DIY Board and Batten in the Living Room and Other Board And Batten Tutorials

You guys, I finally did it! I got over my fear of ruining my walls and all the 'what-ifs' and did it! I finished the board and batten throughout my living room! It only took me two years to do it :) 

Two years ago, I decided to put some board and batten up on the walls adjacent to my living room walls to break up the beige in my house. At the time, I had beige carpet, tile, couch and walls. It was a huge beige eyesore :) I have always wanted to paint all my walls white. That would seriously be my dream, but my house has 20 feet ceilings and that would either put me in the hospital doing it on my own or cost me an arm and leg hiring it out. So, I just dealt with it. I knew that adding board and batten would give me the look that I wanted, it was easy and cheap to do, but I just kind of did a whole freak out over what if I'm ruining something that is already good? You know? I can't just paint the walls back to the original color. I would seriously have to paint all 20 feet of the walls to make it blend in again. 

So, I was nervous. I never did it. I wanted to every day since. Anyway, long story not short, I had a realtor come in and check out my house. Not because I'm planning on selling, but you know, just to keep options open. And mainly because I wanted to hit some things by her that I want to do and see if it would be worth it. The second she came into my living room, she said, "finish your board and batten along all these walls". Boom. Done. It seriously took me not even 5 days after to finish it. Don't have to tell me twice lol :) It was just the push I needed. PS. She also told me to paint my cabinets in my kitchen and bathroom....so, yeah, you know that's going to be happening soon too!

My living room has never felt so bright! It was bright before, but it's just amazing how it is now with the added white. Like amplified brightness by 10 times. And it definitely broke up my 20 foot walls. 

I didn't know what to do on the walls, so I just put the same decor back up. My sister-in-law and a friend already came in and didn't even notice :) I had to point it out, but I guess that means it just blends in and looks like it was always meant to be there, right? That's what I keep saying. I just seems like it was always like this. 

I wish I had done this years ago. But, want to know one big thing that was holding me back? A dumb mistake. I made the board and batten that goes into my dining room one inch shorter on accident than the one that was running along my hall. The one in my hall was the correct height to match the height of the shelves and mantel. So, I seriously had to redo the whole other wall and bump it up an inch to make this work. You know what a pain in the butt that is to do? ha! I hate redoing work...especially work that looks good and looked like nothing was wrong with it. 

Well, that extra work was worth it in the end :) I'm so excited to put up my Christmas tree in here! I know, Christmas is like 5 months away, but still! 

Along with the board and batten, I decided to put up some new curtains. These are from Hobby Lobby. I love this new feel in here. I feel it went a little bit country with the new additions, and I'm totally okay with that. This cute pillow in the corner is also from Hobby Lobby. Seriously, go check out their curtains and pillow covers :) They have cute stuff. 

I couldn't wait to get my boards up, so I totally did the dumb thing that goes against how I normal do board and batten and didn't paint first. So, heads up to all you who want to start doing this, paint your walls first, it's just a whole lot easier :) But, really, I put mine up to see if the height would work and if I was making a huge mistake. It's a whole lot easier patching some nails than paint an entire wall :) 

You can see the tutorial on putting up board and batten in this post (CLICK here). 

 On the portions that share the same wall as my bookshelves and fireplace, I was really nervous about how the boards would look against the bookshelves. I didn't know if they would blend in or look out of place. That was another thing that kept me from putting them up in the first place. I think it ended up working out well. It helped that I made sure the height of the board and batten was in line with one of the shelves.

 Here's a before picture of this corner: 

And after. Doesn't seem like too much of a difference, but it seriously is. 

Here's another waaaay before:

And after...after lots of DIY projects and decor changes :)

As for more ideas on how to do board and batten, here are some more :) Like this in my bedroom:

Or my bathroom:

Or this bathroom:

Or the nursery:

Or my hallway:

I just realized I may have too much board and batten throughout my house :) Or maybe I'm just a little obsessed with it. lol