5 Fixer Upper Shiplap Secrets with Nicki Koziarz for Love Your Life Friday

 

People always ask me if it’s so fun to live on a Fixer Upper Farm. I tend to cringe a little when asked this because I often think they are picturing this magical TV set where a house is transformed to a beautiful home in about thirty minutes.

The truth is, buying a Fixer Upper, without an overflowing bank account, requires a lot of patience, creative thinking and hard work. You have to stop comparing your progress to Chip and Joanna’s instant transformations. And you have to learn to be content with the progress YOU can make.

So yes, it’s fun but we have to keep taking this one project at a time. And I’m excited to share with you a little fixer upper secret we recently discovered about that coveted ship lap look we see all over Pinterest.

It’s actually NOT as expensive or hard as one might think. Don’t read: CHEAP AND EASY AND QUICK. It’s still going to cost some money and it’s a time-consuming project.

But if you have the right tools and the right attitude, you can transform a space pretty inexpensively to a lovely little shiplap room!

So here are DIY Shiplap secrets:

Secret One: Start with a small area

If we were to do this again, I’d start with one wall before tackling an entire room. Start with something small so you can get the hang of it and then if you love it, move to something bigger!

Secret Two: Plywood!

That’s right! Plywood. We used 11/32 Pine Sanded Plywood. We did a lot of research and found a lot of people had used plywood and loved it. So, we figured we had nothing to lose to try it out and surprise … it worked great! 

Secret Three: Let them cut it for you!  

This was the biggest surprise we discovered in this process! The great people at either Lowe’s or Home Depot will actually cut your plywood, to the specifications you want, for .25 a cut. This was the best!

Secret Four: Cuts for Corners

  

To get your corners right, you’ll need to use a chop saw and cut it at a 45-degree angle. This can be the trickiest part of the project, so be sure to take your time to get it right.

We also used a nail gun to secure the plywood to the walls, it was pretty easy this way but you will need to fill in the nail holes before you paint because there will be a lot! 

Secret Five: 2-in-1 Paint

Splurging for a paint and primer in one! You will still have to do at least three coats, but I can’t imagine how many coats it would take without that type of paint. Plywood soaks that paint right in. Ours probably could have used another coat but I wanted a rougher look and … let’s just be real. I WAS DONE. [smiles]

So there you have it! Five secrets for DIY Shiplap!

Happy Friday!

To help you reach toward all your DIY dreams, today I’m giving away a $25 gift card to Lowes and a copy of my new book to help inspire you to finish strong, 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit!  leave a comment sharing what one of your DIY dreams is and we will randomly select a winner and email them next Friday!

Nicki Koziarz is a speaker, writer & leader in today’s generation.

She is on staff at Proverbs 31 Ministries, where she gets to help lead thousands of women through their online Bible studies.

Nicki’s a girl hungry for her generation to know and understand the truth God offers. Her first book, 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit releases in March of 2016 and the Bible study to follow in May 2016. Nicki speaks nationally at events, retreats and conferences.

One of the greatest joy’s in her life is being a wife to Kris and mom to 3 amazing girls: