How To Do A DIY Board And Batten Wall

Do you want to add character to your home but also want to stay on a budget? Doing a DIY board and batten wall is an easy and affordable way to take your space to the next level. Check out this post below for an easy step-by-step tutorial.

After moving into our house, I knew I wanted to add character to our home. We have a huge wall in our living room that was perfect for a fun accent wall. Our walls are all textured too and I wanted to do something that would cover the texture and give the room more interest. So my husband and I agreed to do a Board and Batten Wall!

Affordable DIY ACCENT WALL

We did our DIY Board and Batten wall for $376! (this includes the $100 cost for a paint sprayer we used, but if you painted with paint rollers….it would be even cheaper). This was way more affordable than the $2,000 quote we got from a contractor!

The cost for your wall will obviously depend on the size of it and the tools/supplies you already own.

And like most young families, we didn’t have thousands of dollars in our budget for home projects so we decided to do it ourselves. Overall, we are very happy with the end result!

Lots of Tips & Tricks Shared

In addition to the tutorial, I am sharing with you lots of tips and products/tools that helped make this project go smoothly!

And at the very end, I share one of the best paint hacks to give you the most perfect, straight line—even on textured walls!! If you are a perfectionist like me, you need to learn this trick!

We have two little girls (3-year-old and 1-year-old) and I am pregnant with our third and we managed to get the wall done over the course of 2 weeks. I had to obviously be careful and not overexert myself, so we worked a couple of hours on weeknights and during naps on the weekends.

If you want to learn how we did this awesome DIY Board and Batten Wall in our living room for under $400, continue reading below!

This post contains affiliate links. You can read my disclosures policy here.

DIY Board and Batten Wall Tutorial

Materials List

• (2) 4 ‘x 8’ x 1/2″ MDF Board
• (7) 4′ x 8′ x 1/8″ Hardboard Tempered Panels
• Paint “Chantilly Lace” by Benjamin Moore (click here to find out how we bought this at our local hardware store for cheap!)
• White Caulk
• Liquid Nails
• 2″ Brad Nails

supplies/Tools list

• Ryobi Airstrike Nail Gun
• Ryobi Table Saw
• Ryobi Miter Saw
• Ryobi Jig Saw
• Stud Finder
• Chalk Reel (Highly recommend for marking studs on large walls)
• Large Level
• Floor Cover
• Scotch Blue Pre-Taped Painters Tape (This is AWESOME! Especially when using a paint sprayer)
• Frog Tape (Best painters tape for crisp, straight lines, especially on textured walls)
• Homeright Finishing Max Paint Sprayer
• Paint Brush & Rollers
• Paint Tray
• Caulking Tool (Highly recommend! Leaves professional clean lines. Faster and easier than using your fingers!)
• Pry Bar

Total Cost: $376

diy board and batten wall step-by-step tutorial

Step 1: Measure your wall and plan your design.

Step 2: Buy all your materials and supplies.

Step 3: Remove your Baseboards and Outlet/Light Switch Covers

Step 4: Mark the Studs

Step 5: Cut your hardboard panels

Step 6: Cut your MDF strips and place on the wall.

Step 7: Use Wood Filler on the seams and holes.

Step 8: Caulk the edges.

Step 9: PainT

We used a beautiful, bright white paint called “Chantilly Lace” by Benjamin Moore. You can click here to see how I bought a gallon $20 cheaper at my local hardware store!

Homeright super finish max paint sprayer

It was our first time using it and was very happy with the end result. Overall, it left a beautiful and smooth finish on our wall, which I LOVE. You don’t have to worry about paint streaks left behind from using paint rollers/brushes and made the painting process go super fast.

If you are interested in using a paint sprayer, I highly recommend this one because it is very easy to use and clean. We got ours on Amazon HERE. The Super Finish Maxx is also great because you don’t have to thin the paint, where the cheaper version requires you to thin it.

Homeright Super Finish Max Paint Sprayer Pros:

• Easy to use & clean up
• Professional & smooth paint finish
• A more fast & efficient way to paint compared to traditional painting
• No paint thinning required

Paint Sprayer Advice

What we didn’t expect was the amount of paint dust that got all over our house! We thought it would stay confined within our living room.

Small paint particles traveled through the air and got on everything because our living room is a big open space that leads into the entire house. This will happen with any paint sprayer.

Just be careful and know that dust will get everywhere. I wouldn’t recommend using a paint sprayer in a room that you cannot close off. If it’s in a bedroom with a door, I would highly recommend it!

Step 10: Put the baseboard trim and outlet covers back on and paint any spots that need a touch-up!

We really struggled with getting a perfect straight line on the edges of the wall, so we did some research and discovered a painting hack that will give you the most perfect, crisp, straight line!

straight line Painting Hack using caulk & Frog Tape

This trick is seriously AMAZING and ABSOLUTELY WORKS! If you are painting an accent wall, you need to learn how to do this! I cannot take credit for this trick and want to refer to the guys we learned it from.

Check out “The Idaho Painter” Youtube video to learn how to paint the perfect straight line using caulk and frog tape. It really works!

And it’s finished!

Thank you for following along

Thank you for coming to my blog and checking out our tutorial! I hope this was helpful for you and that you were able to learn a couple of new tricks from us and feel confident to do this project in your home too!

We also did a DIY Dark Shiplap Wall in our office that turned out amazing! I wrote a very detailed beginner-friendly tutorial that you can check out here too. Have a great day!