How to Create Boho Farmhouse Shiplap - 804 Sycamore

Amy Wadsworth
by Amy Wadsworth
5 Materials
$250
3 Days
Medium

In

DIY

How to Create Boho Farmhouse Shiplap

The farmhouse style has been taking shape ever since Joanna Gaines made us all so aware of its simple beauty. There are many interpretations of the farmhouse style, I tend to lean toward the modern farmhouse look. However, lately I’ve been infusing some boho throughout our house. I love the textures and natural elements found in the bohemian look. The boho style can also be super colorful or simply neutral, it’s so flexible and fun! In designing a look for my teenage daughter’s bedroom, it was definitely going to be boho, but I wanted it to flow with our home too. I’m so excited to show you how to create boho farmhouse shiplap and give you a mini tour of her bedroom design.


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Before construction!

My daughter, Sawyer, knows what she likes, but she’s also very open and flexible when considering other opinions and options. I had so much fun designing her bedroom space together. We threw around different ideas, color schemes, and how she wanted the room to feel. She likes color, but wanted the room to feel calm and relaxed, so we went with muted tones. The original feature wall was going to be diagonal board and batten, but it would have been too difficult for me to match up the boards with the french cleat bracket for her cane headboard – I just wasn’t up to that DIY challenge yet. She likes shiplap, but didn’t want white. We agreed to a light grey green, and found the most beautiful shade in Magnolia Home paint, called Clean Lines and it’s the best paint I’ve every used. I hate painting, I mean I seriously don’t like anything about it except picking out colors. I went ahead and brushed a coat onto the gap of the shiplap because it seemed like it would be difficult to paint inside it once it was installed. Magnolia Home paint went on like butter, hardly had an odor to it, and I painted all 9 boards in less than 30 minutes. Yeah, I went ahead and rolled the first coat on the entire board after feeling how fast and easy the layer went onto the gap. It dried quickly also and the finish was smooth and luxurious. I love it and have already started scoping out Magnolia Home colors for my husband’s office. I used about a half gallon after applying the second coat to the half-wall of shiplap. I’m guessing a can would have given me two coats of the entire 10’x12′ wall.

How to Create Boho Farmhouse Shiplap – Video Tutorial

I did my fair share of shiplap research, and found that I had to look for several tutorials in order to figure out how to do all the necessary steps for my wall. For the side baseboard issue, Jeremy and I had to just brainstorm and determine what we wanted to do. And I figured out the hard way that I would need to trim off the shiplap gap along the very top board if I wanted my shelf to work out. I created a video that covers all the details I came across when installing my shiplap, but I’ll also list them out below. I hope you find all the details you need and don’t have to shop around to cover unforeseen issues. Please hit that Like button on my video~

At this point, I ran out of daylight and realized that I attached my last shiplap board. I didn’t want to take it down to remove the shiplap gap along the top for the shelf, so I ran over to The Home Depot and got another board. This mistake turned out for the best because it made the wall a better height for the cane headboard. Lucky mistake for me!

At this point, I thought I was done with attaching the shiplap… but there was a problem with my top board. Be sure to watch my video to know how to prepare your last board for the shelf install.

How to Create Boho Shiplap – Step by Step

  1. Remove the baseboard trim and outlet covers.
  2. Cut the side intersecting baseboards at a 90 degree angle using a multi-tool.
  3. Mart the studs on your wall or use a stud finder for each board (I had to do this a bit because the huge electrical box in the wall threw off the stud finder).
  4. Paint the shiplap gaps – or the entire boards. This is a good time to paint the outlet covers if you want a seamless look.
  5. For each board, cut off a small piece to make sure each end is cut square.
  6. For each board, measure the wall, mark the cut on the board near the other end that hasn’t already been trimmed. It’s better to have the board be too long and have to go back and shave off a little more. Having the boards fit as closely as possible will make your caulking step later a bit easier.
  7. Place the shiplap board in place on the wall, use a level in case your floor isn’t level, and then use a brad nail gun to secure it into each stud. Use two inch brad nails and place two nails into each stud.
  8. Repeat steps 5, 6, 7 for each board – except the very top board.
  9. Once all the boards are up, add plastic wood to the brad nail holes. Once dry, sand smooth. I like to vacuum the dust and wipe it with a microfiber cloth.

  10. Cutting around an outlet
  11. When you reach an outlet, you’ll need to use a jigsaw or multi-tool to cut the piece out of the shiplap board. It helps to use one of the trimmed off ends to help you mark on the trim piece where the electrical box is located. I show how to do this step in the video. Please hit that Like button if you watch.
  12. Before you attach the shiplap boards around the outlet, you’ll need to CUT the POWER and add a gang box extender. This will pop out your outlet so that it’s flush with your new shiplap wall. You much CUT the POWER in order to unscrew the outlet and shimmy the extender box onto the outlet box. You screw the gang box extender in place and then add your boards. Once in place and lined up, tighten your outlet screws and you can resume power.

  13. Install Boho plant shelf
  14. To add a simple plant shelf, you’ll need to trim off the gap from the top piece of shiplap. I used a circular saw to do this, but a table saw would also work well.
  15. Our wall was just short of 12 feet long, so I used two 1″x2″x6′ select pine boards and two 1″x4″x6′ select pine boards.
  16. Measure the wall, and cut all 4 boards to fit perfectly across.
  17. Place the 1″x2″ boards on the wall – I used painters tape to hold mine up. Mark the stud locations along the bottom of the boards. I measured up 1/4″ inch for each stud mark because this is where you predrill your screw holes. Make sure you face out the prettiest side to mark your screw holes because this side will be seen. They are at 1/4″ up from the bottom because they’ll be hidden by the 1″x4″ shelf board later.
  18. You can attach the 1″x2″ boards to the wall into the studs. Make sure the boards are flush with the top shiplap board and even with each other as well. I used 3″ wood screws to attach this board to the wall.
  19. Hold your 1″x4″ boards up to the 1″x2″ board and mark three places to add your pocket holes. They can’t be aligned with the screws into the studs, that’s why your holding it up to the 1″x2″ boards so see where those screws are located.
  20. Use the Kreg pocket jig tool to make your pocket holes. These are placed on the underside of your shelf board, make sure you pick the prettiest side of this board to be on top.
  21. You may need a helper to hold up the shelf while you attach 1.25″ screws into the pocket holes. You can leave the pocket holes exposed, or fill with plastic wood, and sand when dry. You can also add plastic wood to the middle shelf seam if you don’t like seeing the line.
  22. You can caulk the seems along the side walls if you want. I chose to do this because my cuts weren’t perfect and the caulk helped to line things up.
  23. Once dry, prep your space for the final coat of paint.
  24. Once the paint is full dry, attach your outlet cover and style~

My husband helped with this part of the project by using the multi-tool to cut a 90 degree angle on the intersecting baseboard trim. By removing the existing 45 degree angle, I was able to simply slide the first shiplap board into place. At the end, I caulked the side seams and it looks great.

Before you add a gang box extender to make your outlet flush with the new shiplap, you MUST CUT OFF THE POWER to the room. I only tuned the power back on after my shiplap boards were installed around the outlet and I knew I didn't need to adjust or move the box.

I used a piece of shiplap that I trimmed off one end to mark the top of the outlet box. Then I placed the trim piece at the exact location on the shiplap board to mark the shape to cut out.

The Kreg pocket hole jig is only $40 and elevates my DIY projects by hiding my screws. These holes are drilled underneath the shelf and this shelf will cover the screws that are holding the shelf bracket piece in place.

My daughter held the shelf in place so that I could attach the 1x4" shelf in place. After a few screws were in, I didn't need her help and the rest easily went in. You can fill these holes or not - it's a personal preference. The holes can only be seen when you're laying on the bed.






How to Create Boho Farmhouse Shiplap

Magnolia Home Paint, Clean Lines color is so pretty and definitely one to see in-person for the true color. It looks great in this space and works well in our home. The beauty of boho farmhouse is that it’s so flexible, almost any color would work for this project. I hope this tutorial is helpful and inspirational. It was my first go with shiplap and it was challenging and fun. Now, I feel even more confident to take on other projects. Let me know what you think in the comments below and be sure to subscribe to get an update on the other side of this Boho Farmhouse bedroom, and more DIY and decorating!

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Amy Wadsworth
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  2 questions
  • Hi. Can shiplap be layered over a carpeted wall? It’s stuck so securely that ld have to replace the gyprock. My sons cat has destroyed it and it’s destroyed, not to mention out of style!!

  • Theresa Theresa on Jan 04, 2022

    Did you have to use spacers when placing the boards

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  • Lula Porter Lula Porter on Jan 05, 2022

    Love the result. My old home came with antique shiplap for the stairs and bedrooms upstairs. The master bedroom is variable width solid wood paneling which I imitated for the rest of downstairs. I used 1x12s and routed a V along the length. Twenty years later I literally sanded the walls clean (renters) and sealed them with amber shellac. The best thing about using real wood is how I have popped a board off to do a repair and tacked it back. Now I'm glad I didn't use tongue and groove boards.

  • Dl.5660408 Dl.5660408 on Feb 16, 2023

    Wow! It looks straight out of a decorating book 🙀🙀🙀

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