Shiplap planking consists of wooden boards commonly used for exterior buildings like barns and sheds. It’s also taken the DIY world by storm as an interior material to create a rustic planked walls.

What is Shiplap Planking?

Shiplap, for those not in the know, doesn’t refer to just any wood planking. Shiplap boards are grooved on each long end, which allows the boards to overlap each other. It’s the overlapping that makes shiplap special. The overlapping boards create a tight seal making it an excellent way to protect your building from the elements. While that’s not such an urgent requirement indoors, the shadow the boards create where they overlap creates a delicious lined effect.

Shiplap planking can be purchased new from most home improvement stores or can be sourced from reclaimed wood outbuildings, making it a more sustainable choice for DIY projects. Estate sales, Craigslist, NextDoor, Antique shops, and Etsy, are all great resources for finding reclaimed shiplap planking.

What Isn’t Shiplap Planking?

Since shiplap DIY projects can be found all over DIY TV shows, on blogs, and in the pages of magazines, it might appear that shiplap is everywhere. However, a lot of what is called shiplap is not really made from shiplap planking. Remember, if you want to sound like a pro, shiplap is rustic wood planking, but not all rustic wood planking is shiplap. Shiplap planking must have the signature grooves (called rabbet); otherwise, it’s just wood planking. That’s not a bad thing, but you want to sound like you know what you’re talking about with your DIY friends, right?

Shiplap Planking Project Ideas

Shiplap planking isn’t only for walls. With a little know-how (here’s a link to a shiplap tutorial to get you started) and the proper tools, you can apply shiplap to just about everything! Here are a few ideas.

1. Shiplap Wall Art – Attach shiplap boards to plywood to create a base for your own wall art. Get creative and paint, decoupage, or use it as a photo frame.

2. Shiplap Pallet Coffee Table – Shiplap can be applied to any tabletop to help create a rustic feel, but you get extra points if you DIY the coffee table from pallets.

3. Shiplap Coat Hooks – Spruce up your entryway by adding shiplap planks to your wall and adding hooks to create a place to hangs coats and bags.

4. Shiplap Headboard – Shiplap lends itself nicely to a DIY rustic headboard project. Shiplap directly on the wall behind your bed, or shiplap onto plywood to create a standalone headboard.

5. Shiplap Chalkboard –  Apply a square of shiplap planking to a wall and paint it with chalkboard paint for a rustic blackboard addition to your room.

Related on EcoSalon

15 Simple Ideas to Add Texture with Rustic Home Decor
8 Galvanized Metal Solutions for Your Rustic Space
Is Plywood a Sustainable and Elevated Design Material?

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Learn simple techniques for how to distress wood.

Like the look of distressed or weathered wood? Want to learn how to distress wood for your own DIY projects? Read on to learn some useful techniques and tricks to make it appear like it’s naturally weathered and rustically textured.

Whether flipping through decor mags or checking out popular pins on Pinterest, you will find distressed wood taking center stage in decorating and DIY. One reason is that distressed wood fit wells with many styles of decorating from Scandinavian and Bohemian style to Cottage and Vintage chic. The inspiration is endless too. Learn how to distress wood for creating your own furniture pieces, wall finishings, flooring and more.

It may seem intimidating, but distressing wood is one of the easier DIY techniques around.

4 How to Distress Wood Techniques

1. Repurpose Weathered Wood

The easiest way to get the distressed wood look in your home is to repurpose already distressed wood. Hit estate and yard sales, the salvage yard, FreeCycle and others to find old pallets, shutters, gates, doors and more that have already been weathered by time. The work of distressing has already been done for you then!

2. Paint and Petroleum Jelly

While petroleum jelly may seem like something you don’t normally want to use, it has its purposes. Dab it onto wood before painting with latex paint, the vaseline will keep the paint from adhering and create a distressed look without having to resort to the messier sandpaper method.

3. Paint and Vinegar

Paint up your wood with latex paint in your color of choice and allow to completely dry according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add vinegar to a spray bottle and grab some old rags. Spray vinegar on your painted wood in the areas you would like to distress and use the rags to rub off the paint. It’s another less messy way to distress painted wood furniture.

4. Beat It Up for Authentic Texture

Aged wood most often is nicked, dented and generally pretty beat up. In order to make your distressed wood look authentic, add age to your wood with dents, nicks and gouges made with a hammer, steel wool, an awl and other tools. These imperfections add character!

Related on EcoSalon:

DIY: Eco-Friendly Wood Polish

Best Sites for Sustainable Wood Furniture

Find an Artisan to Customize Your Dream Furniture

Distressed Coffee Table image via Shutterstock

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Caroline Olsson’s Turn light, inspired by artisan craft in her native Norway.

We’ve often featured Scandinavian creativity on EcoSalon, but it’s usually Danish or Swedish. Now the Norwegians are claiming their portion of the design smörgåsbord.

At this year’s London Design Festival, a whole separate space was dedicated to designers from Norway. One of these was Caroline Olsson, whose pieces are beautiful, simple and functional; modern, but referencing tradition.

Her latest piece, Turn, is a lamp with a screw to switch on and off the light, adjusting the brightness by turning the handle. This twisting dimmer looks like an old-fashioned vice, and Olsson says she was inspired by workbenches used in wood workshops in her native country. Turn is made from untreated birch and hand-blown glass, which gives it a natural, solid feel.

Curious, which won the Blueprint Award for best new product at last year’s London design fair, is a two-in-one light which can be used either as a retractable reading light, or a mood-creating table lamp. When closed inside its box, the shade of the lamp works as the box’s cover, with a soft glow emanating from inside. Olsson got the idea from old wooden pencil boxes.

These are sneak previews of tomorrow’s products: Olsson is looking for a company to manufacture her lights. But with the buzz caused at London’s design show, for a second year in a row, we don’t think we’ll have to wait too long to have them in our houses.

The post Elsewhere in Scandinavia, Caroline Olsson’s Artisan Inspired Lamps appeared first on EcoSalon.

This one-of-a-kind iPad stand is made from sustainable or reclaimed Oregon black walnut.

Nothing is as timeless, tactile or naturally beautiful as wood – and when you know a tree hasn’t been sacrificed just for your new iPad, it’s a relief that your eco-conscience can remain clear.

This tablet holder from Block & Sons Co. is simplicity itself: a practical and visually arresting one-piece wooden block which keeps your iPad safe while showing it off. The stand protects your tablet from inevitable beverage spillages but also looks extremely classy.

Each block is a one-off, hewn in Oregon from a single piece of resilient, beautiful hardwood. The wood is sourced from sawmill ends, leftovers from furniture shops, or even from trees felled in Portland city. The blocks are cut and finished by hand and have rubber feet which prevent slippage and provide stability. Each stand is polished and sealed with two coats of beeswax and linseed oil finish to bring out the wood’s grain and also make it water-resistant.

The two men behind the Block & Sons Co. describe it as “the contrast of Mother Nature’s beautifully imperfect engineering with the sleekly perfect tech devices.”

A combination, and a price ($95), which are proving popular.

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A round-up of what we’re reading right now.

Eating consciously does not have to be expensive. As it turns out, you can eat like a vegan and be on food stamps. [Via Ecorazzi]

Looking to decorate? This line of reclaimed lumber can be used on walls, on floors and even on your ceiling. [Via CasaSugar]

You can stop looking for the perfect summer project; DIY lighting it is! [Via Curbly]

$500.50 for a pound of coffee beans? Sure, that seems reasonable. [Via New York Times]

It’s good to have daily reminders of happiness. Some of the best? Children. [Via Elephant Journal]

Mixed drinks do add up; for every $100 the average American spends, about $1 of it goes to alcohol. [Via NPR]

There are things in life you should worry about, like courage. Then there’s a lot of other stuff that you really should just let go of. [Via Lists of Note]

Just imagine what you could accomplish if you were just a little more anxious. [Via Jezebel]

Image: puuikibeach

The post Link Love: Being a Vegan on Food Stamps, $500.50 for a Pound of Coffee, and Things You Shouldn’t Worry About appeared first on EcoSalon.

The Treehotel in Sweden features unique, futuristic camp sites.

Imagine the scene: you’re walking through a forest in northern Sweden, when suddenly you come upon a collection of bizarre objects suspended from trees: a mirrored cube, a UFO, a giant bird’s nest. Have you been abducted into a Dadaistic art installation?

Relax, it’s n0t a flashback to a youthful overindulgence of banned substances, a sojourn through William S. Burroughs’ Interzone or even a Trekkie bootcamp. It’s a 21st century designer eco-hotel-camp called Treehotel.

Treehotel’s green credentials are exactly as you’d expect for a Swedish hotel set in a forest: renewable energy provided by hydroelectric power from the nearby river, LED lighting and water-efficient sinks, and combustion toilets. In most units, waste is heat-blasted at 600C; in the Mirrorcube, your poop gets frozen, while the heat from the freezer’s element is used to heat the room in winter. Dead smart, those Swedes.

The five “treerooms,” designed by leading Scandinavian architects, are all different inside as well as out, with simple furnishings. The UFO, accessed by a ladder underneath has spacey print fabrics, while the ultra-realistic Bird’s Nest is circular with tiny round windows in its pale wood walls. The Cabin is much more conventional, but also larger – a rectangular box with huge windows and an outdoor deck, while the Blue Cone overlooks the river.

The Mirrorcube is like a live work of art. Its outer surfaces show constantly changing images of trees and sky, which you can appreciate from a roof terrace, a more zen alternative to watching TV. Another building houses a sauna and hot tub (this is Sweden, after all). The bad news: this is also where the showers are located, since none of the treehouses has its own tub or shower. This is the Swedish idea of glamping: fab interiors offset outdoor plumbing.

Meals are served, and guests greeted, in a guesthouse run by one of the owners named Britta.

Rates from $573, including tax, breakfast and unbeatable dinner table stories.

Photos: Peter Lundstrom, WDO; Frank Updates via Harper’s Bazaar

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An eco-friendly alternative for your picnic needs.

Peeved at the thought of filling a landfill with plastic picnicware? Fear no more. Aspenware, Inc., a Lumby, British Columbia-based company, produces a line of all natural, ergonomically-designed, compostable wooden forks, soup spoons, knives and spoons designed to take the sting out of “disposable.”

The lightweight, yet strong utensils are manufactured from fast-growing but “short-lived” trees harvested near the end of their lifespan. The packaging, produced from 100 percent plant and wood fiber, is also compostable. After your next barbecue or birthday party, just throw the used utensils on the compost pile and smile. Cleanup is done.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

Image: Aspenware

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There are good entertainers and great ones. Be great with an imaginative coffee table diversion.

Put these hand-printed replenishable hardwood blocks on your coffee table and you will not only be the most stylish host/cool-aunt around, you will be doing a tremendous service to your aesthetic sensibility. The kit, which includes 25 ultra-colorful blocks, comes with several ideas to get your creative juices flowing—be it a graphic pattern, funny monkey, or emergency coaster.

A great living room addition for a home with kids, or adults with a creative spirit. From Miller Goodman for about $85.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.

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These limited edition, hand-crafted beauties are worth writing home about.

You won’t find Takumi Macinari’s wood pens and mechanical pencils at Staples or Office Depot. Care of IDEA International, they are available for your list-making and letter-writing pleasure for a limited time only. With the exception of the ink refill in the pen and lead in the pencil, these handmade writing instruments are crafted entirely from wood, a labor-intensive process that results in producing only 100 of them each month.

Unfortunately, due to the time and cost associated with producing pens and pencils using this old-world style, they’ve been discontinued. The (ball)point is, now’s the time to claim yours.

The story behind the pen is an interesting one. Designed by motor vehicle engineer, Hosei Suzuki, he wanted to showcase wood as an industrial tool as well as a crafts material. The result is streamlined, sexy and ink worthy.

$45

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

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A new trend of craftsmen communities is taking center stage worldwide.

Forget plastics, the future is in craftsmanship. The world over, former clock-watchers and desk jockeys are leaving their traditional 9-to-5 jobs to make functional, artisan quality pieces for the home. Even Popular Mechanics picked up on the trend and gave it a sexy spin by dubbing it a hidden underground of craftsmen communities.

I prefer to think of them as New Artisans, neo-traditionalists who dropped the commute and took up tools to pursue a more sustainable way of being. We reached out to five such artists – a couple of engineers, a magazine editor and former academic among them – and discovered that they are not so much a part of an underground phenomena as they are heralding a new trend.

Here’s our prediction: as clients seek out more local – and thus green – craftsmen and women, the future of the New Artisan is a burgeoning one. With the exception of Hendzel + Hunt who are crafting it up across the pond in the UK, all of the artisans featured here are from the U.S. which is particularly good news: we’re actually starting to make things again.

Quentin Kelley of Infusion Furniture

“I could never sit in front of a computer all day long.”

“Coming out of school, I was really interested in international development work and that was my career path at the time. But woodworking had always been in the back of my mind. The work is always challenging and never boring because I wear many hats: designer, builder, mechanic, marketer. And it just blows my mind that you can take a pile of lumber and turn it into a beautiful piece of furniture.”

Alyssa Ettinger of Alyssa Ettinger Design

“I like plain, white things. Modern Country.”

“I’d been a magazine editor for many years, and I lost my last magazine job in 2002. I looked and looked for new positions, but couldn’t find any. In the meantime, I joined a friend at her ceramics class, something I’d not done since college. Once I was back at the wheel, I was hooked. Mostly, I take items I like in real life and find a way to translate them into porcelain.”

Donna Brady of Re-Surface

Are you a new artisan? “Yes, I likely fit the bill.”

Based in Brooklyn NY, Donna Brady opened RE-SURFACE, a boutique factory and design studio, when so many other businesses were shutting down. “My impetus for leaving the 9-5 world was the change in the economic landscape after 9-11.” Until then, Brady, who studied architecture at Columbia, was working as a freelance graphic artist and web designer. “Freelance work almost completely dried up for me.” So she opened up shop and now produces hand-crafted lighting and interior décor objects with “Art at heart, and design in mind.”

Jan Hendzel of Hendzel + Hunt Studio

“I have always been into creating objects.”

“There is nothing more satisfying than making your ideas become reality. And then seeing the reactions of people engaging with our products, it is a very rewarding process. A little quote by Thomas Edison: ‘Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration.’”

Sean Schieber of Myrtle Grove

“I entered my late 20’s still unsure of what career path I would take. In my mind I knew I was biding time in corporate America.”

“I have an undergraduate degree from Hampshire College and a Masters in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University, where I studied Classics. My head was in books, especially poetry books. I enjoy designing and building furniture for some of the same reasons I enjoy writing. There is an ongoing process of refinement, of seeking the most sculptural line to construct a coherent whole. It is at once meditative and active, requiring attentiveness to the smallest details.”

Image: AntwerpenR

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