Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

05 May
The weather is finally nice enough to start working on Bertha, my vintage 1974 Shasta motorhome, again!

Today we took off the tarps that protected her all winter and started working on a little accent wall that I've been planning for her!

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall
I went through several iterations of what kind of accent wall I wanted in Bertha. I had a chalkboard wall in my vintage trailer so I didn't want to do that again. I wanted something a little bit rustic and also lightweight so it wouldn't add any more weight.

At first, I was thinking of a rustic ship lap wall but that seems kind of overdone... you see them everywhere. I wanted something more unique!

We had a cedar shingle wall in our dining room when I was young so I knew they looked cool... then I discovered that my parent's neighbors were moving away and guess what they had in their garage?!

CEDAR SHINGLES!! 😀 Vintage ones at that!!

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

We put the bug in their ear when they were packing up that if they didn't want them we did! I was so excited when they gave them to us!

In order to put them up securely, I wanted to use my brad nail gun but first, we had to beef up the wall so the nails wouldn't go completely through.

Luckily the other side of this wall is the inside of the closet so my dad cut a piece of scrap wood to fit and we screwed it in place. Now we were ready to start putting the shingles up!

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

We thought it would be best to pick out the shingles and lay it out first so we drew the measurements on the driveway with chalk and I laid out my design.

With cedar shingle walls you want to make sure to stagger the seams and vary the sizes of the shingles in each row... some rows will have a big wide shingle and a couple of small ones, others will have a few small shingles and a couple of medium size shingles.

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

Once the design was laid out we started putting up the wall.

Cedar shingles have a fat end (about 1/4" thick) and then gradually get skinnier until they are almost paper thin at the other end. You will start at the bottom of the wall and the fat side of the shingle will point down.

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

We used construction adhesive for the first row but then decided that we should just use nails in case I ever decide I want to remove it.

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

We cut a small shingle to the size we wanted and used it to measure each row so we wouldn't end up with wonky, crooked lines.

First, we used it to tell how high to place each shingle in the row...

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

And then we used it to tell how high to place the nails so they would be covered by the next row of shingles.

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

We just continued working our way up the wall, staggering seams and varying shingle sizes.

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

For the most part, they all fit nicely, every now and then we would have to trim one a little bit.

Cheeeesssseeee!! 😁

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall
Every now and then I would peek through from the cab to make sure everything looked ok. It's very important to step back and check once in awhle!

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall


Once we got up to the top we had to notch the shingles around the light.

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

My dad uses my grandpa's old table saw from the 1950's to cut wood for all our projects! One day I hope it will be mine!

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

I made sure to put the best side of the shingles out and I picked a few with dark lines and swirls for added interest.

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

I'm so happy with how this little project turned out!

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

 It's just as I imagined!

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

My dad says "it's cuter than a bug's ear!"

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

PIN ME!
Cedar Shingle Motorhome Accent Wall

Posted by: at 05 May Tag:

Comments by Facebook