Use these simple tips to take the guess work out of building board and batten and for cheap!
Did you ever read that book as a kid? “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”? And the whole book is about this domino effect of a little mouse who keeps discovering more things he wants?
Well, there’s a grown-up version. If you give a DIYer a table makeover, she’s going to want a shiplap wall. When you give her a plank wall, she’ll probably ask for board and batten. Or at least, that’s how the story goes around here.
Yesterday, I got to show off our latest room reveal in our foyer that puts a smile on my face every time I walk in the door. Our cookie cutter house is starting to feel more and more like a home all the time. It’s finally an expression of who we are and what we like.
Robert and I have agreed for a while now that our front door needs a little help, and our wheels have been turning ever since we got the idea in our heads to beef it up.
Then we started thinking about our uber dark downstairs hallway. This space has no natural light, and it really feels like a cave. The dark paint I blindly chose on moving day doesn’t really help matters.
So I started sketching out plans and crunching numbers to brighten it up with some extra chunky, double tall board and batten. (Skim, hold the whipped cream.)
We wanted to do it cheaply but didn’t want to be ripping MDF or plywood boards to get the job done. We wanted a one and done process. So the answer? Furring strips.
A 1x4x8 furring strip costs less than $2.00 at most hardware stores. That’s 70% cheaper than MDF boards. And they’re solid and ready to put up without any ripping. It was still quite a tedious process, since it is board and batten after all, but it eliminated some extra steps. And I love how the whole project turned out.
Here’s what we used: (Affiliate links provided below noted by asterisks. For more information, see my disclosure here.)
- 32 1x4x8 pine furring strips (or however many you need for your space)
- 4 1x2x8 pine furring strips
- 2 boxes of 2 inch finishing nails
- Hammer or brad nailer (I’m so ready to get my hands on one of these*)
- Stud finder*
- Level*
- Table saw* or circular saw*
- Jigsaw*
- White trim caulk*
- Wood filler*
- Medium to fine grit sandpaper
Our hallway is very long, and we still ended up staying under our $100 budget. Furring strips are da bomb diggity, y’all!
The Steps:
1. We placed the boards (the horizontal 1x4s) at 65″ on our walls using a level, with the top of the 1×4 at the 65″ mark from the top of our existing baseboard.
(I tried my best to remember to take pictures as we worked but this was definitely a two person job.)
2. Once level and at the height mark you want, nail each board into studs. This is where that stud finder can really come in handy. Our nail gun wouldn’t work with 2″ finishing nails so we had to resort to the good ol’ hammer method. Womp womp.
It took much longer this way but we felt better that with longer nails, the boards were more secure.
We had to measure each section of wall for some of the boards and cut with a circular saw for the more narrow spaces.
Progress! And we were blissfully unaware that this was the beginning of a long 3 days. Just warning ya.
3. Then, we got to measuring and cutting our battens (the vertical 1x4s). Each one was around 61.5″ long. We measured for each batten individually from the top of our existing baseboard because we wanted as snug of a fit as possible.
4. We had to work around some tricky areas like our security system keypad, outlets, and light switches. For the keypad, we had to cut a board into two parts.
Robert held up a board against the keypad to mark where to cut with his circular saw.
For boards that were only partially intersecting light switches and outlets, we held the board in place next to it, marked, and cut the section out with our jigsaw.
5. The trickiest part of all though was figuring out how to stay consistent with our spacing battens. And we didn’t want to nail them to just drywall for fear that it could really cause some drama later. (Like a monkey kid who decides to yank on them…you just never know.)
Solution: Nail your battens to studs. They should (hopefully) already be evenly spaced, and it will make the battens more secure.
By the way, for 90% of the projects you see on this blog, Lola is sitting right beside us supervising our every move. The other 10%, she’s usually snoring on the couch.
One guess who put the Dallas Cowboys jersey on her (and it just might be the guy wearing the Dallas hat there). She’s the only wacko dog I’ve ever known who actually likes wearing clothes.
Whew! Getting there. That stud trick works!
I sort of spaced out on taking pictures at this point because I was so ready to have this madness finished.
6. We measured each space between the battens for our second horizontal board. Most were 12″ apart, give or take a few millimeters. We left a 12″ space between the bottom of the top board and top of the second board.
7. To finish it off, we nailed a 1×2 board flat on top like a little shelf. That one detail made it look really complete.
8. Then we caulked all seams and board edges and filled wood knots and nail holes for longer than I care to remember. (Thank goodness for nearby grandparents who babysit. Thanks, Mom!) Once it was all dry, we sanded it all until smooth.
I had no idea before we tackled this project ourselves just how much work it entailed. Maybe if we’d attempted a smaller space first it wouldn’t have been so overwhelming, but Robert and I are so happy with how it’s turned out. Totally worth it.
UPDATE: See the final board and batten reveal here!
Oh, and you know now if you give a decorator board and batten, she’s going to want a painted front door. That’s a-coming…maybe after we catch our breath.
Have you ever attempted board and batten in your house before? Or any other architectural DIYs that worked wonders in a room? Tell me all about it!
You can check out more of our other architectural DIYs: (Just click the images below.)
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Gina says
September 1, 2015 at 5:34 pmOh my word – we would be dangerous together. My hubs is already thinking I’m crazy with the amount of projects I have going in my head – this is something I have been talking about doing in nearly every part of the house. I can’t wait to get going on this. Thank you for coming up with & sharing a low cost alternative. I would have instinctively gone with the mdf & paid way too much. LOVE this!
Lauren says
September 2, 2015 at 12:49 pmHaha! I have a feeling we would be too. DIYs definitely take a little sweet talking on the hubby but mine is usually as excited as I am about it. We both got the DIY bug lately, but this one probably made us realize it’s time for a breather from the power tools for a few..um…weeks. Haha. Glad my little tip could help. Love your blog, Gina!
Betsey Freyberger says
September 1, 2015 at 6:06 pmWe are in the process of putting board and batten in our bathroom. It is a much smaller space so we could not rely on your stud method, that and the fact our studs were not evenly spaced. I love it and am also putting bead board on the ceiling . Cannot wait until it is done!!
Lauren says
September 2, 2015 at 12:51 pmOh that is tricky. Ours was a challenge because we had doors, outlets, switches, weird corners, and all of that going on so studs was the answer for us. Hopefully, you have a flat wall without all of those crazy obstacles. I’m not gonna lie…I’m kind of jealous that you’re getting bead board on your ceiling. 😉 Haha
[email protected] Rustic Maple says
September 1, 2015 at 7:38 pmThat is going to look great and really brighten up your hallway. We used chunky mdf in our kitchen but you are right that it can get expensive. I will have to keep this in mind if we tackle another area. Oh, and around here we prefer a large double double (I’m referring to your skim hold the whip comment in case you think I have lost my mind haha.)
Lauren says
September 2, 2015 at 12:53 pmHaha! Yay! Someone got it! I thought, “Nobody is going to get that and will think I’m crazy.” The chunky mdf is definitely less work when it comes to sanding, filling wood knots, finding good boards to use and all of that but it does add up.
Erica says
December 29, 2015 at 2:16 pmDo you have textured walls?
Lauren says
January 13, 2016 at 10:57 pmI don’t. Our walls are smooth. With textured, I wouldn’t recommend the way we did it.
Sandy R says
March 13, 2016 at 11:42 amHow do the battens tie into the baseboard? Are your baseboards 1″ at the top? Are your battens hanging out over the top of the baseboard or did you miter them? Can you post a close up photo?
I absolutely love this and want to do it at my house but not sure if it’s doable with my traditional baseboards. Thank you in advance.
Lauren says
March 14, 2016 at 7:03 pmIt’s totally up to you how you want to do it, but with traditional baseboards, I would miter them so that they end up the same width at the bottom as your baseboards.
Karen says
March 29, 2016 at 11:33 amLove what you did. I’m going to do my bathroom but am wondering: is board and batten ALWAYS done in white? That seems to be the only thing I find in my searching. I’m torn between going white or perhaps a mauve if that isn’t going against “the rules”. Thanks.
Lauren says
March 31, 2016 at 12:49 amNot at all! I’ve seen gray, navy, and red before too. The rules are meant to be broken anyway, right? 😉
Elizabeth says
April 9, 2016 at 2:40 pmSo I am looking at doing this in our nursery, my question is, what do you do at the base of the vertical boards where they meet your trim? It looks like your baseboard trim is similar to mine in where it is narrower at the top so the vertical board would hang out over the baseboard. (hope that makes sense) I want to avoid it looking goofy and having to replace all of my baseboards.
Thanks!
Lauren says
April 12, 2016 at 9:28 pmHi Elizabeth! You can just cut the bottom of the battens (the vertical boards) with a miter saw at an angle to meet up with your existing baseboard. I hope that makes sense.
stacey grimes says
May 15, 2016 at 6:30 amLove the ship lap, and the board and batten.
My question to you is can I have a ship lap wall ,close to (not touching ) board and batten? I love both. Usually,I’m pretty confident in my decor abilities,this one has me questioning myself.
Lauren says
May 15, 2016 at 10:53 amI had the exact same issue! And I finally just decided it’s my house and if I want shiplap and board and batten close to each other, I’m going to do it. We have shiplap in our foyer and the board and batten in our hallway right beside it, and I love how it looks. Go for it. 😉
Lindsey says
June 8, 2016 at 2:33 pmThank you for the tutorial! Your direction will be very helpful when I do a version of this in my family room. I do have a couple questions. How did you meet the baseboards with the bottom of the batten? The top of my baseboards are angled downward and I believe yours are as well. Did you leave a gap where the two meet or did you angle the bottom of your batten?
Thanks,
Lindsey
Lauren says
June 9, 2016 at 11:29 amHi Lindsey! Glad it could help! Our original plan was to angle the bottom, but our miter saw gave up on us, so we ended up just putting them as-is up against our baseboards. You can choose whatever angle you’d like though if you want to go that route.
Kaille says
June 29, 2016 at 11:10 amThis looks absolutely great! I have been wanting to do this to my walls for years now, but because my walls are textured, I have been reluctant to do it. (Plus, I am not very handy and am afraid I would just make a mess of things.) Do you have any suggestions or blog post referrals as to how one would go about applying board and batten to textured walls? I have been tempted to just go ahead and do it the way you did it, but wonder if it would just end up looking kind of half-baked with the textured wall showing through.
Also, our house has rounded corners (I dislike these for so many reasons) – do you think it would be best not to attempt putting B&B around the corners? Our baseboards already look wonky with the mitered cut to go around the corner – I imagine trying to put B&B around a rounded corner might get a bit complicated.
Thanks a lot!
Lauren says
June 30, 2016 at 3:56 pmOh, that is tricky with the textured walls and rounded corners. Yours would be more expensive to do since you would need to put plywood in the spaces between the battens. Here’s a tutorial on how to do it on textured walls: http://www.itsoverflowing.com/2012/04/entry-room-board-and-batten-mud-room/ And here’s a tutorial for how to do it on rounded corners: http://thecontractorchronicles.com/2014/03/17/install-board-batten/ It’s still possible though!
Kaille says
August 10, 2016 at 5:50 pmLauren, thanks for the links! I am so eager to try this. I do have a bathroom that is not textured, and I think I’ll give it a go in there first before trying something more involved.
Kaille
Tonya says
July 14, 2017 at 2:11 pmKaille,
We installed board and batten on our textured walls and it looks awesome. We have what I would consider light texture. We didn’t cover the walls with plywood or hardboard. The texture is noticeable between the boards but I still love it. I’d say as long as your walls aren’t a heavy texture, you would be fine. Authentic, no, but for me it’s still a beautiful, economical way to add interest to a wall.
Sara Warren says
September 4, 2016 at 5:22 pmI love this! I am so ready to tackle our entryway! Random question but can you tell me the color you have on your walls? Thanks!
Lauren says
September 9, 2016 at 4:03 pmAbsolutely! We have Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige on the walls and Glidden Crisp Linen on the board and batten trim.
Melissa Green says
October 15, 2016 at 6:10 pmLove this! Where did you purchase the furring strips? I am having a really tough time finding the right size boards to line up with our baseboards. Everything I’ve found will stick out further than the baseboards. Thanks!
Lauren says
October 17, 2016 at 5:34 pmI got the furring strips at Lowe’s. We had to be really picky choosing ones that weren’t knotty or warped. Ours overhang slightly, but you could replace your baseboards with wider boards or run a 1×1 on top of your existing baseboard or cut the bottom of your furring strips at an angle with a miter saw. 🙂
Kristie says
December 21, 2016 at 10:12 amHi! I am wanting to do this in our dining room. I was wondering though how you attached the smaller horizontal pieces between the battens. Did you just nail them into the drywall? Thanks so much and looove your projects!
Lauren says
January 3, 2017 at 11:51 amHi, Kristie! Yes, they are nailed between the battens, but they haven’t budged since we did this project over a year ago.
Jeanne says
January 20, 2017 at 9:14 amHow high did you go? I love the height, seen it lower and it just doesn’t have the same feel.
Lauren says
January 20, 2017 at 9:50 amHi Jeanne! It is 70″ high.
Kami says
April 28, 2017 at 3:22 amI love this so much! We have a dark hallway almost identical to yours and I would love to do this, we have plaster with a swirl–would this work since it’s not smooth? Any tips would be appreciated! I follow you on fb also! Love your style! Thank you!
Hilda says
April 29, 2017 at 4:27 pmWhat color is your wall paint?
Erin Corbin says
July 11, 2017 at 10:52 pmI’m new to the whole DIY thing and I was wondering what you meant when you said you caulked all seams and board edges – I don’t know where you mean? Did you caulk where every board touches the wall? Thank you!
Lauren says
July 12, 2017 at 10:14 amHi Erin! Sorry about that. Yes, we caulked every place where two boards met and where each board touched the wall.
Man says
September 10, 2017 at 11:36 amI love it. Great workmanship. Thank you for such a helpful tutorial.
Beth says
October 14, 2017 at 10:18 pmLooks great! Why did you chose 65″ for the height? Any rhyme or reason, or just what you preferred?
Trying to figure out what the ideal height is for the look that’s above the typical chair-rail height.
Thanks!
Lauren says
October 15, 2017 at 9:19 pmThat was just the height of the second hinge on all of our doors, and it accommodated for our light switches on the walls.
Mindy Strange says
December 2, 2017 at 9:35 amI love your tutorial, it looks fabulous!
My question Is on the horizontal boards, where they meet in corners, did you just leave the boards straight and bud them up against each other, then of course caulk the seam line?
Or where they come together at the corners, diff you miter them to fit like “a glove” so to speak, and then caulk your seam.
Thank you so much for sharing, your site has helped so much in TONS of our home projects!
Lauren says
December 2, 2017 at 10:37 amWe just left them straight because whether you miter or not, after caulk and paint, you can’t tell the difference at all. And our miter saw was acting up on us that day, so we went the easier but still effective route. 😉
Miranda says
April 8, 2018 at 8:31 pmI’m not sure if I missed this, but are your Walls textured? Did you sad them ? Mine are, do I need to sand them?
Lauren says
April 8, 2018 at 10:37 pmHi Miranda! No, ours are smooth. If your walls are textured, this tutorial most likely won’t work for yours, unfortunately.
Tabitha says
July 26, 2018 at 10:15 amI think you guys did a great job as a team and I love that you pressed forward even when your equipment was working properly. The results are beautiful! I can’t wait to finish my bathroom with the same method!
Virginia says
October 2, 2018 at 9:02 pmThis is perfect. I was wondering if you have a picture where the foyer and hallway interject? I am converting a very small bedroom and closet into an office/workroom. I am doing board and batten in themain area and shiplap in the closet. I have ripped out the wall in the closet but am left with a small shelf space. Wondering how i can expect the look to turn out.
Greg T. says
November 23, 2018 at 10:21 amLauren, why are there no pictures of you doing any of the work?
Looks like it was the usual wife says/husband does event.
Lauren says
November 23, 2018 at 11:01 amNope! We’re a team on everything. I measured the hallway, calculated where to place the boards and battens. He cut the wood. We placed the pieces on the walls together and nailed them together. We caulked it together. And I painted it on my own. He just isn’t the photographer type, so I take the pictures and don’t usually have photos of me in DIY action. Have a great day.
Katie says
January 26, 2019 at 10:21 pmThank you so much for this tutorial! My
Husband and I used your method this afternoon to board & batten our entryway. I’m obsessing over it! I can’t wait for tomorrow when I can caulk it all and paint it! Thanks again!
Lauren says
January 28, 2019 at 9:16 pmKatie, you are most welcome!! I am so glad you found it helpful!!