DIY Faux Vertical Shiplap with a Sharpie

I am going to show you how to DIY Faux Vertical Shiplap with a Sharpie paint pen.

TIP: Every tutorial that I have read says to use a Sharpie paint pen instead of a Sharpie permanent marker. The paint pen is easier to paint over if you decide to repaint your wall.

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The room that I am making over is at our lake house. We have shiplapped a wall in one room and I have painted shiplap with a Sharpie pen on a wall in the other room. When I decided I wanted a vertical shiplap wall in our guest room, I knew 100% that I would do it with a Sharpie. I am going to show you both walls and you will see what I mean.

Real shiplap using wood boards

Faux shiplap using a Sharpie paint pen.

As you can see, it is almost impossible to tell the difference. Especially since the walls that I chose for shiplap is the back wall. Meaning, that you are looking at the wall when you walk into the room.

Pro Reasons for Faux Shiplap with a Sharpie

1. Price. I spent under $10 on the Sharpie Paint Pens. I spent $100 on wood for the real shiplap wall.
2. Time. Two hours for the Sharpie wall. The real shiplap took an entire weekend working full days.
3. Husband. I did not have to ask my husband for help with the Sharpie wall. The real shiplap wall kicked both of our tails.
4. When I want to change the wall, all I have to do is paint over the Sharpie wall. I will have to remove all of the real shiplap wood and patch the walls.

Supplies

Sharpie Paint Pen medium point

Board or ruler to use as a guide

Level

Tape to hold the board

Instructions

This project is so easy to do. Decide how far apart you want your lines to be. Shiplap usually comes in 6 inch, 8 inch, or 10 inch boards.

I always start my lines where they will be behind the bed in case I mess up.

I used a leftover board from the real shiplap wall to use to draw a straight line. You can use a ruler. See the tutorial with a ruler.

Make sure that your board or ruler is level and straight.

Draw a vertical line with the Sharpie paint pen down the wall. I only used one side of the board at a time to draw the line.. You can see in the picture below.

The reason that I drew the line on the left was so that I could use tape to secure the board to the wall.

I messed up a few places and you cannot tell it. If you mess up, you can touch up with the paint that you use for your wall if you desire.

The wall looks amazing and no one knows that it is not real vertical shiplap.