One Room Challenge Week 3- Shiplap feature

Last weekend was a whirlwind, but I managed to make progress in the office for the One Room Challenge. All of the work from here on out is trim work and taking care of small details, because the details are what really make the room. Don’t you agree?

See the Week 1 blog post here and the Week 2 blog post here.

I installed vertical shiplap above and below each desk area. Not only is the vertical shiplap a wonderful feature for the desk areas, but it also serves to cover small gaps between the cabinets and the wall and the desktop and the wall! It’s a two for one special in this room.

I absolutely love shiplap because it is so forgiving and it’s a straightforward process for installation. BUT, I have major tips to share with you that will make all the difference when installing shiplap either vertically or horizontally!

First, let’s discuss material selection. I personally love pre-primed shiplap boards that you can get at any lumber supplier or home improvement store. They come in a variety of lengths and widths so you can choose which size works best in your space or gives you the least amount of waste when cut down. Also, this type of shiplap comes with a groove on one side so that the boards fit together seamlessly. I used 7 1/4″ wide 8′ long pre-primed boards from Home Depot and 7 1/4″ wide 12′ pre-primed boards from Menards (don’t ask…I made many unnecessary trips to home improvement stores over the weekend ha!). You can also find shiplap boards in other colors and styles, but I like the smooth pre-primed ones to finish myself.

Another cheaper option is to buy 1/4″ plywood and rip it into strips (some home improvement stores will do this for you!). I followed this tutorial for using plywood when I did a makeover on my sister in law’s fireplace. Then I used the pre-primed boards for the first time in my green first-floor bathroom. I actually really like both materials and they come out looking pretty much exactly the same! There’s just more prep and installation work involved with using plywood- you have to paint the wall first, prepare your boards, and then space them yourself with a nickel.

Anyways, using the pre-primed boards here saved me a lot of time and so did these other tips below (the first tip below applies to both pre-primed boards and plywood shiplap!):

1. Paint your boards first- ALL sides except the side facing the wall. Trust me…I’ve learned from experience on this one. If you don’t paint the boards first, you’ll have to use a kid’s paintbrush to jam paint into the small gap between the boards and THIS IS NOT FUN ha! Super time consuming also. It’s just so much easier to paint three sides of the board while they are laying down first and THEN cut and install.
2. For shiplap boards that already have a groove to fit together, nail your brad nails into the groove like this, and then you won’t have to fill, sand, and paint ANY nails holes because it gets covered by the overlapping board:

Here’s a wide angle view of where we stand with the desk area going into Week 4!

Did you notice I put the baseboard back on below the desk areas? This little touch here makes all the difference and once we install crown molding around the room, these built ins will be absolutely S E A M L E S S! While I’m waiting on items to arrive (I’m tired of seeing the drawers and cabinets without faces/doors…I know you probably are too ha!), I’ll be doing more trim work in here to keep the ball rolling. See you here on the blog next week!