See an easy tutorial for a DIY Board and batten wainscoting tutorial for a Modern Farmhouse Mudroom or entryway.
Does anyone have “dead space” in your home that becomes a dumping ground? Or should I ask does anyone have an area in your home that has no function and consistently collects clutter? For me, this “dead space” was the hallway right off of our garage that we call our mudroom. I decided it was time create a little DIY BOARD AND BATTEN for a Modern Farmhouse Mudroom of my dreams! After all, a batten wall not only creates lots of visual interest, but it’s also a functional addition. Let me show you.
First, let me give you a “before the batten accent wall” picture:
This is the mudroom on a good day; shoes picked up, backpacks hung, no trash on the floor.
It doesn’t look terrible, just not the “dream” farmhouse mudroom (or should I say hallway) look I was going for.
Goals for this Modern farmhouse mudroom with board and batten:
- Organizational
- modern farmhouse inspired
- most of all, EASY AND SIMPLE
- functional
All the tutorials I found online were a little too complicated for what I wanted. Like I said, I wanted simple, easy and functional.
I set out to make my own easy DIY BOARD AND BATTEN (or wainscoting) my way, with no frills.
Note: I did NOT want to add the “batten,” but instead paint the walls the same color as the boards. I know a lot of you are thinking, “well this isn’t really board and batten,” but A LOT of people are doing it this way and for me this is what worked! This ONLY works if the walls are decently smooth without much texture. Luckily for us, we had very little texture.
Also, I went back and forth trying to decide whether I should remove the existing baseboard that butts up to the board and batten. I ultimately decided not to do this, and even though I was so worried I would regret that decision, I’m pretty pleased with how my results turned out.
Since this post was written we’ve completed a living room feature wall with board and batten. For this project, we did do the vertical and horizontal boards. We also used an angle cut where the boards meet the baseboards. Hindsight, if I could do this wall project again, I would have definitely used the angle cuts on the vertical boards that touch the top of the baseboard like we did in this blog post. It just looks better.
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Table of Contents
Materials for the DIY board and batten (without the batten):
- nail gun and 2 inch finishing nails
- 1 inch by 4 inch by 8 foot Pine Boards from Home Depot
- measuring tape
- pen or pencil
- caulk
- construction adhesive
- primer
- Paint- I used a generic white semi gloss
- Hooks
- 3M Patch plus primer(this works perfect for small nails holes)
- drill
- stud finder
- Miter saw (if boards aren’t being cut at the store)
- Painters tape
The first step in this DIY project was to measure the walls, figure out how many vertical boards and horizontal boards we needed. Also make sure to measure out where you want the top horizontal board to be set. The height of the board and batten is a personal preference, but the unsaid rule of thumb is between 1/2 and 2/3 up the wall. I personally wanted to the top board or top ledge to be about 2/3 up the wall. I think this looks best.
Also, when measuring the batten spacing, or in my case, the vertical board spacing, I made sure to lay out the boards so I didn’t have to cut around any outlets or plugs. This will make your life so much easier if you do this!
I wanted to keep things SIMPLE; so I decided to use 1″ by 4″ Pine boards because they are relatively cheap and easy to use. I needed 8 vertical boards at 56″, so I went ahead and had those boards cut at the hardware store.
How to create DIY Board and Batten without the Batten:
- Measure the area you are working with and decide how many vertical boards (I decided on 56″ tall boards) you will need. Note: the distance between each of my boards is not exactly the same. They are each about 15″ (give or take an inch) from the end of one board to the beginning of the next. The reason why they are not exact is because I tried to work around the outlets and light switches. I don’t regret this!
- Measure how much material you will need for the horizontal pieces based on the length of your wall.
- Purchase materials (for me this was 1 by 4 pine boards, which I used for the vertical and horizontal boards)
- Have material cut either by the hardware store or yourself
- attach the boards to drywall with liquid nails and a nail gun (this required an extra hand). I used 2″ finishing nails. If you are attaching smaller moulding, like cove moulding, you might need brad nailer with brad nails.
- Caulk all the edges and patch up all the nail holes. I shared the product I used, but any wood filler will work.
- Prime wall and boards (I used one coat)
- paint 3 (3 coats is what worked for me) coats of white paint (I used semi gloss white, so it would be easy to clean for my kids)
- Add hooks!
Pro tip: If you are constantly changing your wall decor, consider bypassing the construction glue and instead angle the nail gun (or brad nailer) so the nails shoot in at an angle. This is a carpentry technique called “toenailing.” Driving the nails into the wall at an angle creates a stronger joint. I have since started using this technique and I forgo the glue.
After all, y’all know I’m always changing my mind about wall treatments and decor.
Progress pictures of DIY Board and Batten
A couple things to note:
- Try to buy the straightest boards you can find. If not, the boards will not lay flat on the drywall and it will require a lot of patching and caulk.
- When measuring how many vertical boards you will need, try to work around the light switches and electrical outlets. This prevents you from having to make more cuts.
- A lot of people use different width boards. Like the vertical boards would be a 1 by 2 and the horizontal boards would be a 1 by 4. My theme for this project was simple, so I stayed with one width and although I was worried it would look to plain, I’m real happy with the outcome.
- When purchasing the hooks, keep in mind that you will be hanging heavy things from them, so make sure they are heavy duty! A link to the hooks I purchased is in the materials list.
A few final pictures!
I love how much better and brighter this wall treatment looks now. I also feel like it flows better from the kitchen to the dining room space.
You can see more of Vintage Metal Co HERE.
If you enjoyed seeing this modern farmhouse mudroom, you might enjoy our budget friendly coastal mudroom in our current home.
That’s it! I love the way my DIY BOARD AND BATTEN (or wainscoting) creates a nice Modern Farmhouse Mudroom.
Looking for more easy wall molding ideas? Check out my list of 10 great molding ideas here.
It’s really nice to walk into a more organized and lovely space. Isn’t it funny how a few 1 by 4’s and a few hooks will transform a space.
Did you enjoy this post? If you did and want to save it for later I would love for you to pin it to Pinterest with the image below!
Lindsey**