One of my favorite diy’s I have done in my home has got to be this DIY board and batten wall. I did it all on my own and it was a lot easier than I thought it might be. I love how it makes the room feel more open and allows the chandelier to really stand out. I first looked and looked at all the board and batten type tutorials there were online to see how I would tackle mine.

After doing all of my research, I decided that I wanted to leave the crown molding and baseboards on and that I wanted to cover up the wall since it is textured. I looked online at Lowes and decided to go with the tempered hardboard panel (found here) to cover up the wall. For only $8 for each 4’x8′ panel, and the fact that it’s very thin, make it a no brainer. It is a bit flimsy and I found it a difficult to cut, but a jig saw ended up working the best for cutting it. I also looked at different widths of wood to decide what size I wanted. I chose to go with the 4″ width (which is actually 3.5″ wide). And to save some money, they have these wood pieces called firring strips that are 1″x4″x8′ for less than $2 each! (PS….they have firring strips in a few other widths too). The only thing with them is that they are very rough. You save some money, but you have to do a bit of sanding and you have to usually look through the pile to find good straight pieces.

Here is a before picture of my dining room. It was the perfect spot to add a feature wall! First, I wiped down the wall to make sure there were no spider webs and dust.

Then I figured out how I wanted to put the hard board on. I made sure to make it as even as possible because my goal was to make sure the seams were all covered by wood strips for a seamless look. I used a jig saw to cut holes for electrical sockets and used these spacers on the outlets to make them stay in place well (MAKE SURE to TURN OFF electricity before messing with any type of electrical outlet etc.). Then I used liquid nails on the back of the panel and nailed it in place using finishing nails in my nail gun.

I had to trim down the side of one panel to make it fit. I didn’t make the best cut, but I knew it was small enough to be covered. I also had to cut two panel pieces to fit the top. Again, I tried to line up seams to make it easier for covering. At this point, I figured out the design. I know……. maybe something to do first, but I just wanted to do it after I saw where the seams where. So I started with designing the seams being covered and went from there. I began with putting straight pieces on the bottom above the baseboard and the top below the crown molding.

I added some wood glue to the back of all the wood pieces before nailing in place with nail gun.

After the top and bottom, I started on the left and worked my way over with all the vertical pieces. The width of the wall and the width of the wood didn’t allow for exact distance in-between each one, so the two outer ones are the same and then the middle ones are the same. Fortunately, you can’t even tell the difference when looking at it. Then I cut all the horizontal pieces and put them in place. I used some wood filler to cover up some gaps in-between the wood and then caulked every single edge…. the edges by the wall and inside each box. After the caulk dried I used Sherwin Williams in Creamy to paint with. This is the color of the trim so it blends in nicely.

I plan to do a half wall version of this in our laundry room next. And, maybe down our hallway too! lol I would highly recommend this type of project if you want to add some charm to your walls. -jess