HOW TO BUILD A (cheaper) BOARD & BATTEN WAINSCOT

Wow. It feels like forever since I blogged. Sorry about the long absence, but moving has been--and continues to be--a crazy, all consuming task. I know I owe you a tour, but everything is still a wreck! And posting a tour seems like such a long, daunting task right now. I think I need to ease my way back into this blogging thing.

So, here's a tutorial on the board and batten wainscoting...using old pictures already edited on my computer. 

We always loved this look, but felt it was more costly than we wanted for all that extra wood. Then we found a cheaper way that requires a lot less, but looks just as nice. 

We installed it in the front room, entryway, and the master bedroom. I'll use the front room to demonstrate the process. 

Here is the sitting room with bare drywall and mud. If you notice, there is no texture yet. 

When we did apply the texture, we only hit the areas of the walls above where the wainscot would be. The bottom section was left smooth. This would create a contrast between the two and mimic the look of flat wood panels (after being painted).

1.) Using a nail gun, 1x6 baseboards were installed along the bottom of the walls. 

2.) Next, 1x4 battens were set  vertically on top of the baseboards and nailed into place about 20 inches apart. 

3.) 1x4's were then attached in a horizontal line above, parallel to the baseboards to build shadow boxes.

4.) The shadow boxes were capped with 1x2's that created a shelf-like look at the top.

Here is a closer look at the 1x2 wood at the top.

Finally, a piece of decorative molding was installed just below the "shelf" of 1x2's with a pin nailer. 

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Then there came the exhilarating (not!) task of filling in every blasted nail hole with putty, sanding them down, and caulking every blasted seam in prep for paint. 

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My only advice at this point is to enlist every family member, friend, neighbor, pool guy, mail man, etc., you can find to help with this. If you have as much trim as we do, you'll be glad you did.

Using a sprayer, semi-gloss white paint completely transformed the look. Even without using any flat paneling, the wall in each shadow box appeared smooth and seamless with the battens. 

I wish I had a picture of Andrew when he was finished with this. White brows and lashes just aren't his best look.

If I didn't witness the process myself, I never would have assumed the bottom section was actually the wall rather than wood.

I love the finished, contrast-y look of the painted, textured wall above the clean, white glossiness.

Not using the real wood paneling saved us an estimated $800-$1,000 through the entire house.

Just for fun, here's a before of the entryway...

...and an after! 

You should see it now with the wood floors! Aghhh...and you will! Soon!

Until then,

Rachel

P.S. I was featured by Remodelaholic for this post! I am also linking up here.