It seems like in the last couple years ship lap has come back from the dead. Thanks to Joanna Gaines and the amazing show Fixer Upper, ship lap is here to stay! I have been dying to install it somewhere in my home for a while. I just haven’t been able to commit to any one area.
It recently hit me that my moms fireplace mantel was lacking a presence in her family room. It’s a beautiful, traditional fireplace, but it needed a facelift. I immediately knew what I wanted to do! J and I got to work. It took us just two days to install and paint and cost just under $20. This is a very inexpensive upgrade that makes a BIG impact!
Here are some before photos.
My little helper had to be in this photo. He wanted everyone to know he was there too!
We cut a 1×4′ and nailed into the wall above the mantel.
We cut a third 1×4′ to nail across the top to create a framed box. We then cut under-layment into 4″ strips. You can use whatever wood you’d like, this is just a cheap option that you can stain or paint.
(You can check out our antique door look a like here. We used under-layment in that project as well.)
We used a quarter to space each strip when we nailed them to the wall.
J reinstalled the crown molding across the top. Coping those little sides of molding are not fun folks! I thought it was going to be the death of J before it was all over.
Once we filled the nail holes with wood filler, I primed and painted!
I drilled holes and used anchors to hang the mirror.
After a little shopping for some new decor, here it is!
(Decor source list is posted at the bottom.)
The ladder on the left is an actual antique ladder. I saved it from an old barn on our church’s property. It works great for holding blankets, but I think it looks just as lovely all on its own!
The living room has come a long way over the years. It just keeps getting better and better. It is one of the coziest rooms in the house and fits our family perfectly!
Has anyone else installed ship lap lately? I’d love to hear about it!
Source List:
All lumber- Home Depot
Fireplace screen: Target
Framed mirror: Target
Black, wooden candle sticks: Target
Pillar candles: Pottery Barn
Boxwood wreath: Target
Mini potted shrubs: Hobby Lobby
Vintage books: Goodwill
Black picture frames: Target
Wooden crate: Michaels (I painted and distressed it at home.)
Bark and straw balls (crate filler): Target
Wooden magazine tray: Pottery Barn
TV console: Pottery Barn
Lamp and shade: Wal-Mart
Coffee Table: Pottery Barn
Plaid throw: Target
Sea blue vase: Pottery Barn
Firewood Holder: Home Depot
Black framed photos: Ikea
Leather loveseats: Havertys
This is GORGEOUS! I love everything in this room and that’s such an awesome story about the ladder! I’ve been wanting to do something different to my fireplace and I just haven’t been sure what to do. This would be awesome!
This turned out beautiful Amanda!
Beautiful and inspiring Amanda! I might have to do this in our next home.
Thanks Bess! It was one of the easiest projects J and I have every done!
I love it, it looks fantastic and the perfect place for ship lap! It looks so cool. I love Fixer Upper and that’s exactly where I saw it! LOL I love the way that JoAnna decorates, the old mixed in to make an eclectic mix. Just like the room you re-did. Great job.
Thank you so much Nikki! Fixer Upper is such a great show, love it. Thanks for stopping by my little corner of blogging. Have a great weekend 🙂
I LOVE this fireplace! Ship lap is my new favourite decor element. I’m featuring your project at the Talented Tuesday party! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Oh thank you so much Lindi! That means a lot. I’ll sure to stop by the link party 🙂
wow, I love your family room and fireplace!!! Gorgeous!
Thank you so much Christine! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by my little blogging corner.
I’m so excited to come across this! We just built our house, so I’m trying desperately to add elements that give the house the coziness that comes with older homes. I am a religious Fixer Upper-watcher… and I have been wanting to do this to our fireplace for a few months now. I was actually going to hire someone to make it for me… but after coming across your post, I definitely think we can do this ourselves. My only concern is the crown molding. We already have crown installed, so I’m a little concerned about taking it off. Any suggestions or thoughts? What did you guys do? Thanks!
I’m so glad you found my little blogging corner! You absolutely can do it yourself. I will say the crown molding was the most tricky part of the project. We did have crown running across that wall that we took down to install the shiplap. We had to bring the crown out a bit beside the 1×4 trim. It’s super tricky… it took my husband a little while to get those tiny pieces cut without them breaking, but it’s doable. Let me know how it goes for you guys. I’d love to hear if you come up with a more simple option. 🙂
This is just beautiful! Thank you so much for posting the details and making it look really doable for the average girl! Definitely going to try it! Unrelated to the fireplace, can you tell me your wall color? It’s so lovely…
Thank you so much Sue! I’m so glad you stopped by 🙂 It’s so doable, I promise. As far as the wall color goes, I will look and see if I can’t find it for you. It’s been so long, I don’t remember. The room has been repainted since then and we’re in a new home now… I’ll see what I can find 😉
Can you tell me specifically what wood you used for the 1×4 part of the trim? Is it pre primed MDF?
We used a product called under-layment. It’s like a very thin plywood material. It’s sold in 4×8′ sheets. Here is a link for it where we purchased it with all the details- http://www.homedepot.com/p/Underlayment-Common-7-32-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Actual-0-196-in-x-48-in-x-96-in-431178/203183010
We cut it into 4″ strips using our table saw. I know home improvement stores in our area will cut it down for you if you need. Hopefully this helps 🙂
I am curious about the 1×4 you put on the wall before you put in the imitation shiplap.
Oh okay! They’re just basic 1×4’s that we purchased at Home Depot. They were already primed white. You can buy them completely unfinished though. We actually had them on hand from a previous project.
Can you explain more how the crown molding portion was done? Specifically, the sides since it looks like it was reattached to the 1×4 at the top?