How to Install Faux Board & Batten on a Budget (Guest Room Makeover Wk 2 of 6)

This week in our farmhouse guest bedroom makeover, we installed faux board and batten – the easiest and cheapest way possible – and painted the walls for a fresh, blank canvas. 

This post was sponsored by Valspar Paints, Purdy and FrogTape. All opinions are, as always, our own. For our full disclosure policy click here. 

It’s the Spring 2019 One Room Challenge and we’re giving our guest room a farmhouse style makeover! 

For a reminder of what the space looked like before we began, see last week’s post here. 

How to Install Faux Board and Batten on a Budget

We’ve installed faux board and batten before. A couple of times actually. The first time was in our little bungalow where we added it to cozy up a large addition. The second time was in our last house’s dining room turned living room. In both of those cases, we used thicker mdf or pine as the battens. 

Technically, no matter how you do faux board and batten, it’s a relatively inexpensive way to add character to a space. But this time around, we are really trying to spend as little as possible on this room, so we got extra creative! 

How did we do this? 

We actually used the same thin plywood we’ve used for our shiplap projects.

Supplies

• paint
• paint brushes, rollers and trays
• painter’s tape
• 8′ x 4′ x 5/8″ plywood (how much you need depends on your space)
• measuring tape
• pencil
• table saw
• brad nailer
• three foot level

Instructions

1. Paint the walls first

Of course, before we could begin any faux board and batten installation, we had to empty the space and give the walls a couple of coats of paint. 

For this, we chose to use Valspar Reserve Interior Latex-base Paint and Primer in One in Dove White, Purdy brushes and rollers and of course, FrogTape to protect different finishes! (We used our ever-present HANDy Paint trays too.)

Since we’re in a time crunch with the One Room Challenge, I cut in all the edges and Dean used the roller to finish the surface of the walls. 

2. Mark where the battens will go

Decide how far apart you’d like your battens. We spaced ours 18 inches apart (on center). Dean found the center of each wall and marked the top of the wall every 18 inches in both directions. This way there would be a center batten and everything would be well-placed should we want to hang art or mirrors later. 

3. Cut the battens

For the battens, Dean simply ripped some leftover plywood down to 1 1/2 inches wide. Then he measured one wall at a time, and cut the ‘battens’ to the correct length.

4. Nail battens to the wall

Dean nailed each batten to the wall using his brad nailer. He started by lining a batten at at time up with the marked pencil lines. Then he nailed in a single nail at the top. This allowed the batten to be fixed to the wall, but Dean could still make it straight by checking it with the three foot level before adding any more nails. Once a batten was level, Dean added more nails as necessary and repeated the process for every batten. 

We didn’t remove a single piece of trim or baseboard for this project. Because the shiplap is so thin, it fits well with almost any existing trim or baseboard – even the cheap stuff! 

5. Paint the battens

Of course, we painted the battens to match the wall and voila – the easiest and cheapest way to install faux board and batten! 

Farmhouse Guest Bedroom Makeover Plans Recap

Our plans are pretty simple. I want to give the space a lighter, brighter feel. But cozier with fluffier bedding and prettier linens. As well as some more character and farmhouse charm. At this point we have some wonderful brands on-board, plus some lovely things we’ve bought already just waiting to be added to the space. 

Here’s what we’ve done and what we’re going to do:

• ✔️add board and batten to the walls

• change the regular door to a barn door

• ✔️paint all the walls a beautiful white

• change all the bedding to lighter and brighter

• add artwork

• change the lighting and side tables

• maybe add an area rug or two

• and some other things we haven’t decided yet!

Sponsor Love

We want to give a huge shoutout to our sponsors for this part of the makeover:

Valspar Reserve Paint

Purdy Brushes

FrogTape

We appreciate great tools and materials and recommend these brands for your makeovers and projects too!

Pin for Later!

Make sure you come back next week, to see what The One Room Challenge Week 3 brings for our Farmhouse Guest Bedroom Makeover!