LeCultivateur Happy Monday, sweet friends! I hope your weekend was amazing! This weekend, I finally finished a project that I have been working on for a couple weeks now…board and batten in the family room!
Ever since we moved into our very basic house, I’ve been trying to add a little charm and character. This is such an easy and inexpensive (less than $100) way to add a little something extra to your walls. Here is the family room before the board and batten…
Fast forward a few weeks….
I love the character and charm the board and batten has added!
I started by cutting, using a table saw, a 4′ x 8′ sheet of 1/2″ thick mdf, into 3″ wide strips. I also cut a few 5″ strips for the top pieces. If you don’t own a table saw, you could definitely rent one.
I then placed some of the boards against the wall in the family room, to try to figure out the best layout for my space…
After analyzing the space and measuring, I decided to place my boards 15″ apart. I cut a 15″ piece of mdf, to use as a guide to make sure that each board was perfectly spaced.
I started with the two side walls first, the back wall was last. This was to ensure that both corners looked the same when finished.
To figure out how high I wanted to hang the board and batten, I took into consideration the rule of thirds. The walls in here are 9 feet tall. So, I decided to make the bottom section of the board and batten 6 feet tall, which is 2/3 of the total wall height. The top section is 1 foot, which is 1/3 of the remaining 3 feet of open wall space. Does that makes sense? I sure hope it does! 
Hanging the board and batten was the easiest part! The hardest part…painting! It took so long!! I’m so glad it’s finally done. Now I can finally get my messy house back in order!!
I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!
~Emily
Check out where I have linked this project…. Blog link list
I saw when you were first starting and couldn’t wait to see your tutorial. Was hoping you would share one. And you did. I am planning to do this in our dining room and foyer. Your room looks so pretty. Great job!
This looks amazing and adds so much charm and character! You gave a great tutorial too.
Enjoy your new look
Cindy
It looks great! I will be hoping to do something similar in my 1/2 bath some time this century :-). It def adds character and charm. Great job on the explanation too! Thanks!
do you think this would be too busy in a room with 2 sets of twin bunk beds on opposite walls? I also have 9′ ceilings but was thinking of 5′ for vertical board and then doing a plate rail above (for the horizontal board). After re-reading your tutorial, now I see the math and the 2/3 rule. I want some charm in the room but don’t want it to be too busy. It is used for the grandchildren ‘s space when they visit.
Thanks in advance,
Sandra
I think that sounds like it will be darling!! Such a great plan!
It looks amazing!! This post came at the perfect time. I was just talking to my mom about adding board and batten to her living room walls. Right now they just have a chair rail and 2 separate colors. They just moved in so they haven’t had time to paint and I think this would be perfect!! I’m sending this to her. 😀
What table saw do you have?
I used a DeWalt table saw🙌