DIY Board and Batten Wall
After living in our home for a year, we were finally ready to do something REALLY permanent. Our living room was completely empty so we had a great blank canvas to work with. Board and batten has been popular in new construction homes lately and we have always had an affinity for chevron and herringbone patterns. So after a little research, we settled on a "party up top, business on the bottom!" board batten modern accent wall!
Check out the process we followed and the supplies we used! All in all, between set-up, install and paint, it took about 13 hours of work.
Supplies:
- Wood Cap: We chose cabinet grade hickory because we wanted to really show off the grain of the wood. We purchased these in 1x4 and 1x6 sizes at Menards.
- Batten: Ultimately we used 10 pieces of batten. Our wall is 15'5'' feet wide and 9' tall. This included the border and everything. The batten was primed pine, 16 ft. long, 1'' thick, 2" wide.
- Stain: We went with MinWax in Espresso but cut way down with paint thinner (exactly 300ML of stain and 8 caps of paint thinner). Otherwise it was just too dark and the grain wasn't visible enough.
- Paint: For the top, we chose Edgecomb Gray by Benjamin Moore because it was already the wall color. This made the wall look like it fit right in as opposed to stand out too much... in a bad way ;) Below the wood cap, we chose Dove Tail by Sherwin Williams because it's the color of our dining room and we just love the warmth it exudes. Together these colors really complement eachother.
- Sanding the Cap: We used a 220 grit sanding sponge with an angle, which was really helpful to smooth out the cap and get into those tight corners.
STEPS:
1. Grab that blue tape and get to town! It was a really good idea to map this out first. It allowed us to measure it out properly and avoid the wall outlets (that way you don't need to move any electrical around). Our wall length was 15.5 feet wide so ultimately the distance between each batten was 13". We also decided to incorporate a border and we are very glad we did. This allowed for everything to sit perfectly flush against the trim and the corners of the wall. Lastly, we didn't place the wood cap right in the middle of the wall but went for more of a 65/35 layout. No wrong way to do it but we think it looked better this way.
2. Pick your stain! Take your time on the sample piece of the EXACT wood that you are using. If you like one stain but it's too dark, you can use a little paint thinner to take it down a notch. That's how we wound up with a more 'natural' look. NOTE: We chose to stain the cap while it was already nailed to the wall. It's up to you to stain it prior. We also sanded it down very well to ensure the stain adhered properly.
3. Time to get the party started! Remember it's best to pre-measure and make sure you nail the batten around electrical outlets. We installed the bottom part first. Then leveled and nailed in the wood cap. Then installed the top chevron batten. The whole thing was bordered so it sat perfectly flush on top of the trim.
4. Before painting, we applied MinWax water-based polyurethane to the stained wood cap. This took away the chance for the wood to have a yellowish tint after it dried. Then we applied caulk around the batten to seal all the gaps. For the top section we used Benjamin Moore Ultra Spec 500 interior paint in eggshell (Edgecomb Gray HC 173). On bottom we used Sherwin Williams Dove Tail (7018) in Pro Mar 200 in satin. We found these to go really well together because Dove Tail is a warm gray with brown undertones and Edgecomb Gray is a true greige.
5. After 2 coats of paint, voila! We chose furniture from West Elm so the room takes on a very modern/transitional/mid-century look. We hope you like it, too!
Discussion
Thank you all for posting this.. great inspiration and explanation. I’d I’d this in my master bedroom and it definitely gave the room character. We went with eggshell “Arid Landscape†on top, and Lunar Surface on bottom (both HD/Behr) and cutdown some spare 1x5 pine to make the centerline. I ended up burning and sanding the pine to give it an antique look, then finished it with tung oil. It all turned out great! Thanks again!
What carpet do you have here? Love the subtle design
Thank you Jen! The carpet is Anderson Tuftex, style is Drift and the color is Elephant Ear. We've definitely been happy with its versatility and durability!
What was the total cost for this feature wall? We are looking to do something similar in our son's nursery and your wall is about the same size.
Hi Christine! I would say it cost about $350-$400 in materials. Then we paid someone to paint it in the end so that was another $500 or so. But it wasn't too bad! It would look super cute in a nursery! :)
This looks fantastic! Do you have a list of all the supplies and wood you used?
What size wood did you use for the little lip in the middle? :)
Thanks Mike! Our blog should detail all of the supplies and the wood we used. The lip sticks out only a little bit, maybe 1-1.5"? Depends on if you want to display artwork/frames or not. We just wanted a little dimension. Hope this helps!
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