A new "old" wall

If you have been living anywhere other than under a rock you know planked walls are popular.  Not like the old paneling from the 70s but classy dare I say sophisticated.  The look can range from reclaimed barnwood or palets to smooth, tongue and groove painted planks.  I went for a more rustic look.  The decision was easy when it came to location.  The first wall you see when you enter my home needed the focus.  I have been in love with the idea since I first saw Sarah Richardson renovate her farmhouse on HGTV.  Along comes Chip and JoJo with their fixer upper show and I see a whole new world of ship lap open up before me.  

As you may or may not know my home is a traditional American foursquare design but built in the 90s.  I can say for a fact there is no beautiful old shiplap hiding under the drywall.  Instead I am forced to faux the look of age.  This job was easy.  I was painting the living room a new color anyways and planks saved me the task of painting the largest wall.  We purchased 16 foot long corral boards like we use on our livestock fencing. It's inexpensive and has just the right amount of distressed finish to it already.  My wall took a total of 15 boards and at about 10 dollars each that was cheap.  

First we located studs and marked the wall with chalk lines.  The we made sure the boards were level.  A bit of prep and measurements made the installation much easier.  

See how quick? It only took us one night to complete this wall. A few hours really minus the shopping time and set up.

Once the wall was up and the room painted all the furniture can get put in it's place.  A little decluttering and rearranging was in order.  

Isn't it funny how small rooms can look larger when you leave space around the furniture?  Just shifting the large china cabinet over a bit makes the room seem larger because the eye sees the extra space around it and tells your brain that it must be large to fit such a big piece and still have space.

We got rid of the large leather furniture.  It was purchased for another house and another life and it just never quite fit in this house.  We are currently living with pieces scavenged from other rooms and it works well.  We need to buy a few items but that is design.  Nothing good happens in a flash. A collected look is just that. It takes time to find and collect all the right pieces.  That is part of the fun.