15 Spring Shiplap Wall Ideas
There is a reason shiplap has become one of the most talked-about interior design elements of the last decade. Its clean horizontal lines, its satisfying texture, and its ability to work across wildly different decorating styles have made it a staple in homes from coastal cottages to urban apartments. Spring is the perfect season to embrace it.
As the light changes and the urge to refresh your living space takes hold, shiplap offers a way to completely transform a room without a full renovation. Whether you paint it, stain it, leave it raw, or mix it with seasonal accessories, the ideas below will give you a starting point for making shiplap work beautifully in your home this spring.
1. Soft White Shiplap with Botanical Prints
The most classic shiplap look — crisp white boards running horizontally across a feature wall — never goes out of style, and in spring it feels especially fresh. Paint your shiplap in a pure or slightly warm white, keep the shadow gaps between the boards visible, and then dress the wall with a gallery of framed botanical prints.
Fern studies, wildflower illustrations, and pressed flower arrangements all work beautifully against white shiplap, giving the wall an almost editorial quality. Add a simple wooden shelf across the midpoint of the wall to hold small ceramic vases of tulips or narcissi, and the whole arrangement feels like a curated celebration of the season.
2. Sage Green Shiplap Accent Wall
Green is the defining colour of spring, and sage in particular has a sophisticated softness that reads as both contemporary and timeless. Painting a shiplap wall in a muted sage tone creates an instant sense of calm and brings the outdoors in without feeling literal or costume-like.
This works particularly well in dining rooms and kitchens, where the colour bounces warmly in natural light. Pair it with natural linen curtains, unlacquered brass hardware, and a simple wooden dining table to complete the look. A few stems of eucalyptus or dried pampas grass in a tall earthenware vase will tie the botanical thread through the whole room.
3. Vertical Shiplap for Height and Drama
While horizontal shiplap is the traditional choice, running the boards vertically creates an entirely different effect — one that draws the eye upward and makes ceilings feel higher than they actually are. In spring, this works wonderfully in a hallway or narrow entryway, where the vertical lines suggest growth, energy, and movement.
Paint vertical shiplap in a pale sky blue or a clean off-white, hang a simple round mirror at eye level, and place a slim console table below with a few potted hyacinths to greet visitors the moment they step through the door.
4. Blush Pink Shiplap in a Bedroom
Blush pink and shiplap might not be the most obvious pairing, but in a bedroom the combination is genuinely lovely. The texture of the boards softens what could otherwise be a flat expanse of colour, and the shadow gaps add subtle depth that prevents the wall from feeling saccharine.
Choose a dusty, muted blush rather than a bright candy pink, and pair it with white bedding, rattan furniture, and a few trailing plants on a floating shelf. This is a spring bedroom refresh that costs relatively little but delivers a dramatic and deeply restful result.
5. Shiplap with a Built-In Window Seat
One of the most charming ways to use shiplap in spring is to extend it across a wall that incorporates a window seat. The boards run behind and around the seat, creating a cohesive, built-in look that feels architectural rather than decorative.
Paint everything the same colour — a soft duck egg blue or a warm cream — so that the seat base, the back wall, and the surrounding shiplap read as a single unified feature. Add fat linen cushions, a lightweight throw in a spring print, and a small stack of books, and you have the most inviting reading nook imaginable.
6. Unpainted Raw Wood Shiplap
Not every shiplap wall needs paint. Raw, unpainted pine or cedar boards have a natural warmth and a faint woody fragrance that suits spring perfectly. Left untreated or finished with a simple clear wax or light oil, the wood develops a beautiful honey tone that brings enormous warmth to a room.
This approach works particularly well in a sunroom, a garden room, or a utility space, where the natural material feels entirely at home. Against raw shiplap, woven baskets, terracotta pots, and simple cotton textiles look effortlessly considered, and the overall effect is one of relaxed, unfussy comfort.
How to Finish Raw Shiplap
If you want to preserve the natural colour of the wood without darkening it too much, a water-based matte varnish is your best option.
For a slightly warmer, more tactile finish, a clear furniture wax applied with a soft cloth and then buffed will give the boards a gentle sheen and protect them from moisture. Avoid oil-based varnishes in spring if humidity is a factor in your home, as they can take longer to dry and may yellow slightly over time.
7. Shiplap Behind Open Shelving
Using shiplap as a backdrop for open shelving is one of the smartest design moves you can make, because it gives the shelves themselves a context and a sense of intention that bare plasterwork never quite achieves. Paint the shiplap in a deep, moody colour — a forest green, a navy, or a warm charcoal — and then float two or three simple wooden shelves across it. Style the shelves with a mix of spring-appropriate objects: small potted succulents, ceramic bowls in earthy tones, a few well-chosen books with attractive spines, and a trailing plant that spills over the edge of the highest shelf.
8. Shiplap Fireplace Surround
A fireplace wall clad in shiplap is a classic for good reason. In spring, when the fire itself is lit less often, the wall becomes purely decorative, and the shiplap gives you a wonderful canvas to style for the season.
Paint the boards in a warm white or a pale stone tone, and then fill the hearth with a large arrangement of dried flowers, pillar candles of varying heights, or a cluster of potted ferns. The mantelpiece above becomes a spring vignette: a trailing ivy in a terracotta pot, a few framed pressed flower prints, and a simple ceramic candlestick or two.
9. Coastal Shiplap with Whitewash Finish
The whitewash finish — where a diluted white paint is applied over natural wood and then partially wiped away before drying — gives shiplap a sun-bleached, driftwood quality that is perfectly suited to a coastal or Scandinavian-inspired interior.
In spring, this look feels airy and optimistic, particularly when paired with linen in soft sand and ocean tones, simple rope accents, and a few pieces of sea glass displayed in a shallow bowl. This is a weekend DIY project that genuinely transforms a wall and costs very little beyond a tin of white emulsion and a Saturday afternoon.
10. Shiplap Mudroom or Entryway Wall
The mudroom or entryway is perhaps the most practical place in the house to install shiplap, because the boards are robust, easy to wipe down, and far more attractive than bare painted plaster when fitted with hooks and a storage bench below.
In spring, lean into the seasonal transition by painting the shiplap in a cheerful but grounded colour — a warm terracotta, a soft mustard, or a pale olive — and hang a mix of coat hooks for light jackets, dog leads, and canvas tote bags. A small potted plant on the bench and a coir mat below complete the picture.
11. Shiplap in a Home Office
Working from home is considerably more pleasant when your surroundings are beautiful, and a shiplap wall behind your desk is one of the quickest ways to elevate a home office from functional to genuinely inspiring.
Choose a calm, focused colour — a pale blue-grey, a muted green, or a warm off-white — and keep the rest of the room simple so that the texture of the boards does the work. In spring, add a small vase of seasonal flowers to your desk, hang a single piece of artwork on the shiplap, and let the natural light do the rest.
12. Two-Tone Shiplap with a Chair Rail
Dividing a shiplap wall into two colour zones separated by a simple timber chair rail gives the treatment a more formal, almost Georgian quality that suits period properties beautifully. Paint the lower section in a deeper, richer tone — a dusky rose, a soft navy, or a warm terracotta — and the upper section in a complementary pale shade.
In spring, this approach works wonderfully in a dining room or a living room, where the layered colour adds depth and the shiplap texture prevents the scheme from feeling flat or predictable.
13. Shiplap Bathroom Feature Wall
Bathrooms are often overlooked when it comes to shiplap, but a properly sealed and painted shiplap wall behind a freestanding bath or above a vanity unit is a genuinely transformative addition. Use a moisture-resistant primer and a durable eggshell or satin paint finish to protect the boards from steam and splashing.
In spring, paint the shiplap in a fresh mint green or a pale aqua, add simple brass fixtures, and hang a few small botanical prints in simple frames. Fresh white towels and a potted fern on the windowsill will complete a bathroom that feels like a seasonal retreat.
14. Shiplap with Woven Textures and Natural Materials
Shiplap and natural textures are natural allies. The linear, structured quality of the boards provides a wonderful counterpoint to the organic irregularity of woven rattan, jute, and linen.
In a spring living room, paint a shiplap feature wall in a warm neutral — a soft oat, a pale sand, or a creamy white — and then layer in a rattan pendant light, a jute rug, a linen sofa throw, and a wicker basket filled with rolled blankets. The overall effect is of a room that has been assembled thoughtfully over time, effortless in the way that only carefully considered rooms ever truly are.
15. Shiplap Children’s Room with Spring Murals
Finally, a shiplap wall in a child’s bedroom or playroom offers a uniquely versatile canvas. Paint the boards in a clean white and then commission or hand-paint a simple spring mural directly onto the surface — a row of wildflowers growing up from the skirting board, a scattering of painted butterflies, or a gentle woodland scene with rabbits and blossom trees.
Because the mural sits on top of paint rather than wallpaper, it can be updated as the child grows, and the shiplap texture adds a subtle dimension to the painted image that makes it feel far more considered than a flat wall ever could.
Spring is a season of renewal, and your walls deserve to feel that energy as much as any other part of your home. Shiplap gives you the texture, the versatility, and the warmth to make a real and lasting change — one that will look just as beautiful long after the daffodils have faded.
