The Easiest DIY Board & Batten Wall

If you’re like me, you’re permanently glued to your TV as it continuously plays episodes of Fixer Upper on HGTV. And heaven forbid, if it’s not Fixer Upper that’s on, then you rush On Demand and play old episodes just to get your fix. I know there’s more JoJo and Chip crazies out there then just me–admit it! They’re like a drug. Gosh darnit, they’ve really made home decorating anything but easy these days. I take one look at a room they did on-air, and I rush out to make my house look exactly like it. Garin thinks I’ve gone mad. He just can’t understand why we have so many throw pillows…everywhere! He just doesn’t get it.

And he will never get it. But he usually goes for most anything I suggest…almost. This time it was a little different. I asked for shiplap wall, and he replied “absolutely not.” And me? I can’t take no for an answer, so I work my way around it. I found another option. If I couldn’t have shiplap, what about board and batten? So that’s what we did.

We moved into our new house October 2016. We barely had to do a thing, but I wanted to make my son’s room really cute, for him…and, well, me, of course. His previous room in the old house was perfect. Garin and his step-dad had worked for 2 days straight to put up a wood plank wall.

 

I loved it! When I asked if we could do it again in this house, he refused. Point taken. So, like I said, the board and batten wall was a great alternative. And it was super easy, which we tend to LOVE around here.

Here’s what you need:

• 1x4x8 pine furring strips (vertical and horizontal strips)
• 1x2x8 pine furring strip (finishing piece to go on top of the horizontal strip last)
• 2” finishing nails
• Nail gun
• Stud finder
• Level
• Wood filler
• Medium-fine sandpaper

1. Figure out how high you want the board and batten to go. And how many vertical strips you want. We did one at every stud, so about 16” in between each. And also how high up you want them to go. Then, you want to measure the width of your wall for the horizontal strip.
2. Head to your local hardware supply store. We got our furring strips at Lowe’s. They are great because we brought in our measurements from above, and they trimmed down every piece to what we wanted.
   

   
     image found online

3. Begin on one side of the wall with the first or second stud and nail the first vertical piece in. Do a couple more, then set the top horizontal piece across the top of the vertical strips to make sure you are still level. Although you hope the guy at Lowe’s measured your strips correctly, human error is a thing. You may have to alter the pieces to keep everything level. Having a saw on site will help with this.
4. Check on the baby…this is a very critical step (hehe). This was the first time we found him asleep in his jumpy
5. Once all the vertical pieces are up, you nail on the horizontal piece so it rests on the tops of all the vertical strips. Make sure you hit studs!
6. To finish it off, nail the 1×2 board flat atop the horizontal (like a little shelf). That detail really completes it.
7. Then paint. We waited until last to do so, however, painting the wall and the strips in advance is a fine option too. The color we have shown is Gray Frost by Olympic. I ended up painting the whole wall myself-first timer! It took quite a few coats 😉

7. Voila! (complete with sleeping baby and all)

Product details: Crib & Dresser from Dwell Studios, Rocker is Baby Relax sold in multiple stores, Pouf is Land of Nod, Mobile from Pottery Barn (similar), Rug from TJMaxx (similar), Bedding & accessories from Dwell Studios