Do you have a space in your home that is complete with furnishings and decor yet it still feels like it is missing something? That is exactly how I was feeling about this family room and I knew just how to fix that, board and batten! I teamed up with WoodGrain to show you how to easily apply a wall treatment to add a ton of character to your space.
We have eight foot ceilings in this space and applied 1×4 pieces of primed mdf in a plaid pattern. The horizontal boards boarder the ceiling and floor trim and are spaces 16″ from each leaving a 48″ opening in the center. The verticals are larger with 40″ and 80″ spacing. I found it easiest to install the vertical pieces then cutting the horizontal pieces to fill the gaps.
The install – after cutting each of the vertical pieces, they were attached to the wall using 2″ brads and a brad nailer. Be sure that each piece is level and don’t plan on using the walls/ceilings as guides as the are often a little off square. After the verticals are in, measure each of the horizontal spaces and cut them to fit. I chose to instal the verticals first as my walls are over 8′ wide so I would not have been able to use one piece for them anyway. I wanted to fill the least amount of seams as I could. If your wall is 8″ or less wide, you could install vertical or horizontal, whichever makes more sense for your space.
Once each of the boards have been secured to the wall, I used a nail punch to inset any nails which did not fully submerge into the trim piece. You do not want any nail heads sticking out of the trim pieces if you are looking for a nice smooth finish.
Next you are ready to fill the cracks and seams. I use caulk to fill any cracks between the trim and the wall/ceiling and I like to use plastic wood to fill the seams between the trim pieces. You are able to paint over both, but you are not able to sand caulk, so you do not want that on your flat surfaces. Once everything is dry, sand the seams smooth to the touch and add a second layer as needed. Give a quick sand to everything that needs to be painted, to be sure the surface is nice and smooth.
Finally, you are ready to paint! I like to cut in each of the trim pieces with a paint brush first and finish with a smooth roller on the surfaces to get the best finish!
