

EDITED:
I've had several people ask HOW I did this so I'm going to try to explain it. I originally created this post as a "hey look what I did" post rather than a "how to" post so I don't have detailed photos are instructions, unfortunately.  But, I'll do my best to give a step by step!

Our wall was already painted a medium gray color which was what color "undertone" I was hoping for. But, really you could use any colors you want!

     In the photo above you can see that this is when I first started. What I did was first to take that ratty paintbrush I mentioned earlier...and paint some horizontal strips with it...I did not completely cover the area I just brushed the paint on horizontally in a straight line side to side. I painted no more than 2 strips at a time before using the graining tool. One thing I did to kind of break up the "pattern" was that I alternated which side I started on. If I started left to right on one line then the next line I went right to left. And, also, I had watched several videos on YouTube on the graining tool AND I had practiced on a piece of foam board I had in my craft room before I started on the wall.
   
      In this photo you can see that I'd done 4 separate lines. After the paint had set for a couple minutes but BEFORE it dried I took my paint brush and lightly brushed across the strips again to blend if you will.

     Once I'd used that technique on the entire wall and it was completely dry, I then took a level and a marker...not a sharpie but just an American Crafts medium tip marker and drew on the black lines at every 5 inches. That's really all there was to it.

     I'm not sure if this helps you guys but I sure hope so and please ask me if I left anything out!

     Here is the "finished" wall (as if anything is ever really finished, lol!)

This picture is a little dark but it's been a couple weeks now
and I am still absolutely loving my "shiplap" wall! 

Crystiles peel and stick wall tiles--our kitchen backsplash makeover

Good morning!
Today, I thought I'd share with you all our new kitchen back splash. I had originally intended to use actual tiles but, just to be completely honest, I was looking for a simpler (ok, EASIER) alternative because I knew that I'd be waiting until heaven knows when if I kept waiting for my husband to agree to such a time consuming and back breaking project. I try to be fair to him and to remember that he works 6 days per week and just like everyone else, he likes to have some down time when he's off. I understand that and I respect that. SOOOO....a couple weeks ago I came across the concept of peel and stick dimensional "faux tiles" and I was quite intrigued.  I pretty much watched every video I could find on YouTube and for the most part, people loved them and they looked really good.
I finally coaxed the hubs on board and off we went to Lowe's in search of the tiles or something similar. Unfortunately, we didn't have much luck with Lowe's. They did have some similar tiles but not in any of the colors I was looking for. However, being there and seeing the tiles themselves in person and holding them and touching them and comparing the way they looked to the actual glass tiles was enlightening. I was convinced that the average person would never look at these and realize that they aren't "real tile".
So, with that in mind I was ready to get my hands on them and get them into my kitchen ASAP.
I had seen a YouTube video by a YouTuber named Laci Jane and I'll try to add the link. Her tile looked so amazing and I thought the colors would look great in my kitchen so I followed her link and headed over to Amazon to place my order.

Laci Jane's tile video

I was so excited when my package arrived...you guys just don't even know, lol.

As you can see from the photo, the box was not very large. The tiles are thin and very very light. The sheets are 10 in. X 10 in.  and we needed 42 sheets for our kitchen. They come 6 sheets per package. I actually ordered an extra package and I'm glad I did because we used it!

Here's the link to the tile I purchased. If that link doesn't work, somebody please let me know!

Crystiles

I'm going to start by showing you a few pictures of our kitchen before we started just to give you an idea.

 Just giving you all the different angles so you will be able to truly appreciate the dramatic change that the tiles made.

We began by prepping the walls...basically removing the strips that are ever present in manufactured homes. Don't we all despise those strips? I understand the need for them but that doesn't mean I hate them any less.

Once the walls were prepped it was time to measure and make sure the lines were level.

 And NOW...the "AFTER"

As you can see from the photos it truly is quite a dramatic transformation...I  do think it enhanced our home and I don't think the average person will realize that it's not real tile.

However, it wasn't all sunshine and butterflies... and there ARE some issues that we had that are worth mentioning.

1. It wasn't quite as easy to apply as we'd hoped. The sheets are thin and you             have to place them precisely.
2. Your surface (wall) needs to be completely smooth or you WILL see the                imperfections once finished and can even cause bubbling.
3. If you don't get it lined up perfectly and need to reposition it then it WILL pull     up the paint from your wall and possibly even damage the wall. This stuff is         STICKY!
4. Be certain of the color before you purchase it and put it on your walls. It's
    cheaper than actual tile but that doesn't necessarily mean it's "cheap"...and you
    want to love what's on your wall.


All said and done, I'm happy with how it turned out and the change is quite dramatic.
I would definitely recommend the peel and stick tiles if you're looking for a cheaper and less labor intensive alternative to real tile. Just be sure your walls are ready and take it slow and steady. Read the instructions and get to work :)

One final picture for you :)
This is a side by side of our kitchen the first day it was set up (this is how it looked when we bought it) and after with the tile.