• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Heena Gardner

Home Design + Photography

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
    • Renovations
    • Inspirations
    • Fun Finds
    • DIY Projects
    • Lifestyle
  • Shop My Home
  • Contact

Fireplace Makeover: Shiplap to Roman Clay

May 23, 2023

Surprise, we moved!!! This has been a long time in the making, starting from a casual house and builder search in January to now. It’s been almost a month of making this new spec house into our home, and we are absolutely loving the extra space, light, and all the possibilities for new projects! I have been busy planning several projects prior to even closing, and we have been working on them simultaneously ever since. Fittingly, the very first DIY we tackled and finished was the fireplace, just like our first house! This post is all about how we transformed the shiplap fireplace into a delicious earthy, concrete-looking one using roman clay.

Before: The Shiplap

I have to be honest. I love a good shiplap (or skinny lap) wall, especially if they’re placed vertically. However, I really wasn’t feeling the horizontal shiplap fireplace that the house came with. It may have worked if I wanted to lean into a farmhouse aesthetic, but I’m envisioning something more organic and earthy with a touch of traditional.

Something I thought long and hard about was how exactly to go about this. Applying the clay on top of the shiplap was going to be the best option given the quartz surrounding the fireplace. As for filling the gaps between the planks, we considered caulk, flexible joint compound, filling it with small pieces of MDF… then Matthew had a simple and brilliant idea of just using leftover drywall tape we had!

1. Apply drywall tape over the gaps

We tested out a small spot and it seemed to hold well. Also applied painter’s tape on the floors, walls, and ceiling to protect against joint compound and roman clay.

2. Skim coat to create a flat surface

Next, we applied joint compound over the drywall tape and covered most of the shiplap planks to create a flat surface for the roman clay. Light sanding at the end.

3. Apply roman clay

We sourced our roman clay from Portola Paints, and the color we chose was Burrow. It seemed like a pretty neutral light gray that you can’t go wrong with, and we were right. I considered going dark dark, as well as some of the other medium grays, but it was hard to tell which ones would read warm vs. cool over the screen. Burrow worked out great for us!

We applied the clay with putty knives. Plastic ones worked better in my opinion than metal ones. Roman clay was also a lot thinner than expected, almost like paint! A total of 3 coats got the job done, although I may go back and sand down some areas and apply more in others to create additional variation in the clay.

First coat
Second coat

The Reveal

We love how it turned out. I hope these “after” photos inspire you to make a change in your own home (yes, even if it is a new build)!

We obviously have a long ways to go in terms of furnishing our new home, but we’re making good progress! I’m intentionally taking things more slowly than I did at our old place to really understand what our needs are and letting the space speak to me. For now, we are making it work with our old furniture and excited to see how things change!

Shop This Post

Disable your ad blocking software to view this content.

in DIY Projects # DIY, Living Room, New House, Roman Clay

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hello

Hi there, I’m Heena.
My husband and I are creating our second home in a new build one DIY at a time while navigating parenthood. Follow along as I document my home design journey!
read more

Join the mailing list!

You May Also Like

  • Fireplace Makeover: Shiplap to Roman Clay
  • Hallway Makeover
  • The Secretary Desk of Dreams
  • Our Window Seat Journey
  • Friday Favorites

Categories

  • DIY Projects
  • Fun Finds
  • Inspirations
  • Lifestyle
  • Renovations

Instagram

Late night post after a busyyy Mother’s Day 💐 Late night post after a busyyy Mother’s Day 💐 It’s an absolute joy to be Mama to these 3 kiddos! Look how much we’ve grown since last year 🥹

Happy Mother’s Day to all kinds of moms out there 🤍
It’ll be our first summer in the screened porch It’ll be our first summer in the screened porch and we are beaming with excitement! Sooo much fun to come. We’ve furnished it with well-loved items from over the years, but the latest addition deserves a spot on the feed too.

This is the Anders Side Table from @joonloloi! It’s so pretty and solid oak. I was hoping Biscotti would sit in the arch from time to time but she has yet to attempt this 😆

#joonloloi #porchlife #porchdecor #indooroutdoorliving #waitingforsummer #sunroom #modernliving
The joke’s on us because it’s snowing in April The joke’s on us because it’s snowing in April… aaand this gal is going back to work tomorrow so it’ll be as if I never left winter ⛄️
Nothing like an enchanted forest vibe for the spri Nothing like an enchanted forest vibe for the spring season 🍃 This is the Canopy CNP-03 rug in Aubergine from @loloirugs x @riflepaperco. SO PRETTY!!

Linked in my story & LTK. #riflepapercoxloloi #modernliving #interiorandhome #livingroomdesign #springiscoming
Pohjola pullover progress! It’s really shaped up Pohjola pullover progress! It’s really shaped up in the last 12 days 🥹

And yes, we finally updated our gallery wall 🤍

#pohjolapullover #sarinordlund #knitandbehappy #craftastherapy #yarnlover #todaysknitoutfit
A blank space to the cutest play kitchen ✨ #int A blank space to the cutest play kitchen ✨

#interiorstyling #toddlerplayideas #playroominspo #lifewithkids #housetohome #playkitchen #modernhome #neutralhomedecor
Follow on Instagram
2020 © Heena Gardner
Design by FD