How to use cedar shake as an cottage style accent wall

I am at it again! I can’t seem to stop putting texture on my walls. Today I am sharing how I added some cottage style to one of the bedrooms at the Airbnb.

I have been wanting to add some warmth and texture in this room. I love the paint and trim color but wanted to give the space more visual interest and a cottage/coastal feel. Then last week we were adding some replacement pieces of cedar shake shingles to the outside and a lightbulb went off! I thought if I used it as an accent wall it would look pretty and would add the perfect amount of cottage vibe.

Before shot of blank wall before the Cedar Shake added

Here is what the space looked like when we bought the house last Spring. Yikes!

This is the before when we first purchased the house last Spring.

These are the cedar shingles we were using on the shed (more on that project soon). Since we had some leftover shingles I decided to use those and order another box from Amazon for the accent wall.

I lined the cedar shake shingles along the wall to decide the pattern (cedar shake comes in different widths within the box).

I then used a pneumatic nailer (you can rent these from your nearest big box store) to attach the shingles to the wall with the thin side at the top. I made sure to nail them three inches from the top where the next row would cover the nail holes.

Please ignore the trim paint. We fixed it later. :)

I kept the rows going until……I RAN out of shingles!! Normally this would not be a big deal. However, if you have recently tried to DIY anything (wood products especially), they are shipping very slowly. Another box would be three to four weeks, and I couldn’t wait. We had Airbnb guests checking in later in the week. So I sort of “hodge podged” the last corner piece and moved on to a plan “B.”

Testing the whitewash on the cedar shingles

Before we get to plan B, First I lightly hand sanded the shingles as they were a little rough. I then whitewashed the cedar. White washing is a simple process that I have used before. Simply dilute some leftover paint with water and paint it on. Here I used three parts water to one part paint and wiped it on with a rag to apply.

I then went over it to add more color wherever I thought it needed more coverage and to even it out.

Back to plan B. I had a little more than half of a wall covered with shingles so what to do? I decided to add a plant shelf. A shelf would act as a stopping point and allow for more color!! Bonus win. I painted the shelf the same color as the wall trim (SW Morning Fog).