How we did the Board and Batten...

My daughter, Julie, informed me I should explain how we did the board & batten. I guess I didn't explain because 1. I promised to keep posts simple & short, and 2. Karla at thelittlethingsthatmakeahouseahome.blogspot.com explained how she and her husband did theirs in their living room. Well.... I guess not everyone reads that blog!? Plus, we did ours years ago in the hall, and did our bedroom a year ago the same way. This was before Karla and her husband did their nice work so we did it a totally different way. We did not have the benefit of their knowledge! I have not read her post carefully enough to know exactly HOW they did theirs, but I do know they beveled the edges of the vertical pieces and we did not do that. (Ours were thin enough to meet the baseboard nicely). So other things may be different, also. You may want a choice of how to do the project, or one method may not work in your situation. So here goes...

What we did was decide where we wanted the top of the board & batten to hit on the wall. (I like a higher, more cottage-y look. ) I painted the wall up to that point white (just the regular wall). We used a thin, lattice cut pine board for the vertical pieces. They are just the right size and are thin enough to butt right into the baseboard. Decide on paper how you will space the boards evenly around the room. You may be able to miss switch plates and electrical outlets, but in a few places we had to partially cut out for them and they look great, still, when it is all painted out white. Pick a molding at the local home improvement store to "cap" the top. Think outside the box... We used a deep, shelf-like molding and capped that with a regular baseboard turned upside down. (Think layering!) The baseboard piece even had a notched groove in it which is perfect to secure plates, etc. Then the whole project gets caulked WELL!! (I caulked all along each lattice strip and each "seam" in the project so no light shows through and it looks like a solid piece of work. Then paint it out! White is my love.... Makes everything seem clean and so pristine! I used a semi-gloss from Valspar. It was not hard and not expensive but gives a breath-taking look. You can do it! The biggest expense is the molding and that coud be done with a simple board at the top.

Or latest project was a "pass-through" from our kitchen & living room. We wanted a more open look, but didn't want to redo any floors since we just finished redoing them not many years ago. Of course we did it with board & batten, too. It was quit a project with more than a few problems (4 major pipes running through that wall...) but I think it turned out quite nicely. It really opened up our living room space and now the TV is viewable from the kitchen which is so enjoyable while I cook or bake. I can also sew in the kitchen while the family watches a movie and watch it with them! :)