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Believe it or not I started a blog way back when we first bought our home in 2015 with the grand ambition of chronicling all our 'do it yourself', 'fixer upper' ambitious projects... I made it three posts (*insert face palm*). I found that little blog the other day and cringed a little bit, but it also sparked all the feelings, cause ya'll, this house has come A LONG WAY. It was not move in ready, in fact it was unlivable, so we busted our butts to get it to a place where we were happy enough to move in. We knocked down a lot of walls, replaced a lot of drywall, and basically created a whole new house, but that's a post for another day. We're now at a place with our renovations where I'm making more thoughtful cosmetic, design decisions to transform this house into our home.
I've dabbled in several styles (boho, farmhouse, no style at all) and have come to realize that I'm very much drawn to a more traditional, cottage, cozy feel. If you need some serious cottage inspo check out Chris Loves Julia their home reno gives me life and are such a joy to follow. So, as I've been following along with folks on Instagram and scrolling Pinterest I've really narrowed down what I love and what I don't and I'm basically ready to change every room in my house... I kid... kinda.
Here's the dealio though... I know nothing about using power tools so all of our renovations up to date have mostly been completed by Mike. I helped knock things down, but building them back up... that was pretty much him. But now Mike is traveling for work and has less time to help with projects around the home - so I could either live in the in-between or I could force myself out of my comfort zone and learn how to do these projects myself. I chose the latter.
I decided to start with adding some board and batten to the hallway - a relatively simple project that doesn't require a ton of tools. I also have Mike home with Indiana's Stay at Home Order so he can teach me the proper way to use the tools and problem solve with me when needed. I'm looking forward to the day I have more confidence in my power tool capabilities to tackle a bigger project on my own (like the kitchen/livingroom!). Anywho... before this post gets too much like those food posts where all you want is the recipe, but have to scroll forever to get to it... let's get to the tutorial!
Our entryway and hallway was very dreary and pretty bland - I wanted to add depth to the space without making it feel claustrophobic or too dark. Here is where we started...
Hallway when we bought the house. I had removed chair railing with a leaf pattern before the picture was taken.
I had painted everything years ago, but honestly still didn't love the look, it felt pretty boring. Board and batten adds interest without being super in your face about it so it was the perfect option for the space. So here's what you need to know if you want to install your own:
Materials and Tools Used:
- 1/4" x 2' x 4' sheets of MDF cut to 3 inches for uprights and 4 inches for horizontal pieces
- Pine cove moulding that sits on top of the 4 inch panel
- 1/2" x 2' x 4' sheet of MDF cut to 1 inch for ledge
- Brad Nailer (ours is powered by an air compressor, but you can find battery operated ones too)
- 2" x 18-gauge nails for the nailer
- Miter Saw
- Table Saw (to cut your MDF sheets. Or if we're no longer social distancing your Home Depot or other home improvement store might be able to cut your sheets down to desired size for free... just ask!)
- Level
- Measuring tape
- Jigsaw
- Wood Filler
- Paintable Caulk
- Spackle
- Sandpaper
The process:
When I started dreaming of this hallway transformation I was going back and forth between board and batten and beadboard - I was super duper close to choosing beadboard, but what changed my mind was taping out the board and batten design on the walls. I highly recommend doing this if you are a visual person like me. Poor Mike has to draw everything out for me (like the deck) in order for me to conceptualize it.
I knew roughly the height and spacing so I took some painters tape and drew it out on the wall. I think beadboard would have been too busy for this space and wouldn't have had the depth I was looking for.
So now comes the fun! I read several tutorials (this one from Woods and Ivory gave me the most inspo) and knew I wanted to keep the existing baseboards. That helped me narrow down materials because I didn't want the profile to stick out too much from the baseboards - I was going for as seamless as possible. I then painted the walls the two colors prior to doing anything with the boards. The colors I decided on were Alabaster and Accessible Beige by Sherwin Williams and let me tell you I am OBSESSED with this combo... so much so I'm going to keep it going in a majority of the house. Ya'll are obsessed with it too, this was by far my most asked question during this project.
Next came finalizing the spacing of the uprights. The height was determined from the 2'x4' sheets of MDF - to get a little more height I made the horizontal piece 4 inches and knew the 1/2" ledge would rest on top of that getting me right where I wanted. But the spacing of the uprights... that took a little finangling.
See that ugly little double light switch that needs to be... switched (lol)? That determined the spacing of my uprights. I started from our front door on the left and worked my way across. The spacing came to 16" between each board. I should also mention that I used the moulding for the door as a way to "end" the wall instead of another upright. The space between the last upright and the door moulding didn't always equal 16" but it still looks aesthetically pleasing because the moulding is so different.
See what I mean? Play around with your boards - tape them up step back and see how you like it! There is no wrong way to set up your boards, as long as you think it looks good, then it does!
When attaching the boards I started with the first upright: nailing two 2" 18 gauge nails in the top and bottom... that way if I messed up it wouldn't be too hard to remove... then spaced out 16" taped up the next board, spaced out again and attached another upright with two nails. I used the level against the two uprights I attached to make sure they were good to go then added 3-4 more nails. THEN I added the horizontal piece and made sure it was level. Deciding to do it this way (attaching two uprights at the beginning and end of the 4' horizontal piece) helped make sure all the other uprights lined up nicely with that horizontal piece and didn't give me any huge gaps in between.
Walls are funny and very rarely square or flat or smooth. Which make projects like these super fun *insert sarcasm here*.
I repeated that process for the length of the wall until I got to the door. Now I'm going to compile a "Lessons Learned" at the end of the post, but this one is too big not to mention here. Attach your door trim BEFORE you do anything else. Don't do what I did and hold up a scrap piece and think you'll be good.
Ok, so adding the ledge and finding odd angles. Let's talk about how much this is a pain in the rear, but ultimately makes it look so damn good.
The cove moulding sits on the 4" horizontal piece, not above it. That was pretty easy to nail in, but the 1/2" ledge sits on top of both of those pieces, lets just say I had a heck of a time getting it to attach. You have to angle your nail gun in such a way that it grabs the ledge, the 4" piece and the wall. In phase two of this update I'll go into a ton more detail on how to do this.
As for the angle. Mike had to explain this to me several times and I'm still unsure if I understand. We found the angle using our digital protractor - which came out to 135 degrees then we divided that in half to account for each side of the wall. This came to 67.5. THEN to find the angle to set the miter saw we had to get 67.5 degrees to 90... which came out to 22.5. Did I lose you? Cause I think I lost myself lol. Setting the miter saw to cut at a 22.5 degree angle for each side gave us the perfect match up so I shrugged my shoulders and went with it. If you can provide an explanation for why I had to get the angle to 90 please share in the comments!
Your final steps before painting comes filling the nail holes and caulking. You'll want to use the spackle for the flat seams and nail holes. Cover it above the hole/seam so you can smooth down to a nice flat finish with sandpaper. I used 220 grit, it's not super coarse so it won't take off a ton of the spackle and won't leave lines either. With the seams at an angle you'll want to use caulk and either a damp washcloth or your finger to smooth it down - this will create a nice edge, making everything seamless and crisp. As much as this part sucks, don't skip it. Once you paint and see the finished project, you'll be glad you put in the effort.
Alright ya'll that's the basic gist of installing board and batten. Phase two I will go into more details about specific techniques - like using the jigsaw to cut notches, filling holes, installing the ledge etc. If there is something you want more information on let me know and I'll include it!
Lessons learned:
Attach all door trim BEFORE anything else.
Make sure if you're using an air compressor to power your nail gun that it is plugged in all the way (sounds like a duh, but remember, I'm learning how all of these tools work as I go and this was a big lesson for me the first night).
Take time to measure, and re-measure.
Use a level.
Have scrap wood on hand to practice your cuts.
Caulk is a pain, but also your best friend.
Until next time!
-XO- Natasha