How To Install Board & Batten

DIY, Projects

  1. Just as lovely as I imagined it would be. Now can I start this in my own house even before I put the Christmas tree up? 🙂 I’ll wait, impatiently.

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much! I’m so happy you love it as much as I do! 😀
      -Shayna

    • shiree says:

      Can you explain in more detail how painting will save me time? My thoughts are, I’m still going to have to paint over the caulk. Will be doing this soon so all the instruction I can get would be great!
      Thanks

      • Shayna says:

        Hi Shiree! I’m so happy you’re going to be doing this soon! You will love it! Painting before hand will definitely save you time. My roller was a little bit snug inside each of the boxes, and I ended up doing a ton of cutting in. If I would have painted the wall before we installed the board and batten, the wall would have already been painted and I wouldn’t have had such difficulty painting inside of each “box”. You will have to paint over the caulking, but it’s much easier to just lightly paint over it, then fill every small gap in the texture.
        I hope that helps! 😀
        -Shayna

  2. It looks absolutely beautiful! I’m a huge fan of board and batten!

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Laurie! This is the first B&B project we’ve done… we’ll be doing it again soon! 😀
      -Shayna

  3. I cannot express how much I LOVE this look Shayna – I seriously think we might need to do this!! Pinning and showing my husband how stunning this is!

    • Christy@Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer says:

      I’m showing my husband too, Krista! Then we can blame Shayna for putting these ideas in our heads 🙂

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Krista! I know exactly what you mean… I absolutely love the way it looks too! 😀
      Hugs!
      -Shayna

  4. It looks amazing!! Great job!

  5. M says:

    Ahhh, so worth the wait lol;) love the look…so rustic & cozy! I <3 your home, girl!
    Blessings & <3
    M

  6. Diane says:

    Love, love, love it. Soooo… you think we should paint the walls first??? lol Thanks
    for the tip!! 😉

  7. Petra says:

    Wow – you’ve made this fabulous job look so easy 😀 Well done – it’s brilliant 🙂

    • Christy@Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer says:

      These walls are the star of the show for sure! Love LOVE love LOVE !!!

    • Shayna says:

      Awe, THANK YOU so much, Petra! I’m glad it looked easy… if only I would have pre-painted those walls! Lesson learned! 😀
      -Shayna

  8. Amy says:

    Shayna, you and your husband did an outstanding job! It looks absolutely gorgeous and like it should have been there the whole time! When I buy my new house I want to do this, and will most definitely take your advice on all of the do’s and don’ts! 😀 Enjoy your beautiful “new” home!!

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Amy! We love the walls— and I can’t imagine our living room without them! 😀
      Just make sure to pre-paint your wall… 😀
      -Shayna

  9. angela says:

    love it love it love it

  10. Kris says:

    This wall treatment adds soooo much character! LOVE IT!! WANT IT! Thanks for the inspiration-may do it in my bedroom….

  11. Debbie says:

    It looks amazing and those blister will heal faster just looking at the beautiful wall 😉
    Debbie

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Debbie! I agree… those blisters have healed faster since I started staring at the wall! 😀
      -Shayna

  12. Terry says:

    If the board you used for the strips is 1/2″ thick are they flush with the baseboard moldings? I love the look but I’m super picky about things being even. I also don’t want to change the baseboards since I live in a new house. It would be hard to convince my husband to tackle the project if he has to change the baseboards as well. I’m going to try an use your gorgeous pictures to entice him!!!

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Terry! I completely know what you mean, and yes the 1/2″ board and batten match up perfectly with our baseboards. I wouldn’t have replaced our baseboards either… they’re not even 2 years old yet! 😀
      I hope that helps!
      -Shayna

  13. Beautiful, Beautiful! Shayna, are these textured walls or just a flat finish you worked with? Thanks, Allison

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Allison! Our walls do have a bit of texture to them, but they are mostly smooth.
      I hope that helps! 😀
      -Shayna

  14. Vickie says:

    Merry Christmas! Your walls are lovely! I have a little B&B experience, but I’m wondering a few things. 1) It looks as if your wall texture is smooth to mostly smooth? Mine are not. Boo. So in my house I have to actually apply smooth board to the wall, of course increasing time, cost, and labor to the project… 2)Would you mind sharing what paint finish you used and did you match the finish to your trim finish (glossy? satin?) 3) What product did you use to fill the nail holes in the MDF? I’ve had a hard time getting it completely smooth even with sanding. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. I know you’re busy like the rest of us this time of year so I REALLY do appreciate it if you’re able to answer my questions. Thanks a bunch! 🙂

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Vickie! Yes, our wall texture is mostly smooth… For the paint sheen, our trim and baseboards are painted in semi-gloss, but I painted the walls in an eggshell finish. Same color, but I didn’t want the walls to have too much sheen to them. For the nail holes, I use two things to fill them. First I fill them with caulking, then once that is dry, and the caulking has sucked in a bit, I go back over the holes with patch and paint wall filler. Once that’s dry I just sand it smooth. I find that’s the best way to remove those unsightly nail holes. 😀
      I hope that helps!
      -Shayna

      • Vickie says:

        Thanks so much, Shayna! I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. I’m getting super close to starting on this new b&b treatment throughout my dining area. Hope your Christmas was super merry! 🙂

  15. Brooke says:

    Thanks for the great tutorial, Shayna! And what a difference it makes. It looks stunning! Someday I’ll tackle this project, and I’ve got all your wonderful tips pinned for when we do. Thanks for sharing! Happy Wednesday to you!

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Brooke! I’m so happy you enjoyed the tutorial! 😀
      Thanks for pinning! 😀
      -Shayna

  16. I am seriously in love with this and want to do it to our living area like stat. We have an open concept as well. Question though- did you go all the way down to the base trim with your vertical boards? It looks like there is a bit of a gap in some of the pictures. We have honey oak trim that I am really not a fan of, but if I paint this trim white I would have to paint everything on the first floor white. Uhh such is life! Looks amazing though!!! And I cant believe for only $70!!

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Courtney! Yes, we did go all the way down to our baseboards. Because we used 1/2″ MDF, the strips lined up great with our existing baseboards. I was a bit worried that the MDF would hang over our baseboards, but it sits perfectly flush!
      Can’t beat that $70.00! 😀
      I hope that helps!
      -Shayna

  17. Stephanie says:

    Love it! I’ve been wanting to do this to our living room for awhile now. Just showed your tutorial to my husband, and I think he has a better understanding now. I, too, have a question about the wall surface. We have the “orange peel” finish. So we would have to do something to smooth the surface. Any suggestions? I’ve done lots of painting projects and have to know…WHY paint the walls first???? Thanks so much for sharing!

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so much, Stephanie! I’m so happy our tutorial was helpful! Boy, I’m not sure what you should put over your walls to get rid of your current texture. The only thing I know to do is to re-texture your walls. My parents just did it to cover their orange peel texture and it turned out wonderful… 😀
      So, painting the walls would have made this job so much easier! I ended up doing a TON of cutting in because our gaps in between the MDF were a bit narrow for our rollers. If the walls would have been pre-painted, all I would have had to do was caulk and then paint the MDF strips. The painting on this project was VERY labor intensive! Well worth it though! 😀
      I hope that helps!
      -Shayna

  18. Karen Henderson says:

    Shayna. So beautiful!!! I loved the Board and Batten the moment I laid eyes on it. I should have known it would be a lot of work 🙂 My husband and I will be trying this in our new sun room. I will try to send you a pic. Your use of eggshell paint is probably what I need to do also to keep the walls from shining from a the windows and sunlight in our room. My husband suggested that we paint all of the boards and walls before we hang the batten. He said that painting at waist high is better than bending and stretching all the time. Sounds good to me. Thanks for everything I have this pinned. Have a great Holiday Season.

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Karen! I love that board and batten too, but it was a lot of work! Please do send me a picture when you get yours completed! I’d love to see it! Yes, please promise that you’ll paint the walls first. It’s a must!:-D
      Merry Christmas to you and yours!
      -Shayna

  19. […] favorite bright white, Super White by Benjamin Moore. It’s the same color that’s on our living room walls and the trim throughout our […]

  20. Bethany says:

    I’m kind of late to the party, but how did you manage the bottom where it butts up against the baseboards? Looking through some of the pics, it looks like you added another trim piece, but did you notch the end down or leave it flat? I’ve seen tutorials where people have done both.

    Looks AMAZING. I couldn’t believe the difference! 🙂

    • Shayna says:

      THANK YOU so very much, Bethany! It made a huge difference! 😀
      Because we used 1/2 inch MDF, the board and batten matched up perfectly with our original baseboards. I really didn’t want the MDF to be thicker than our original baseboards, so I made sure the thickness would match. To get them flush with the baseboards, we just left them flat and I caulked any gaps.
      I hope that helps! 😀
      -Shayna

      • Cailtin says:

        I am also late to the party but I have a similar question about the bottom. As some other commenters have said some of the pictures show the vertical boards not going all the way to the base board. Is this because your wall is taller than 8′ + the baseboard height? If so, did you just cut shorter pieces of MDF to take it to the floor? Can you see a seam if done this way?

        • Shayna says:

          Yes, our ceilings are taller than 8′. We used a solid 8′ sheet, and then cut smaller pieces to fill in the gap to the top of the trim. Honestly, it’s barely noticeable, and not something you look at. Yes, there is a seam, but if you fill it in correctly, you won’t notice it by the time it’s all painted the same color. Hope that helps! 🙂

          • Helen says:

            Beautiful job Shayna. What is the material of your walls? Is it drywall? Thanks,

  21. Bethany says:

    Also, just out of curiosity, what would you recommend for a ceiling that already has crown molding? Start near the top or just stop at like 6 or 7 feet?

    • Shayna says:

      I’m not sure how it would look with crown molding… There would be a definite difference in the width where the MDF strips would meet the crown. I think if that were the case, I would only install the board and batten 6 or 7 feet high. That would look pretty too! 😀
      I hope that helps!
      -Shayna

  22. […] Every room needs a touch of black, and I’m loving how this chair looks again our white board & batten walls… […]

  23. Candy S says:

    The board and batten looks wonderful in the living room. Your husband did a wonderful job on the installation of the boards, and you did a wonderful job on all of the finishing work.

  24. […] And have I mentioned that it’s just perfect for everything else I have planned… or that I love the way it looks with our board & batten walls… […]

  25. Samantha says:

    Do you have any close ups of your wall texture? I am trying to decide if I could do this with my walls. I have a newer house so I have a knock down texture but it isn’t really extreme. I’d just hate to start doing this project and have it look terrible without my walls. Any suggestions/opinions?

  26. Susan says:

    I also have floor to ceiling batten on a project with 8′ ceilings and am going “batty” on where to change sheens..when you said trim….and baseboards…does trim include the crown mold (upper portion) of batten…and I assume that does not include vertical batten trim. Thanks for sharing your experience and trying to save us headaches.

    • Shayna says:

      Hi there! 🙂 For the sheens, I would keep the walls and crown molding the same. Ours is all the same color, so you really can’t tell a difference. Our walls and board and batten (including the crown) is satin. The trim around the doors and floor is semi gloss. I hope that helps. 🙂

  27. Vicky says:

    Loveeee this!! Question… Did u paint ur ceiling the same color as ur walls? And what sheen/finish is your ceiling! Xoxo

    • Shayna says:

      Thank you so much, Vicky! We did not paint the walls the same as the ceiling. Our ceiling is painted “White” by Benjamin Moore in a flat sheen. I hope that helps! 🙂

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