Turn An Ordinary Wall Into A Board And Batten Masterpiece

For all of you DIY’ers out there who are looking for a totally customizable, show-stopping board and batten project, I wrote this just for you.

[ReviewDisclaimer]

Drew and I love a project! It’s no date night, but it is quality adult time spent together and gives us something to work on as a team. We like to think of ourselves as naptime warriors.

Being that we are also tightwads, doing a project ourselves is normally the less expensive option. 😉

We each have our roles in every project. Although we brainstorm together, I am the planner and the one who has to draw it out and make sure we are both on the same page and have the same vision. Consider me the “construction site supervisor.”

On the other hand, Drew is the doer. He knows how to work all of the tools and make my dreams come to life!  When the actual project is happening… I turn into the assistant that runs and grabs the tools.

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Let me set the stage for where the board and batten idea all began.

We knew from the day we bought this house we were going to have to find a solution for the front room. I never understood the space or knew what to use it for.  I would say in the 2 years we have lived here I have moved and rearranged furniture at least 10 times. 

A few months ago Drew made me shake his hand and agree I would not change anything for 6 months. I tried, but the timing was right to do this project so I think I made it to the 4 month mark. (He hasn’t noticed yet.)

This space is a two story formal living room right at the front entrance. What always bothered me is HOW SMALL the furniture would look, HOW BARE the large wall was, and how it had NO DEFINITION of being a usable space.

However, the one thing this room is great for is housing our 10 ft long church pew that came out of Drew’s great-grandmothers church!  It is so BEAUTIFUL and we feel so lucky to have it.

All of this is to say, we needed to give this pew a proper space to call home. I have a few friends in our neighborhood (shout out Porter’s and Vernon’s!) who have wainscoting in their homes and I love what it adds to the space.  So we decided this is exactly what we should do to make a blah wall into something great!

To create a gorgeous board and batten wall in YOUR SPACE, here is what you need to get started:

Tools that you might have:

• Miter Saw
• Level – *THE most important thing you need!*
• Power Drill

Things to buy:

• Boards
  • 8 – 1×3 inch 9 ft
  • 1 – 1×6 inch 12 ft
• Liquid Nails
• Screws
• Caulk
• Caulk Gun
• Sand paper (fine and coarse)
• Board and batten paint color – I used Sherwin Williams “Perfect White” in a satin finish
• Paint roller, brush, and pan
• Wood filler
• Pencil

Step 1 – Sketch out your masterpiece.

I cannot start any project without having a visual and knowing all of my measurements and dimensions. I have to draw out the large picture and then work down to the details so that I know exactly what we need.

Above is my first sketch. However, we had to make some adjustments and here are my 2 pointers to consider before cutting any of your boards!

• Always measure your boards width. We purchased 1×3’s and a 1×6. The actual measurements were 1×2.5 inches and 1×5.5 inches, so this changed all of my measurements.
• Do not cut all of your boards to the same length at the same time. Our first thought was oh, ok, all of our horizontal boards need to be cut to exactly 93 inches, let’s cut all 6. But luckily, we decided to double check our measurements as we went and they were all different. The bottom and top boards add a small variance and that 1/8 inch difference is noticeable when you have a gap.

Step 2 – Get your tools and materials together.

(Check out the links in the tool list above!)

Step 3 – Find your studs.

Your husband is not the only stud involved in this project. 😉  As a result, we used a stud finder to find all of our studs (hint once you find one, they are 16 inches apart,) then we used our level to make vertical lines, using a pencil to mark them.

We wanted our top board and bottom board to be in a few studs for sure, and if any of our other boards lined up with one, we wanted to secure it as well.

Step 4 – Start with your top board. 

This is setting the foundation for the entire project. This board has to be level!  Cut your board, make sure it fits, then apply your liquid nails to the back and set the board in place. We put 4 screws in this board for extra support.  Once you get this board in place it lines up the frame work for the rest of the boards.

For our screws, we used a larger screw that could make an indent into the wood so that we could cover it up with wood filler, sand it down and you would never know it was there.

Step 5 – Build your outside frame.

Do the bottom board second, and then the two sides.  From here you should start feeling really good about yourself and are beginning to see the impact piece you are creating.

Step 6 – Start hanging up vertical boards.

Your level is very important here, as well as double checking your measurements. If a board does not line up with a stud, make sure you and your assistant hold the board securely against the wall for 1 minute to make sure the glue sets and the board does not slide out of place.

Step 7 – Attach  the horizontal boards that make your squares.

We did not do this, but wish I had. So here is a tip for you! Before you put up your vertical boards, use your level and a board to draw a horizontal line across your entire wall showing where these boards should line up. Since you have the vertical boards already on the wall it is difficult to make sure they are level from one section to the next.

Step 8 – Step back and admire your work! 

Wine is a great accessory for this step.

Step 9 – Patch all of your screw holes and fill any gaps your have.

Let it all sit overnight.  Sand it all down the next day.  We used the coarse sand paper for this.

Step 10  – Get ready for paint!

Our wall took 3 coats and we had to do some sanding, with the fine sand paper in between, to get that clean finish to it.  Honestly, this took longer than I thought, but we tried to take our time and make it right.

Step 11 – Caulk any open seams.

All boards will not lay flush against the wall and you will find gaps.  To finish it all off and give it the final cohesive look, I caulked the seams.  PRO TIP – When you cut the tip of the caulk, make it a small opening and give it a nice angle.  This will reduce the amount of excess caulk you have and make the lines much cleaner.

You’re DONE!!

Considering a board and batten project in the New Year? I would love to see your finished work or feel free to ask any questions in the comments section below!