Come to the Dark Side JoJo: How to DIY Black Shiplap

Hey hey!! Lets get going with these tutorials for the Scandi Sanctuary yes?? When I tell you that ANYONE can do this project I mean it. I don’t care if you’ve never DIYed anything in your life, this project is a fantastic jumping off point! The inspo for this wall treatment was a handful of amazing houses in Iceland and Scandinavia that had this killer black exterior. I was obsessed with the fact that while they were black (normally a little cold feeling) they were still so inviting. The secret sauce was that you could still see the sheen of wood grain even though the color was solid. Brilliant!! You could possibly get the same look with a black wood stain, but I decided to use a black paint wash because I’m cheap, because it doesn’t smell, and I knew I could get a flat finish with paint. I used basic dog ear cedar fence posts. You could possibly use another type of wood if you really wanted, but Cedar checks all of the boxes for me. It has a heavy amount of texture, its lightweight, and its SO inexpensive. This entire wall treatment cost less than $100. I really wanted the heavy wood grain , but I didn’t want it to be really rough so I ran it through a planer and smoothed it out by about 80%. (If you don’t have a planer, you could use a sander and 80 grit sandpaper.) Once your boards are ready, lay them out on heavy duty paper.   Mix 2 parts water with 1 part matte black paint and roll it onto your boards. (We used about 3/4 of a gallon for this project.) When you’re painting your boards, you’ve got to continually stir the water because the paint will settle on the bottom of your bucket. If it settles and separates the sheen will be higher as you’re using the end of the water mixture and look a little wonky. You’ll need 2-3 coats to get a solid matte finish. Let them dry as long as possible. This was actually a mistake that I made. The cedar boards were pretty wet when I bought them (they were freshly cut) and adding more water to the equation didn’t help. I went back a week after install and they had shrunk in size. So just a heads up on that one! Prep your wall by painting it black before you start installing the boards, it will make your life 100000x easier. Pinky promise. We didn’t do that on the main wall and had to go back through with a teeny brush and spray bottle of paint solution to hide all of the white grooves. (Also, installing during daylight might help you notice these things before they become a problem…just sayin.) As you’re installing, make sure that you check every 3-4 rows to make sure things are still level. Trim your planks to size, and attach them to the wall with a finishing nail gun. If your boards are looking a little less than black after dealing with sawdust, wipe them down with a rag that has a little bit of black paint mixed with water and they will brighten– er, darken– right back up.   Before:   After: