Board and Batten Bedroom Wall
When I started this year, I made a 2020 Vision Board filled with things that I wanted to learn to do. One of them was a photo of a board and batten wall in a bedroom.
I knew I wanted a navy wall, and searching for the perfect navy is a bit hard. However, after some extensive research, I picked a color: Hale Navy. This color is the perfect muted navy with gray undertones making it both peaceful and perfect for a bedroom. I started off by painting one wall in our bedroom in this color to make sure that I liked it.
Our room already had navy accents, so once I painted the wall, I knew it was perfect!
Before you start a project like this, there is some math involved. For example, if you want your boards to be evenly spaced, you need to determine what size boards you want, how far apart they will be, and the common denominator both horizontally and vertically. Who said math doesn't come in handy. However, if this scares you, don't worry, there are some great websites that can help you figure it out. Brian did the math by hand and I used this website to confirm. Also, make sure the measurements don't intersect any outlets. Otherwise, you will have to be extra creative to get around them.
Once we had our measurements, we were able to get started. As with most home projects, there are always complications. First, our wall is 15 feet long meaning that it is impossible to get the boards up our stairwell to do the board and batten framing. I also knew it would be easier to put this together if I did the horizontal boards first and then the verticals because my eyes would notice a variation in horizontal boards much more easily than those put up vertically.
Solution? Brian handed me the boards through an open window which I then pulled up to the second floor.
It is so important to measure and then REMEASURE before you bring them through a window because just like there is only one way up, there is also only one way down.
We then took the calculations, and set the laser level to that height. The laser level made this project really fast, so if you don't have one, I'd recommend buying one.
One the horizontal pieces were in place, it was time to add the vertical boards. These were much shorter and were all a standard height so Brian cut them all and then we began to install. Again the laser level made this go quickly.
We added the final row, and we both were amazed at how much more finished our room looked.
We debated back and forth if we should keep it white or paint it, but that decision was made for us once I started the most time consuming portion of this project, caulking all the joints. Why did I do this? The human eye is drawn to shadows and even though the wall was painted navy, if I didn't caulk the joints and the edges of each board, I knew that I would noticed any imperfections each time I entered my bedroom (not really the relaxing atmosphere you want). After caulking, I realized I needed to touch up the paint, and then I just started painting the boards.
Once the paint was dry, we were able to slide everything back into place!
Paint Color: Hale Navy (Benjamin Moore) and Mindful Gray (Sherwin Williams)
Bedding: Pottery Barn Diamond Candlewick Cotton Quilt
Bedroom Furniture: Kincaid Traverse Craftsman
Sign: Made by Me!