DIY board and batten plus $5,000 Earn Your Stripes Room Makeover Contest

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of FrogTape®. All opinions are 100% mine.

Since we moved into our home a few years ago, I’ve wanted to jazz up the second floor hallway. But a gazillion other DIY projects kept me from taking action. Then our toddler son recently decided to use the hallway as his personal canvas. He created his “art” using a permanent black marker! So the hallway project moved up to No. 1 on the DIY schedule.

Room-before

After much Pinterest searching, I decided to do a board and batten wall treatment in the space, with a narrow shelf at the top where I could display family photos.

I started by priming the walls white where the marker damage was done. I didn’t want the black marker bleeding through my finished wall color.

Priming-marker-damage

Then it was time to begin the board and batten project.

Step 1: Decide where the first horizontal board will be placed. I wanted my top board to be flush with the top of the light switches. So I measured down from the ceiling and placed tick marks all along the wall at that spot. I used FrogTape® brand painter’s tape, placed around the entire hallway, to mark that starting line.

Placing-FrogTape

Step 2: Paint the walls to the ceiling above the line of FrogTape. I chose the color Anew Gray and had it mixed up in the lesser expensive Valspar Signature® paint (eggshell finish).

Painted-wall

I removed the FrogTape and had a perfect line ready for my first board to be added below it. FrogTape will remove cleanly from most surfaces for up to 21 days (or seven days in direct sunlight).

Removing-FrogTape

FrogTape not only cleanly comes off of surfaces, but also prevents paint bleed thanks to its patented PaintBlock® Technology.

FrogTape

Step 3: Add the first horizontal board to the wall. I chose medium-density fiberboard to create my boards and battens. To save money, I purchased three, 8-foot sheets of MDF and had them cut down in the home improvement store. From each 8-foot sheet, I had cut one 7-inch-wide piece; the rest of each sheet was cut into 3.5-inch-wide pieces.

Placing-boards

For the top horizontal board, I used the 7-inch-wide pieces, placing them directly under my FrogTape line, and using a level to make sure the pieces stayed straight. I applied a bit of panel adhesive to the back of each board and used brad nails to stick them to the wall.

Step 4: Eight inches below the top board, add a 3.5-inch board.

Step 5: Add baseboard. I used 3.5-inch pieces of MDF to serve as my baseboard. (Be sure to paint these boards prior to sticking them to the wall.) For the paint color, I chose to match the shade of our window and door trim.

Measuring-board-&-battens

Step 6: Add battens. I cut 8-inch battens from my 3.5-inch pieces of MDF and applied them about 11 inches apart on the wall in between the two horizontal boards.

I then applied my bottom battens parallel to the top ones. Mine are 32.5-inches long.

Step 7: Add the top shelf and molding. I chose a 1×3 birch board for my top shelf and inexpensive door/window casing for the molding underneath it.

Step 8: Sand, caulk and paint everything. MDF can be tricky to work with. It requires a few coats of paint for a smooth finish, so be prepared to put in some hours of work here. But the finished result is worth it!

Caulking-and-FrogTape

Helpful tip: Use FrogTape to help create a perfect caulk line between your shelf and the wall. This trick helps cut down on cleanup time and gives a professional-looking finish.

Here’s my new hallway that I built for under $150.

DIY-board-&-batten-2

Closeup-board-&-batten

DIY-board-&-batten-3

DIY-board-&-batten

Are you ready to get started on your next DIY paint project? Be sure to enter the Earn Your Stripes Room Makeover Contest, sponsored by FrogTape. To enter, you must re-do a room with the help of FrogTape and submit your photos. You can check out all official contest details by clicking the link above. The winner will receive a $5,000 prize!

Also, to get more FrogTape® painting inspiration and product information, visit FrogTape on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest

Visit Sponsors Site

I’m linking this up to Thrifty Decor Chick.

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22 Responses

  1. Missy says:

    This looks fabulous!!

  2. Patty says:

    Your hallway looks beautiful, great job!!

  3. Angela says:

    Wow!! I’ve always wondered HOW that can be done. What an awesome project – it totally takes your hallway up a notch (or 10!) – I love the color too. 🙂

    • Susan says:

      Thanks so much for the kind feedback, Angela. This project is worth the effort but, wow, it is time-consuming. So keep that in mind. Lesson learned here, lol. Don’t try to finish it in under three days. 😉

    • Darnell s. Collier says:

      Great job.
      I want to try it not sure about materials used. Should I just inquire about the materials you stated at the store?,
      I’m new to diy!
      Thanks

  4. Lee says:

    What a fabulous job you have done. I have been trying to get my husband to do this for me but maybe I should be doing it myself as he is not showing much interest since I started asking him a couple of years ago. I don’t have a long hallway but have a few angled walls at the entrance which might not be so easy to do.

    • Susan says:

      Yes, Lee, I had a few of those angles to figure out, too. You can’t see in the photos, but my hallway wraps around a corner, so I had to figure out angles for the shelf to go around. It wasn’t super hard. Just take your time so you don’t waste any boards. 😉

      • Lee says:

        Thanks, I just put it to my husband last night and he does realise it will greatly improve the plain hallway, so that is a big step. Yes will be careful, is there a reason why you used MDF? I was going to use wood as MDF in New Zealand can be unsafe as they use glues and chemicals to bind it here. With wood though I was wondering about it being harder to put up. We can buy the wood already cut to size but MDF we would have to have sheets cut like you did.

        • Susan says:

          I think wood would be an excellent alternative to MDF! You should have no problem putting it up, except that, considering that it’s a bit heavier, you’ll want to make sure to find studs where you’re nailing. The main reason I chose MDF was because it’s so inexpensive.

      • Frank says:

        Where did you buy MDF?

  5. Sally says:

    Wow!! That looks great, so rich looking. Now, I’m going to figure out where that can be done in my house. I love it.

    • Susan says:

      Thanks for the feedback, Sally. This project totally kicked my butt. Give yourself plenty of time to complete it and take your time with the painting, lol. Lesson learned here. 😉

  6. Big Mega says:

    This looks absolutely beautiful!

  7. Al says:

    Is that 1/2′ or 3/4″ MDF?

  8. What kind of paint did you use? Semi gloss to match trim around doors?

  9. Ashley says:

    How did you fill in nail holes so they won’t show thru?

  1. July 14, 2015

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