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DIY Board and Batten with Shelf

I’m feeling very accomplished for writing this post for you guys – first DIY tutorial of 2018 yaaaaa. So when I started brainstorming the design for Hawkins’ nursery, I knew I wanted a fun accent wall but didn’t think I could commit to the whole wall. I was stuck between a dark paint color or some wallpaper and figured some board and batten would be the perfect way to break it up. I love the dimension it adds to the space and it was seriously so easy! And the little shelf is definitely my favorite part.

DIY Board and Batten with Shelf

DIY Board and Batten accent wall

Supplies for DIY Board and Batten with Shelf

*affiliate links included

1x2s (select pine wood)
1x4s (select pine wood)
Paint
Nail Gun
Wood Filler
Painters Tape
Sand Paper
Stain
Polycrylic

STEP 1

Tape off the top part of your wall and paint! I ended up going with Woodland Lichen by Sherwin Williams and I couldn’t love it more.

Also paint the bottom half the same color you’ll be using for your board and batten. I used Du Jour by Valspar which is the same white paint color in most of the rooms in our home.

prep for a diy board and batten wall with a shelf

STEP 2

Cut your 1x2s to the desired length. Ours are 47″. I just bought the 6 ft. pieces and cut them down.

diy board and batten wall

STEP 3

Measure your wall and calculate the spacing you want between each batten. Ours are about 10″ apart. Then attach them using your nail compressor.

Attach your 1×4 above them next. I bought one 8 ft. piece and then another shorter piece since I couldn’t find anything longer at the time. I used some wood filler to fill in the seam and you can’t even tell!

pine wood for board and batten wall

STEP 4

Use your wood filler to fill in all the nail holes and then sand once it dries.

use wood filler to patch holes before painting board and batten

STEP 5

Paint your board and batten! I used a small 1″ brush for the battens and a little foam roller for the board.

board and batten with a dark accent wall

I remember getting some questions about this when I first shared the behind the scenes on my insta stories – a lot of you were wondering about the bottom of the battens on our base trim. For us, our baseboards are completely flat, so the battens just rested perfectly right on top of it. If you have angled baseboards or ones with some type of shape to them, you can cut your battens at 45° angles to help them not stick out so much. Or you could buy a small piece of flat trim to add just above your baseboards to allow your battens to sit flat.

STEP 6

Add the shelf! For this piece I found a 12′ long 1×4 and then had to add another little piece on the end. I couldn’t find anything longer than 12′ at our Home Depot or Lowe’s in the wood I wanted but you might have some luck at a local lumber yard! I made sure I put the spot where the two join in the far corner so it wasn’t too obvious 😉

I stained them using Dark Walnut and then sealed them up with some poly.

Then we just used our nail gun and nailed into the board right below it. Since I knew I wasn’t going to be putting anything super heavy up there, this held it in place enough.

add a shelf to a board and batten wall

And that’s it! Really simple way to add some dimension and character to a wall. I’m already thinking about where else I could do something like this in our house. It’s perfect in Hawk’s nursery and I finally faced my fears of making a dark accent wall – no regrets!

board and batten wall with a diy shelf

board and batten dark accent wall in nursery

A board and batten wall in a modern nursery

Have you ever considered adding board and batten to any walls in your home? Which room would you add it to?

Pin for later!

easy board and batten accent wall with dark green

Comments

  3. Did you paint the bottom trim or leave it wood tone? We are debating on new trim, painting white to go with the bottom wall, or leaving it wood tone. I would also have to consider the doorframe.

    Reply

  4. The room looks so good! I’m hoping to do something similar in our playroom! Thank you for your help! Would you mind sharing where your light fixture is from?

    Reply

  8. Did you have any regard for your studs when placing your verticals? I am going to do this for my nursery, it’s so beautiful. Thank you for the how-to!

    Reply

  10. Do you have the colour # of the green Sherwin Williams paint? I went to the store and they say they don’t have that colour. Thank you

    Reply

  12. Our walls have a very slight texture to them, do we need to add some kind of backing? OR just build straight in the wall? Please let me know, thanks! Love the nursery!

    Reply

  14. The room is looking very pretty! I am looking forward to implement this idea in my house! Thank you so much for sharing such simple yet elegant idea to make home look beautiful!

    Reply

  21. Wow. This is exactly what we’ve been meaning to do in the bedroom! Found this through instagram. Will definitely follow you from now on. Thanks!

    Reply

  23. The room looks gorgeous! I love board and batten and added one wall to both my bathroom and living room (though without the shelf, which I think looks amazing). Because I was remodeling and had no baseboards in either spot, I used a horizontal 1×6 for my bottom and top, and used 1×4’s for the verticals. Thanks for the detailed instructions and photos.

    Reply

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