This post is #sponsored by Ryobi Tools. All opinions are mine.
Hello lovelies! A few weeks ago we took it upon ourselves to makeover our kitchen. We started with what I’ve been wanting to do the most: installing board and batten!
Notice I didn’t title this post ‘how to install board and batten’. The truth is, we are novices and took pieces of advice from every blog we could find to help us. By ‘we’ I mean my husband and I. He did most of the ‘heavy lifting’, you know the cutting, measuring, and well the lifting of heavy things, while I stuck to the drilling, caulking, and painting. The two tutorials that inspired us the most were from Thrifty Decor Chick (my all-time fave in case you hadn’t heard), and Young House Love.
We spent an entire weekend updating the kitchen {I call it the ‘kitchen’ but the truth is the dining room and kitchen are one large room divided by a center island}. There was no heavy construction just a surface makeover, but it had a big impact! Rest assured that I will be sharing every nook and cranny with you soon, but for now I will show you a couple of the ‘before’ walls.
Our cabinets were white when we bought the house so I just added a fresh coat of white paint when we moved in, and darkened up the wall color to this one, which is Milestone by Behr. I loved it! The white popped! The only problem is the room only has one large source of natural light and the other end of the room often looked dark (and dreary). Fail.
Here’s the dark side (haha). With black granite counters, and a red brick back splash (already here when we moved in) it just didn’t work. Yet I kept it like that for nearly 2 years to the day. Don’t ask me why, I still don’t know.
To lighten it up I know that color had to change (nothing against that shade of grey by the way, I have it on one wall in my living room and it looks FAB). I also knew that the rest of the room needed some sort of architectural feature to balance the design. Brick on one side and plain walls circa 1980’s on the other, wasn’t quite doing it. That’s where the board and batten comes in. Of course this is faux ‘board’ we’re talking about here. There is no money or energy for the real thing when the ‘faux’ version will do just fine.
How We Installed Board and Batten
Materials:
3.5″ Pre-sanded pine trim
1.5 ” Primed pine
Miter Saw
Laser level
Stud finder
Wood adhesive
Paintable silicone
Wood caulk
Sanding block
Drill
Brad nails
White paint {Frost by Glidden with built-in primer}
Grey paint {Woodsmoke by Valspar}
All of the power tools we used are Ryobi, they have a fantastic selection at Home Depot!
Measure, measure, and measure again.
With a laser level {which is GENIUS by the way}, we measured a straight line around the room at the height we wanted for our board and batten, which was 48″ {after tons of research, I realized there is only one ‘rule’ to this, do it as tall or as short as you like, just try not to do it in the middle of your wall, or it will cut the room in half}. We used a piece of painter’s tape and a pencil to mark the height. Also very important–get yourself a stud finder if you don’t have one. Not what you’re thinking ladies! This will let you know where the studs are in your wall so you can nail your vertical pieces properly. More on that later…
At Home Depot we picked up 3.5″ pine trim {there are much less expensive boards, weigh your options}. The pine was pre-sanded and just so pretty! Also some pre-primed 1.5″ pine boards for the vertical rows. We also bought a Ryobi Miter Saw in order to cut the pieces easily, especially those pesky angles.
We adhered the wood trim to the wall with the adhesive, and allowed it to set for a few minutes.
Then using the skinniest drill bit (technical term) we had, I drilled holes every several inches and nailed in the brads with a hammer.
Note: If you have a nail gun you are light years ahead of me, this will be a much faster process for you! However, I always make do, and that I did!
It really didn’t take too long to nail them in with a hammer. Then I cut the vertical boards, giving them a 45 degree angle at the bottom, so that it works well with the existing baseboards, which we left as is. Glued and nailed the vertical boards in the same fashion.
Next I dabbed some wood caulk over the nails and smoothed it out {like this}, and lightly went over them with a sanding block.
We tried to keep them as close to 18″ apart as we could, but it ended up being more like 16-18″ because that is where the studs were. Old house what can I tell ya?
The last part of installing the board and batten was to seal the edges with paintable silicone. Trust me when I tell you to make sure you can paint it! I tried to keep this process as neat as possible but it didn’t happen. I had to go back and wipe off the excess with a damp towel. It’s sticky stuff, be warned.
The tutorials I found said to make sure to paint the walls BEFORE nailing the wood in. In my natural rebellious nature, I didn’t do that {also, I forgot}. The vertical boards were pre-primed which made things easier, and the white paint had primer in it. After just 2 coats {give or take} the white covered the dark grey. The next morning I painted the top half in the pale grey. Notice we used board and batten over the sink since the granite backsplash only goes up 6″. I’m still working on accessorizing :)
Are we professionals, heavens no! Do we get the job done? Always!
Because of this project I now feel comfortable using a miter saw. I truly believe that with the right tools, you can easily install board and batten or create anything you want in your home too!
…and when you do, make sure to click on the picture and join Ryobi Nation! Link up your DIY project using Ryobi tools and enter for chance to win $500 in Ryobi One+ Tools, a place in the Ryobi Nation Hall of Fame, AND hard earned bragging rights!!
Not as difficult after all, wouldn’t you agree? Power tools are FUN! What will you make with your Ryobi power tools?
Vanessa says
It looks wonderful! This has been on my to do list for so long. You might just be the push I needed to get started!
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Vanessa, thanks! I can’t wait to see yours!!
Dinah says
Wow! It looks fantastic, Barbara!!! I’m bowing down to you :) Great post!
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Aaaw thanks Dinah! You are too sweet! *blushing*
Meredith @ Wait Til Your Father Gets Home says
Awesome job Barbara! You’ve inspired me to possibly try to tackle board and batten on my own {yikes}! LOVE your little picture gallery in your kitchen too and all the open shelving. Very cute!
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thanks Meredith! I am still working on that space, so stay tuned for even more updates!
Laura says
Looks great! It really lightened up the space. I love Ryobi tools. They are pretty much all we use at our house. :)
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thank you Laura! Ryobi has really great quality stuff, we stick to the same brand too!
Tara says
Barbara! It came out absolutely beautiful! You guys did such a great job :)
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thanks Tara! I appreciate it, we are such novices!
Chelsea says
Looks fantastic!! I love board and batten and it cheers up that space perfectly!
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thank you Chelsea! Mission accomplished! That space was so dark and dreary before!
Crystal says
It looks beautiful!! You did an amazing job!! I love how it turned out!!
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thank you Crystal! You are so sweet :) :)
Sarah @ Becoming Martha says
Love it! And same here – we werent pros either but the job got done! It looks great :)
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thanks friend!
Jen @ Four Marrs & One Venus says
Ohhh lala! So so Pretty! WOW what a crazy difference! I need to get my hands on some of those tools!
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thank you Jen! You DO! You will love working with them!
Amy Anderson says
This is awesome – and you made it look like something I could do!
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thanks so much Amy! If I could do it, believe me, anyone can!
carissa says
love it! if you plan on putting it in multiple spaces the nail gun {and a paint sprayer…} might be worth it! we’re able to bust out a room in no time. cutting and putting the wood up takes about an hour, then caulk and wood putty overnight. then we prep for the paint sprayer and the room is painted in, get this, 20 minutes. amazing right?
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
WOW! Well I know what’s going on my Christmas wish list! ;) Thanks for the tip Carissa!
Loren says
I love molding it always add that extra touch!
Pop Art Minis - Joni says
Great Job! This looks awesome!
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thank you friend!! We love our dining space now!
Angela says
I’m loving your transformation. I love the pop of white to brighten the space and the clean lines. I think it really turned out wonderful. Awesome job!
Stopping by from SNAP.
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thank you Angela! Welcome!
Kim says
Thanks so much for posting this.. we’re just about to start this process in our foyer and this is just what we needed!
Ashley @ Simply Designing says
love how this turned out!
Barbara @ Chase the Star says
Thank you friend!