Shiplap Wall for Pennies on the Dollar...

So I have a split level staircase in my home that is about 20 feet tall and I wanted to add some dimension and thought a shiplap wall would be a nice solution. Color washed in the adjacent wall color to create an accent that was not overwhelming. Until I looked into the cost of REAL Shiplap.... I was devastated...It costs upwards of $8.00 per linear foot... That is a lot of money for one wall and a single mom.... So here was my solution:

I went to my local Home Depot and picked out some 1/2 inch plywood (8x4 sheet) I then nicely asked a Home Depot Employee if he could cut the boards into 6 inch x 8 feet pieces for me and that I could take it from there. 3- 4x8 sheets of plywood for around $120.00 and I had all the planks for my shiplap wall! When I got home, I cut the board into different lengths to create some dimension on the wall, not too many lengths- I went with a 4 row pattern and repeated it up the wall. I then sanded down each board and created a small curved edge along all edges of the board to appear more like the REAL DEAL. I knew I wanted there to be a small space between all of the boards, so I purchased tile spacers that are normally used for laying tile on the floor and used them temporarily in the wall to ensure my spacing was even up the whole wall. I used a power nailer to nail in each board. I then took my wall color and made a color wash adding about 35% water ratio to the paint. I painted the color wash on in sections and dabbed the excess paint off with paper towel before starting my next section. About an hour of color washing and your project is complete!