DIY Board and Batten Wood Accent Wall. A few hours and some basic DIY skills are all you need to create this gorgeous yet budget-friendly accent wall!
DIY Board and Batten Wood Accent Wall
It never fails to amaze me what a little wood trim, paint, and elbow grease can do to make a space feel brighter and more charming. This is the fourth time we’ve done Board and Batten in this house, but the first time we’ve done it horizontally.
Because we already had the paint and necessary DIY supplies on hand, this project only cost us about $40 in wood.
Here’s a peek at the before and afters.
Before and After
Trimming out the “door” was an afterthought but I’m so glad we did it at the last minute. It makes the wall look and feel super custom.
The main reason we did this wall is because our kids constantly run their hands up and down the wall and it always looks dirty. The builder-grade paint cleans up pretty well with a magic eraser but every little mark shows, but the more satin finish we used with the white will help it be easier to clean.
The before color is Agreeable Gray by Sherwin-Williams. It’s throughout the whole house and we love the color, but I wish I’d paid extra for the upgraded paint. The builder-grade one is not of great quality.
Side note: Agreeable Gray looks so different depending on the lighting. Several of our friends have this color and it can look cooler or warmer depending on the house, time of day, and light sources, as you may notice in my photos!
DIY BOARD AND BATTEN: SUPPLIES
Here is what you’ll need to create a board and batten accent wall.
- Primed Joint Boards. We used all 1 x 3 boards with the exception of the top door trim piece, which is a 1 x 2. I’ve labeled the various aspects in the photo below.
- White Paint and Paint Supplies
- Miter Saw
- Nail Gun. We have a Porter-Cable Cordless Nail Gun from Lowe’s that cost under $100. It’s so worth it for board and batten walls because of how much time it saves!
- Putty or Spackle. You’ll use this to fill the nail holes before you paint. This easy step is VITAL to getting a professional-looking end result.
- Caulk. You’ll use this after to paint to fill in gaps along the boards. Walls and boards are never perfectly straight, so this step hides any imperfections and, again, is VITAL to getting a professional-looking end result.
Here is the label on the boards we use for all of our DIY Board and Batten projects.
DIY BOARD AND BATTEN NOTE
For the standard vertical Board and Batten, you can see peeks of in our entryway, we loosely followed this tutorial on The Home Depot Blog.
STEP ONE
If you have a “door” opening on your wall like we do, you’ll want to trim it out with three 1 x 3 boards, as we’ve done below.
The top piece of 1 x 2 trim we decided to add later on, but if we had initially planned on it, we’d have added it during this step.
Remember, measure twice, cut one. And it still never hurts to buy an extra board or two!
STEP TWO
We had to cut most of these boards with an angle at one end. A level, good measurements, and some finger-crossing are helpful when cutting angles.
Our boards are spaced 12 inches apart. That varies each time we do Board and Batten since we base it on the wall measurements and what looks visually appealing.
We did one board at a time to get it right. Don’t worry if your cuts are a wee bit off. You can fix them with the putty/spackle and caulk when you do the finishing work.
If you find a board or your wall is particularly bowed as you are nailing on the boards, you can add a screw or textured nail to keep it flush.
Keep going until all the boards are up. You can see we added the top piece of door trim in this photo.
STEP Three
Now that all your boards are up use the spackle or putty to fill in all the nail holes and gaps (where you may have cut a board a wee bit short.
STEP FOUR
It’s time to paint! After taping any areas that we don’t want white paint on, we use angle paintbrushes to do the first coat.
Then we apply 2-3 more coats with a small roller until we have a beautiful, opaque finish.
STEP FIVE
The following day, we caulked the boards and edges to hide any remaining gaps and imperfections.
Not bad for a few hours of work and $40, right?
Our Dining Room Board and Batten
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Our Entryway Board and Batten
Our Girls’ Nautical Bathroom Board and Batten
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