Creating a board and batton accent wall

Our master bedroom at our old house was never anything that sensational. We repainted it and that was about it. I really wanted to do something to master bedroom at the new house to make it special. I started researching focal wall ideas and found the board and batton concept. Most people do it in white but I saw the navy and loved it. 

So the first thing you need to know is that there are many different ways to do this- based on what you want. I purposely wanted a shelf on top for decoration and I wanted little and big squares. 

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I found it super helpful to tape out on the wall using painters tape what I wanted. This helped us determine measurements and how much wood we would need total. It allowed me to step back and look at it and determine the height and width between board that I wanted. We also used it to purposely avoid hitting the two electrical outlets that were on the wall and therefore save us a headache of working around them. 

Typically with this style you want it to be about 2/3 of the total wall in height. Some people also choose to take off their trim- we chose to leave ours on. 

For each section most people use 1x4s or MDF cut into 4 inch strips. Based on the width of our wall We determined that it would look best to have 8 -4inch vertical sections roughly 18inches in between. We cut the vertical sections on the ends down to two inches.

MDF vs Pinewood

This is a big debate I found in the board and batton world. Personally I vote MDF. You are going for visual appeal and straightness. MDF is very smooth so you don't have to worry about knots or sanding and you don't have to worry about getting a warped board.  We did use a pine board for the 1X2 and the 1x4  shelf. Those were warped and we did have to sand them to get the look we wanted 

Max cutting the MDF into 4 inch strips. Make sure you do this outside or in a well ventilated area- you can see all the dust!

Materials List 

-MDF or Pine wood depending on your choice- home depot will cut your boards into 12 inch strips for you to get them home 

-1/4 inch plywood pieces- as much as you need to fit your wall

-1x2

-1x4

-Saw- Thankfully our neighbors let us borrow their table saw. You can also use a skill saw to rip the boards- this is a lot more tedious but it can be done. Take your time and go slow to make sure you are going straight 

-Nail Gun- Makes your life so much easier 

-Multi tool or jig saw- if you have outlets and are using plywood backing. 

-Stud finder

-Miter saw- for the strip cuts. You can also use a skill saw or a jig saw if you don't have a miter saw

-Outlet extender screws- if you have an outlet on the wall 

-Wood filler 

-Sandpaper 

-Brad (Nail Gun) Nails 

-Paint (in the color of your choice), brushes, rollers, etc. 

Step 1: Installing the plywood 

We decided to put plywood behind our board and batton wall because we have knock down texture on the wall and we didn't think it would look good behind the board and batton. This cost us a little bit of extra money but it was well worth it in my opinion. We laid two 4x8 sheets length wise (the second one cut to the appopriate length to fit the wall) They also sell them in 2x4ft panels so we bought two of those and had home depot cut it into 12inch strips. Our total height was roughly 5ft tall. We measured and cut holes for the electrical outlets using a multi-tool but you could also use a jig saw. We secured the boards to the wall using a nail gun- you can see where all the studs were- and therefore where we put all the nails- in the next picture. 

Step 2: Installing the 1x2

We nailed a 1x2 directly above the end of the plywood to give the shelf a support system. We did sand this whole piece before nailing it to the wall for maxium smoothness 

Step 3: Installing the 1x4 shelf 

We nailed the 1x4 shelf directly onto the 1x2 

Step 4: Installing the vertical strips 

We cut the MDF into 4 inch strips using our neighbors table saw. We laid the vertical strips first attempting to space them equally apart from each other.  

Step 5: Installing the horizontal strips 

We measured each horizontal space individually-because they were all a little bit different- despite our best efforts. 

Step 6: Wood filler. 

For the best overall finish you want to wood fill all of your nail holes in the plywood and MDF

Step 7: Paint 

We utilized a mini roller which helped expedite the painting process. We used the color Naval from Sherwin Williams. We did two coats total. For the existing wall above the board and batton we painted it the same gray color to match the rest of the room 

This is our finished product before we moved our bed in. 

After we moved our bed in- I also added wall mounted lamps to either side because unfortunately there is no overhead light in our room. I just stuck a bunch of pictures up there but I'm planning something for the middle but I haven't had time to construct it yet. 

Overall this was a fairly simple project- Could easily be done over the weekend! It made for a great accent wall to our master suite