DIY Board and Batten Family Room Makeover

Board and Batten makes my heart melt! I figured it was something that had to be installed professionally and would cost a fortune. It wasn’t until I started updating our window and door trim that the lightbulb went off, his is what is used for Board and Batten! I can totally do this! So I headed to Lowes to get materials for my DIY Board and Batten Family Room Makeover.

Before

DIY Board and Batten Supplies

-3.5″x8″ Primed MDF (You can save money by buying the 4’x8′ sheets and ripping them yourself)

-Liquid Nails

-Spackle or Wood Putty

-Sand paper

-Caulk

-Paint

-Saw

-Nail Gun

DIY Board and Batten Install

First I set my height. I knew that I wanted it to go 3/4 up the wall, this would prevent me from cluttering my walls too much with pictures. The B&B makes a statement on its own. This was tricky due to the fact that our floors and ceilings are not completely level. If they were it would have been easy to measure the same distance from the ceiling across the wall. Then I knew I wanted my second row for the boxes to start at the same height as the fireplace. It looks a little crooked in this picture, but I used a level as I went across the wall.
Apply liquid nails to the back side of the MDF and then secure with a nail gun, going into as many studs as possible.
Paint the wall (I didn’t do this until after the B&B was installed and it would have been much easier to do this beforehand)
I measured the length that I would need for the vertical strips and then cut with a saw. The measurements were ALL DIFFERENT!! I did not want to replace our baseboards so I cut the MDF at a 45-degree angle to give the illusion that it matched up with the baseboards. Another technique that can be used is to install a 2″ piece of base molding upside down so the MDF rests on it. Here is another view of where the MDF meets the base molding. This is my youngest son’s cat who is always front and center when I’m working on projects.
Spacing the boards was the most time-consuming. I played around with it by leaning them up against the wall. On the long wall they were 21″ apart and on the fireplace wall, they are 16″ apart. Same as above you need to apply liquid nails to the back and secure with a nail gun.
For the boxes that are placed horizontally, those needed to start at the same height as the fireplace. The inside measurement of the boxes is 12.5″. I cut the wood very tight and “rested” them inside the vertical strips first and then used a level.
Now the not so fun part. I neglected to get a picture but I caulked where all the boards meet the wall and then spackle or wood putty to all the seams. Apply the spackle and let it dry overnight. Then Saturday morning I sanded with a power sander.
Paint another coat of paint on the walls and paint the trim.

I was worried that the B&B would make the room look even smaller but it doesn’t. The family room feels so much more inviting now. We will be getting a sectional in the springtime so the way I have the furniture laid out now is the exact measurements of where the sectional will be from the fireplace to the dresser and then angled to the white chair. For a family of 5, the three seat sofa just isn’t cutting it anymore.