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
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.
STEP 2
Cut your 1x2s to the desired length. Ours are 47″. I just bought the 6 ft. pieces and cut them down.
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!
STEP 4
Use your wood filler to fill in all the nail holes and then sand once it dries.
STEP 5
Paint your board and batten! I used a small 1″ brush for the battens and a little foam roller for the board.
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.
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!
Have you ever considered adding board and batten to any walls in your home? Which room would you add it to?
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Katherine says
Looks awesome! What type of white paint did you use in the batten? Semi gloss or matte?
brepurposed says
Satin!
Any says
All together how tall is your board and batten from floor to top of shelf?
Lauren says
Love this!! What paint color are the other walls?
brepurposed says
Du Jour by Valspar!
Lauren Short says
Hey, what was the overall height of your board and batten / shelf? Are the ceilings 8 ft?
brepurposed says
Our battens are 47″ and yes we have 8′ ceilings.
Kristin Geers says
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.
brepurposed says
We left it wood tone! We haven’t painted any of the trim in our house!
Kirra Sue Sutton says
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?
brepurposed says
Thank you! Here is the link: https://www.wayfair.com/lighting/pdp/beachcrest-home-aralene-3-light-semi-flush-mount-bchh4953.html?piid=21904555&SSAID=687298&refid=SS687298&creative=65867&m=11035&sscid=11k3_rcjxk&experiencetype=1
Emily Seith says
Do you have the plans to the awesome bookshelf you created by chance?? I love it and want to recreate it!
brepurposed says
You can read all about it in this post 🙂 https://brepurposed.porch.com/2018/02/28/diy-bookcase-angled-shelves/
Aeron Wallace says
What color is the board and batten?
brepurposed says
Valspar Du Jour
Abbey says
Hi there! May I ask what brand and kind of stain you used for the shelf? 🙂 is it gel stain?
brepurposed says
Nope, just regular stain! It was Dark Walnut by Minwax 🙂
Katie says
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!
Carolyn says
I was wondering the same thing. Doesn’t seem like it.
brepurposed says
We originally were trying to, but the spacing wasn’t working so we didn’t!
Laura says
This is beautiful. Thanks for sharing. My walls are a nice light gray with white trim. Do you have any thoughts on how I could do something similar in a gray room instead of a white room. I’m wondering if I need to go all white in the room for this accent wall to look good to avoid having gray walls with one white and green wall. Would love your opinion!
Kaitlyn says
Yes I’m totally wondering the same thing! In the same boat over here!
Holly says
Where is the rocker from? I love your whole design!
brepurposed says
Wayfair…here is the link! https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/viv-rae-nola-rocking-chair-vvro6584.html
Alex says
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
brepurposed says
It’s from the HGTV line – it’s HGSW 3282 🙂
Marissa says
our walls have a slight texture, do we need to add a backing? or just build straight on to the wall? please let me know, thanks! love the nursery!
brepurposed says
I think you should be fine over the texture!
Marissa says
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!
Erica says
Can you provide that paint color and rug source? How big is the rug you used? Gorg!
brepurposed says
Paint color is Woodland Lichen by Sherwin Williams and the rug is from http://www.swoonrugs.com 🙂 and it’s about 4×7
Lexi says
What finish did you use for battan and walls paint (flat, satin,etc)? And what paint color did you use for adjacent for adjacent walls?
Lijo Decor says
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!
Erika Christina says
Where is the ceiling light from?
Annie Desai says
I wondered the same thing. It’s great
brepurposed says
https://www.wayfair.com/lighting/pdp/beachcrest-home-aralene-3-light-semi-flush-mount-bchh4953.html?piid=21904555&SSAID=687298&refid=SS687298&creative=65867&m=11035&sscid=11k3_rcjxk&experiencetype=1
Ericka Campbell says
I love the crib, can you share the details? 🙂
Jessica Baruch says
I love this so much! I am using this as inspiration for my nursery. Where is the crib from??
brepurposed says
It’s from Wayfair but they stopped selling it 🙁
Diana | Dahlias and Dimes says
I absolutely love everything about this, paint color and all! Awesome job. Saving this for inspiration 😉
brepurposed says
Aw thank you so much!
Kelly Mahan says
It’s amazing how you make an overwhelming project (for me) sound so simple and totally doable. I’m definitely going to try this!
brepurposed says
Aw I promise it’s not bad at all, you can do it!
M says
Where is the tree in the room from?!
brepurposed says
Wayfair! http://rstyle.me/n/csj56gb63r7
Maryse says
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!
brepurposed says
Thank you so much Maryse!!
Amanda says
It looks so beautiful, Bre! I love the shelf detail, and that green color is just perfect!
brepurposed says
Thanks Amanda!!
Dyan says
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.
brepurposed says
Thank you so much Dyan! Sounds like yours worked out perfectly in your space!
Brianna andreychuk says
You did such a fantastic job! That forest green paired with the white batten board and the rug that ties all the wood tones together. Seriously bravo! Great tutorial
brepurposed says
Thank you so much Brianna!