Problem: Boring Bathroom Décor. Solution: Board & Batten Walls

If you’re bored with the design of your bathroom, or lack thereof, board and batten wainscoting is an inexpensive upgrade that will add tons of character and visual interest to your bathroom walls. We know…you’re probably cringing at the thought of taking on a DIY wall treatment (thanks for nothing popcorn ceilings and wallpaper glue!). But we’re here to tell you that YOU’VE GOT THIS!

Danielle Rivoli (@raisingmeadowsage) added DIY board and batten walls to her bathroom and you won't believe the transformation! Follow along to see her step-by-step process and download the full project plans to do it yourself! All you need are your tools, wood and a weekend to spare!

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Side by side of bathroom update! Thrilled with how it came out! 💯✨

A post shared by Danielle - PWR | Sweat (@raisingmeadowsage) on Aug 25, 2020 at 1:49pm PDT

THINGS YOU'LL NEED

Materials

(8) – 8 ft. 4” x 1” boards
(4) – 8 ft. 2” x 1” boards
2” smooth shank finishing nails
Extra white semi-gloss paint
Spackle
White caulk
Wood glue
Painter’s tape
Paint brush
Roller

Tools Used
Miter Saw, 20V 1/2" Drill/Driver, 20V 2.0Ah Battery, 20V Fast Charger, Tape Measure, Level, Hammer, Carpenter’s Pencil, Stud Finder, Safety Glasses, Utility Knife

DOWNLOAD PLANS

ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1

Prep your space by removing existing baseboards and cleaning the walls.

Step 2

Measure from the floor up to where you want the top of your board and batten wall to be and mark with a pencil. Draw a line level around bathroom and put painters tape there for painting.

Step 3

Paint the bottom half of the wall with your extra white paint—I used semi-gloss for a shiny look. Choose any color you’d like for the top half of the wall. I wanted a bold look and chose Dark Night by Sherwin Williams.

Step 4

Measure your lengths for the first boards to cut on the top AND bottom of bathroom on all four walls. You can remove your painter's tape at this point.

PRO-TIP:
I learned that my walls are not all created equal, they have settled and have warps that I didn't notice with my naked eye. Measurements I took on one side of the wall would be different than the middle of that same wall, so my boards were all cut at different lengths!

Use miter saw to cut lengths of wood, cutting corners at a 45-degree angle with the saw.

Step 5

Locate your beams with a stud finder and mark with pencil. Put wood glue on the back of your boards and position them in place. Nail the tops and bottoms of the boards, making sure to catch beams in a few places so they’re extra secure.

Step 6

Measure the heights of the vertical pieces. I chose to put them every 2 ft. 6 in. apart. Leave these cut with straight edges. Measure each one because they could be different!

Step 7

Measure and mark the distance between each board and try to get them symmetrical with the four walls in the bathroom. Nail in these pieces.

Step 8

Cut top rail pieces with 45-degree angle corners. It is ok if they are a tiny but off as you can fix a lot of the spaces with caulk later!

Step 9

Nail in the top rails.

Step 10

Spackle all finishing nail holes and let it dry.

Step 11

Caulk all spaces, using your finger or a wet sponge or rag to wipe away excess.

Step 12

After the spackle and caulk dries, sand the wood smooth and paint all of the boards white to finish, and you’re done!

FINISHING TOUCHES

To complete the remodel, we added a new vanity and mirror, vinyl plank floors, modern lighting, and gold octagonal mirror above the vanity. We can’t get over how great it turned out!