We have begun our master bedroom closet makeover. Our first project was to make and install a DIY dark shiplap wall.
The past two or three months we have been using our guest room as our closet as we slowly work on a complete makeover of our master bedroom closet.
The purging bug bit me (or maybe my pregnancy nesting kicked in late as I never had the urge until after our son was born) and both Brent and I were really excited to gut the closet from ripping out the closet to knocking down all the shelves.
However, gone are the days where we can complete large (or even small scale) DIY projects in one weekend. We are currently in a season of life where our life outside of DIY projects is very busy so our closet project is always getting pushed to the side. Oh well. We are learning to just enjoy this time and take things slow.
This weekend we finally finished our first project in our master bedroom closet and… it is entirely cosmetic so we will still be using the guest room as our closet for the foreseeable future. Ha. But it looks really awesome, priorities, right?
Our first task in the closet was to create a DIY dark shiplap wall on the long wall in our closet. We wanted a faux shiplap wall that was painted dark and would be the focal wall of our closet that we could hang our large mirror from IKEA.
Ah, good old shiplap. It’s all the rage these days. Traditional shiplap is not our style but I like the look of dark planked walls and was looking for an idea for a focal wall in our closet. We decided that would be the perfect place to give it a try.
Read on to see how we created our shiplap focal wall. We were able to create our planked wall inexpensively and easily using the steps below.
How We Made Our DIY Dark Shiplap Wall
SUPPLIES
- Plywood Sheathing
- Table Saw
- Brad Nail Gun
- 2″ Brad Nails
- Paintable Wood Filler
- Sandpaper
- Paint (Black Fox – Sherwin-Williams)
- Level
- Stud Finder
- Yard Stick
- Nickel (a coin)
- Paintbrush
FYI: This post contains affiliate links to products we used and liked for our DIY dark shiplap wall. As an Amazon Associate Gray House Studio earns from qualifying purchases. This is at no extra cost to you. We appreciate you supporting this site. Read our privacy and disclosure policy.
TUTORIAL VIDEO
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Like our video? Please subscribe and help us reach our goal of 100k subscribers.
STEPS
1. Before we installed our DIY shiplap wall in our master bedroom closet, we removed all the existing shelves. We also pulled up all the old carpet. Note: It is probably a good idea to wear shoes when pulling up carpet.
2. Next, we needed to remove the carpet tack strips which are such a pain to get up and our least favorite part but we found a shovel did the trick much better than any other tool we used in the past.
3. Our shiplap runs from the floor to ceiling so we also removed the baseboards.
To take off the baseboards we cut the caulk at the top of the board and used a putty knife to pry the board from the wall.
4. We used a stud finder and a yard stick to mark all the wall studs from the floor to ceiling to make hanging the boards easier when the time came.
5. Once our closet was prepped, we purchased the wood we would use for our faux shiplap wall.
We have seen a lot of DIY-ers use textureless hardwood plywood but we opted to use plywood sheathing.
We used a table saw to cut each of the three plywood sheets down to 7” and then used sandpaper to sand down the edges to avoid splinters.
6. Once the sheets were cut down, we lightly sanded each board. Then we applied a coat of paint (we used Black Fox by Sherwin-Williams) to each board with a paintbrush.
After the boards were dry, we lightly sanded them and put a second coat of paint to finish the look.
7. To start the first row of shiplap, we used ¾” plywood scraps as spacers to leave room for the wood floors that we will install later.
We attached each board to the wall in the studs with our brad nail gun and 2″ brad nails
We used a level to doubled check that they were level as we went up the wall.
8. We didn’t want to paint the whole wall but also didn’t want the wall to be white in between the shiplap boards so after we installed each board we used a paintbrush to apply paint about an inch above it with our dark paint. This covered the gaps between the board.
Note: We used a nickel as a spacer to easily make the space between the boards consistent and even.
9. After all of the boards on our DIY shiplap wall were installed, we came back and patched the nail holes with a paintable wood filler.
Once the caulk was dry we painted over the caulk with our same Black Fox paint to clean it up and finish the look so the nail holes were no longer noticeable.
Some may wonder why go through all this work just for a closet but to us it is a fun form of art and we love strategizing and designing these spaces so that they “feel” and function just as we want them to.
Our closet was basic and boring but already with just this DIY dark shiplap wall, I can tell that it is going to be a really nice extension of our plans for the rest of our house. It is fun to work on a smaller space right now and really take our time to think through each design decision.
We can’t wait to have an organized and beautiful master closet that we actually enjoy getting dressed in every day rather than getting frustrated by all the clutter.
Stay tuned to see more of our master bedroom closet projects and how this space comes together.
PIN IT FOR LATER
Wow…. what an amazing tutorial. I liked this DIY shiplap wall. It’s looking beautiful. Great work.
I love the hanging planters, do you have a tutorial for them? I couldn’t fid one.
Thanks Maisy! We currently do not have a tutorial on our site but will be adding one soon for the wood hanging planters.
Beautiful job. I have been looking for A shade of black paint my master bedroom. I think I just found it. Btw, what are the dimensions of your closet?
The closet is roughly 6ft by 14 feet. It is kind of like a hall with a door.