I built a 10x30 front porch 5 years ago. After blowing the budget on composite decking, I could not find anything at a reasonable price for the ceiling. I had a fair amount of old, white barn siding from various doors we have rebuilt on our outbuildings, but not nearly enough to cover all of it. I know a guy who sells old barn siding, but he didn't have enough of one color either. My wife came up with the idea to mix it up.
This was not as easy. Hardly any of the various boards had tongues or grooves that matched up, but I made it work.
I am also not good at doing things artistic or 'random'. My son and I only managed to get a few boards up in the first hour. Then he had a brilliant idea, we needed to drink some bourbon and then get back at it. After a couple of glasses, we banged it out in no time.