Board and Batten ~ an easy DIY
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
6 Comments
Terrie Tipler
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!
Cindy McTigue
This looks amazing and adds so much charm and character! You gave a great tutorial too.
Enjoy your new look
Cindy
Traci A Jennings
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!
Sandra
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
LeCultivateur
I think that sounds like it will be darling!! Such a great plan!
Michelle
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. 😀