Easy DIY Board and Batten Wall

Our DIY Board and Batten Wall is literally my design vision coming to life, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you. If you’ve been following along, last week I revealed the design plans and mood board for our master bedroom makeover. Here is what we were working with before.

I also, hinted at the addition of an accent wall featuring an architectural upgrade, of which my husband and I had completely different ideas on due to our style preferences. The question being: do we go modern or traditional?

Well as you can see, we went traditionalish. Out of all the modern moulding designs explored as an option for our bedroom, hubby was still very fond of a traditional board and batten design. Though I leaned more in a modern direction, I knew a traditional look could still complement the overall design, and be a focal point of modern traditional balance. The color, which I’ll get into below, leaned more on the modern side, so a traditional moulding with modern color was a perfect addition to kick off the room with.

Once that was decided, I was ready to get things going. With a list of DIY projects to tackle, I was eager to jump in and start this transformation, and I’m so glad I did. I’m loving the results of our diy board and batten wall, and can’t believe the difference such a simple project makes.

I’ll stop gushing about it now. Let’s get to the good stuff.

There are many diy board and batten tutorials out there, but depending on the room, some are quite different from each other, so I’ll just tell you how we did ours.

---

Items needed:

1. 1×3.5×8 primed mdf boards
2. 1×2.5×8 primed mdf boards
3. 1×1.5×8 primed mdf boards
4. DAP Alex Plus Spackling
5. DAP Alex Flex Molding Sealant
6. Paint (We used Smoky Green by Benjamin Moore in satin finish)
7. 18 gauge. Brad Nailer
8. 18 gauge 2 in. Brad Nails
9. Sanding Block or Electrical Sander
10. Saw (circular saw or Miter Saw)
11. Long Level

---

Choose Board and Batten Paint Color

In the design reveal post for this master bedroom makeover, I emphasized that I wanted a calming green paint color for our feature wall. I previously considered three shades and decided on Smoky Green by Benjamin Moore. It’s a greyish green, and is the perfect fit for the direction we’re going in for the bedroom.

When you choose your color, also think about the finish which certainly makes a difference. I chose a satin finish to make it stand out just a bit. If you’re going for a darker color, a flat finish is stunning for a modern look.

Plan Measurements

This is probably the longest part of the project, though I didn’t mind because I wanted to get it right. If you get this part right in the beginning, you’ll save yourself so much time. First, determine the style of board and batten you’re going for. Would you like a narrow board and batten design where the battens are placed closer together, or a wider design where they are placed farther apart? ( The battens are the vertical strips of wood between the baseboard and rail.)

Also, Would you like your actual batten strips to also be narrow or wider? The measurements of the actual batten, rail, and baseboard will make a difference in your particular measurements for the overall spacing.

Now determine how far apart you’d like your battens. I would suggest taking a look at Pinterest for inspiration. You’ll be able to eye whether or not the design you like uses narrow battens and spacing or wider battens and spacing (or a combination of both).

The look you’re going for and length and width of your wall will determine your actual spacing. However, I will use my particular design and wood measurements for the purpose of explaining how to get measurements for your wall.

I did not want our batten spacing too wide or narrow, so I figured one foot (12 in.) between each batten would give me the look I wanted. I also knew I wanted the battens themselves to be a good solid size, so we used 1 x 2.5 primed mdf boards.

Now, using these details as an example, first measure the length of your wall. Ours was 192 inches. Now, subtract the width of one batten from this number. This brings you to 189.5. You’ll want your board and batten wall to be symmetrical, therefore you’ll place a batten at each end of the wall. What we just subtracted is the last batten. The space you are filling now is 189.5 inches. Set this number aside.

Bear with me here. Next, add the width of one batten (2.5 in.) to the spacing you figured you’d like in between each batten (12 in.). This brings you to 14.5. Now divide your wall space (189.5) by your batten/wall spacing (14.5). This brings you to 13.068. This is the number of spaces between each batten.

The numbers after the decimal need to be as close to .00 as possible, so you’ll now have to adjust the batten/wall spacing number slightly to get to the exact measurement you’ll need between each batten. I bumped up the spacing number to 14.57, did the math above again, and got 13.00.

Whew! Now I knew the space from the beginning of one batten to the beginning of another batten needed to be 14.57 inches, which would leave me with 2.5 inches at the end for my last batten.

Mark Board and Batten Measurements on Wall

First, determine how high up you’d like your board and batten wall to begin and mark with a pencil. We’ll be placing a bed against this wall, and don’t want the design to be missed behind a bunch of furniture so I figured a higher placing works best, at around 5 feet above the baseboard.

Next, starting with the left edge of your wall, measure out 14.57 inches as best you can and mark a line. From this line, measure out another 14.57 inches, making another mark, and so on until you reach the last 2.5 inches of space for your last batten. This worked best for me because I could do a test run of the measurements and actually see how it would look on the wall.

Remove and Install Baseboard and Top Rail

First, remove your baseboard. This is not mandatory. However, in our cookie cutter, all baseboards have a decorative top edge that tapers in towards the wall. Therefore if we kept this in our feature wall, all batten pieces would have hung over the baseboard edge, which I did not want.

Use a box cutter to separate the caulk from the wall above the baseboard, then a pry bar and a metal putty knife to separate the baseboard from the wall.

Next, sand down any bumpy spots and areas where paint was ripped higher than the baseboard edge. I took it a step further and applied a little spackle in areas where the paint ripping was a bit excessive. Once dry, I sanded smooth.

Next, using a saw of your choice (we used a circular saw because that is what we have at the moment), cut your baseboard down to the length of your wall. You can also have Home Depot make all of your cuts prior to purchasing, but be sure your measurements are exact.

Then, install your baseboard, nailing it into studs, making sure it is level. We used a 1×3.5 for both the baseboard and top rail, and a 1×1.5 for the top lip. Our pneumatic nail gun made nailing in each piece a bit easier. We used this 18 in. brad nailer and compressor.

Next, cut and install your top rail, nailing it into studs, and using a long level to make sure that it is straight as well.

Some people like to use adhesive in addition to the nails during this step and the following. Between the caulk, studs, spackle, and paint, our battens are pretty secure. I also didn’t like the thought of making changes to this wall in the future and ripping up the wall. However, if you’d like to use adhesive, this one should do the trick.

Install Batten

Now, cut and install your batten pieces, placing them exactly on the marks you made previously. If your baseboard and top rail are level, you can cut all of your battens at the same time. If for some reason your baseboard is not level, you’ll have to measure and cut a few battens at a time to make sure they fit perfectly.

Then Nail on your top rail lip.

Caulk Seams and Spackle holes

Now is the time to caulk the seams where the battens meet the wall. Some people skip this step, but it seriously makes all the difference. This is what makes moulding look as if it’s more than just boards nailed to a wall.

I used my fingers to smooth the caulk down each corner, which does get messy, yes. I did not mind however, and kept a towel nearby for easy cleanup. However, this can make finishing caulk much less messy.

Now, fill all of your nail holes with spackle, and any gaps where the battens meet the baseboard and top rail. Then sand everything down smooth with a sanding block or electric sander. We used this sander to get everything smooth.

Paint Board and Batten Wall

The hard part is done! Now you get to move on to the fun of painting. We used this paint sprayer which really sped up the painting process. If you will be using a paint sprayer as well, first tape everything off with painters tape and plastic drop cloths. This will include the floor, at least 10 ft. behind you, the adjacent walls, wall above board and batten, and any windows.

I also recommend using frog tape instead of the blue painter’s tape. Blue painters tape just doesn’t stick as well and often allows paint to bleed through. Not good.

I will admit this part took longer than I wanted, but once I started painting I was so glad I did. Overspray is inevitable and will happen, so you want to cover any furniture, walls, and floor that are near the board and batten wall.

I chose to also paint the baseboard, which I think gives diy board and batten walls such a polished look. If you choose to do this as well, and have carpet, I learned a little trick from Sincerely Sara D. to make sure you don’t get paint on your floors. Check it out here.

Once you’re all taped off, you’re ready to paint! Be sure to wear, goggles, a hat, and mask to prevent breathing in the overspray. If you happened to need a bit more spackle than anticipated in some areas, you’ll need to prime your wall before painting. This will give a even texture throughout the entire wall, and hide those spackled areas.

If you choose to use a roller to paint your wall, cut into your corners and seams with a brush first, then use a small roller to roll paint everywhere else.

Once you are done painting, remove your tape and plastic drop cloths while the paint is still a little wet. This will prevent the paint from drying into the painter’s tape, and ripping when your painter’s tape is removed.

Now stand back, and enjoy your work!

I’m so glad we took this project on, and couldn’t be happier with the life it adds to the room. I already feel calm just looking at it. As a bonus, we only spent around $95 for all materials. I can’t wait to move on with the other projects coming up to make our modern classic bedroom makeover a reality.

This was also an easy project that I’m thinking of duplicating in other areas of our home. Would you do a DIY board and batten wall in your home? If you’re thinking of doing, I hope this tutorial has given you the details and motivation needed to tackle this project and make it your own.

Have more questions? Feel free to ask below! I’d love to help you make your DIY dreams a reality too.

Want to save this for later? Pin this tutorial to your favorite Pinterest board!