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It finally happened! I have been wanting to do something to this big beige wall in my front living room for years...years!

See, the only problem is that I didn't know how anything would look with that planked/shiplap wall next to it. I thought about continuing the planking onto this wall and the other walls in here, but it's not my fave way of doing the planking. So, if that was going to happen, I would just take it all down and do it with tongue and groove boards. This would be super crazy expensive. I've been wanting to do floor to ceiling board and batten somewhere in my house for years. The places I really want it have 20 foot high ceilings, so that wasn't going to happen. The other rooms are already done with something else that I'm not ready to part with. I always envisioned it on this wall...and well, now that my weekends are a little more free I decided to finally tackle it and just see how it looks!

I ordered all the items I needed online from Home Depot and did curbside pickup. I sent my husband since he's already out and about considering he's an essential employee. It worked out really well! I don't know how much longer these stay-at-home orders will be in place, but if they continue on and your in a state that allows things like this...there's your option!

So, I'm not going to lie...this took quite some time to do...mainly the finishing work to make it look just perfect. But it was totally worth it. Here's the after!

I have a lots of tutorials on how to do board and batten, here's my favorite one (plus it includes most of the other tutorials). It shows you how I like to finish them so you have a nice clean look and no gaps. Gaps are usually a big issue with making them be so-so to looking amazing. I realized once all my boards were up, mainly the horizontal ones, how unlevel my ceiling and walls were! It's crazy. Here are a few pics of my process.

First step was to paint the wall white. I used Behr's Swiss Coffee in satin -my favorite white!

 

I then used 1/2"x3 1/2" boards on the ceiling line. I secured these in, along with all the other boards, using 2" brad nails and my nail gun. Finding the studs in the wall are a good idea to make sure they are in good.

Since my baseboards have a pretty decorative edge, it was too small to have the 1/2" width sit on them and look pretty. So, I just added a 1/2" x 2 1/2" board on top of my baseboard. Secured it in.

From there I added the vertical boards. They are 1/2" x 1 1/2" boards spaced 14" apart. Word of advice, measure before you cut every board. My wall height varied by about 1/4" to 1/2" from one end to the other. So, don't do a mass cut, do it board by board.

I then used some light weight spackling compound and went over every crevice with my fingers, and then used a lightly damp paper towel to clean up the excess. I then painted over the boards and the wall one more time for a pretty crisp clean look.

It's up to you if you want to put these boards into studs. I know a lot of people do, and suggest if you don't, to use liquid nails. Liquid nails ruin walls if you ever want to take the boards off. So, I decide not to use it. And I don't always go in studs. I have so much board and batten in my house and have never lined them up purposely with studs, and none have come down....even with the few earthquakes we have been having over the years. I think it's helpful that I used the spackling compound, it kind of like secures it a little more.

Another thing that took me forever to do, was paint that darn ceiling. It took me about 2 nights to do it. I couldn't leave it though, then I would have white walls with a beige ceiling and that just looked weird :)

I am so pleased with how this turned out. This is the view from our entryway coming into the house. I feel like it's just so much brighter and has a lot more character.

 

Barn door tutorial

This is a good look at how the board and batten looks against the planking or shiplap wall. I actually don't mind it!

 

 (Side Table: Target      White Slipcover Couch/Bed: Ikea      Rug: Rugs USA     Farmhouse ladder: Tutorial       Wood sunburst mirror: Tutorial   )

And of course, I had to paint this other wall and added the board and batten to it. This was the wall I was dreading. It was actually one of my favorite walls in my whole house before. But, I knew I couldn't leave it beige and have two other walls looking completely different too. It seriously hurt me to do this. ha! But it has grown on me and I'm coming to love it.

Here's what it looked like before:

Now this was just way to white for me (never thought I would say that)! But, my favorite part about having things white is how wood and color pop off of it so good! So, I added this beautiful wood piece on the top of my door from DecorSteals. I thought it helped break up the white. I'll be redoing the curtain rod and brackets soon to add a little more wood, and possibly change out the curtains.

Back when this wall was beige, I would attempt to take this picture and it would turn out awful. The coloring was just never right. Now, it's perfect!

I have some ideas in store to switch up some of my cabinets. I'm thinking this one might get switched with the apothecary one in my living room. We will see! It'll help add a little more color to this room now that it's all white.

This is an angle that you don't get to see ...often...if ever. It's just not picturesque :) but, I figured I should snap a picture while it's actually clean! This is the cabinet that my hoard of pillows, accent rugs, and blankets go in...and usually around and on top of :)

My husband says now I have my own white box. It's so true. ha! The lighting in here is so amazing. It's the best place to hang out! I have moved my office in here...that means I just plop in here with my laptop :) I do have a cute little cafe table that is easy to move in and out that works perfect for a makeshift desk! Plus, when it's nice out and those doors are open...it's just magical.

My next project is going to be my bathroom. I am finally biting the bullet and going to paint those cabinets. Ah! I might even change out the tile. We shall see! Are you working on anything fun to pass the time? I'm excited to get some of these projects done, it feels like I didn't do much last year, and I want to make a stamp on this year :)

Follow me on my social for sneak peaks, live videos, and fun new things that are going on!

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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When a magazine emails you about your house being featured in one of their issues, you do all the projects you planned to do in the past years in under a week :) That's just what you do...or at least what I did. I imagine that is what most would do. One of the projects I have been putting off doing is the wall along my staircase. I just couldn't make up my mind on what to do. I had three options, two of which were super hard and had me teetering on a ladder on the staircase. The other option was simple and quick, but just not what I had really wanted. So, since I had like 2.2 seconds to get this project done, guess which one I picked? The easy one! And I'm so glad I did it. I just wish I had done it years ago.

The poor wall along the stairs had been completely neglected. This wall was just a huge blank eyesore. It doesn't help that the entry way is a two story entry, so it's just lots and lots of beige everywhere. Here's a few before pictures below. If you look really closely you can see all the dings and horribleness of it all :) I'm pretty sure that spot in the middle is where my pup chewed. Yeah. ...

I always wanted to hang pictures on here or something, but never got around to doing it. 

Here's the much improved after:

 Before...again:

 After:

So, the first step in doing this was deciding how far apart I wanted the slats and how tall. I already knew I wanted to use 2.5" mdf boards for the vertical pieces and 3.5" for the top ones. I decided to do every other step for the slats. So, this made them 18" apart. Next, I found the angle of the stairs and cut the mdf to that angle on the top and bottom. I secured these to the wall using 2" nails with my nail gun.

 Next was trying to find that angle for the top pieces. I cut an approximate size of the horizontal piece (the area at the top landing and bottom landing). I placed this level where I wanted it to hang. I then drew a line along the top and bottom of this piece onto the wall.

 Next, was doing the same thing for the angled top piece. I placed the piece onto the vertical slats going up the stairs to give the me the correct angle that it was going to hang. I then pulled it down past the marks I made for the horizontal board. I drew lines on this one as well.

 This is what the wall looked like to give you a better idea of what I just did :) As for the angle cuts, I placed a mark on each molding piece where the other piece intersected it on the top and bottom. I then took off the molding and connected these dots with a line. This gave me the angle for each piece.

 Here's the angle for this horizontal piece.

 And then the other piece connected to it. I did the same thing for the top landing also.

 When all the molding was secured to the wall, I then went through and painted it with Swiss Coffee by Behr in a satin finish. I finished it off with some light weight spackling compound, filling in the holes, lines and gaps.

I did this all within a day, you guys...like 12 hours. Yes. It started at night, worked until about 1 am and then finished with a final coat of paint in the morning.

Here's another before picture:

And the after. It's amazing how much this space transformed with just a little paint and molding. My stairs even look cleaner! ha!

It took me some time to figure out what to put as my decor above the board and batten until I realized what a plethora of mirrors I had in storage. I actually have about 10 more mirrors just decided to try to keep it simple :)

  One of my problems with deciding on how to do the molding on this section of the wall came from what would go with the square board and batten molding at the bottom of it. I couldn't find any inspiration pictures to go off of so I had no clue if the square board and batten would jive with just horizontal board and batten. But, I think it totally works!

This brightened up my entry way also. This poor wall at the bottom of the stairs had been so tired looking and abused by the use of baby gates.

I moved into this house hating the knotty alder finishes. I wanted to paint or stain all of it. A few years ago I realized I didn't hate it, it just looked horrible against the beige. Updating my staircase with the white paint has made the wood pop and look amazing! I am so so glad I lived with it for years and never painted it.

 Next project for this area....which will be way down the road when my kids are a little older...I'll be pulling up this carpet off the stairs. I have always envisioned staining it darker to match our wood floors, but now I'm afraid that would take away from the banister. So....I'm thinking white steps are in the near future :) Maybe I'll add a runner so I can do it sooner than later :)

This area has taking on such a transformation since we moved in here 10 years ago. Here's a picture of this space before:

New floors, paint and molding. Simple (ish) changes for a big change! See how bad that knotty alder looks with the beige?

If you walk through my house we will see I have a love for board and batten. Here are some tutorials on all the ways I've done them. 

My bedroom:

Small bathroom:

Guest bathroom:

Nursery:

Hallway:

Kitchen Island

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Why yes, I do in fact have a kitchen. If you read my blog often or look at any of my home tours, pictures of my kitchen are always absent. Why? My kitchen is the one room in my house that I don't like and I can't change. Technically, I can change it, but it's the place that my husband has put his foot down. And truthfully, I am scared to heck to paint the cabinets. They are beautiful knotty alder cabinets, just not my taste. They never have been. I hated them since the day I moved in. My husband has loved them more than anything. So, yeah. The kitchen is not my favorite. 

If you remember from my board and batten post (click here), I ended up having a realtor come in and tell me a few things I should update about my house. Also, I swung a few ideas past her to see if they were worth it or would ruin the value. One of the things was my kitchen. She immediately said paint the cabinets. Yep. But not white. No. Grey, charcoal grey. I questioned her considering my black counter tops and she said it would look fine. She's also an interior designer. So, I should trust her. But, it's once again not my taste. She told me to paint the island the color of my choosing and decide from there for the cabinets, which I was going to do already...just needed that push :) 

I had plans years ago on how to change my island. I had actually bought some molding for it way back in the day, just never did it. So, with the idea in my head, I finally went about doing it. And guess what? The paint didn't even touch the wood. Nope. I actually did this when my husband was working late one night so he wouldn't freak out on me :) You know, asking for forgiveness is always easier than asking for permission type thing. But, just in case he insisted on removing it, I made sure I didn't paint the wood. 

So, why do I hate my kitchen so much? It seriously looked like a peach bomb blew up. My cabinets match my tile and at one point they all matched my walls. It doesn't get much light in here compared to other parts of my house, so it's dark and ...well, peachy :) But, peachy in a bad way, not a good happy way :) 

So, I decided to brighten it up. I started with the island to see how I liked it, and if that didn't scratch the itch, I'd be doing the cabinets....maybe :) So, here's how I took my island from drab to beautiful!

First, I took off all the existing molding. You can see from this picture that wood had been scratched pretty good and has seen better days. There was actually no molding on the bottom portion at all, which drove me nuts. It always felt incomplete.

 Next, I cut out the mdf sheet. It already came painted in white from the molding aisle, which was great. No need to prime! :) I cut it the same size as the front of the island. I used one of the vertical molding pieces for height.

 I then lined up a long piece of molding along the marks. This helped with giving me a good straight item to draw a line across. I cut the board using my Dremel Ultra Saw. If you have the dimensions you need, you can probably get this cut at the wood store.

 My island has two outlets, so I needed to cut an opening for them. To get the location, I lined up a piece of paper on the existing island, and traced where the outlet was.

 I then transferred this to my mdf board. I just poked the holes out in the corner to place little dots on the board...if that makes sense. I then connected the dots to create the outline. I did cut the rectangle a little bit longer than the trace to get the outlet to fit in it. I drilled a hole into the middle of the rectangle to start, and then finished cutting out the rectangle with my jigsaw.

 Once all sides of the island were cut, I painted them with a smooth/cabinet roller and Behr's Alkyd Semi-Gloss Enamel in Swiss Coffee. I did two coats.

 While waiting for the paint to dry, I used some outlet extenders to push out the outlet just a little bit since I would be placing the mdf board on it. If you need help with this, youtube it or ask an electrician. 

 Now starts the horrible pictures. :) Once again, I did this at night while my husband was away, so some of these pictures aren't the best. Sorry!

I started by placing the side mdf boards first. I chose to do 1x4 boards along each corner and side. I secured these in with my brad nailer and 1 1/4" nails.

 I then placed the larger front board on, making it fit around the outlets. I then secured more 1x4s to the sides. I made sure to overlap these 1x4s on top of the side ones so that the seam would be shown on the side, not the front.

 I then placed a 1x3 along the bottom portions, secured it in.

 Next, I secured in a 1x4 on top of that. This gave me that 'chunky' molding look when finished.

 I ended up having to find a smaller piece of wood to fit above my outlets, which was against my original vision, but ended up working out. This board is about a 2" wide.

 Once the bottom and top vertical pieces were in, I placed the very middle 1x3 horizontal piece, making sure it was level and straight.

 Now for the fancy molding :) I cut the baseboards at a mitered edge along the front first. The shortest edge being the length of the front of the island. 

I then placed the side baseboards on. I kept one side mitered, and the side that would go along the back of the island flat. 

 Here's a look at it before I painted the molding.

 Next was sealing the seams and holes with some lightweight spackling compound. I placed this on with my fingers, and then wiped off the excess with a wet paper towel. Once that was dried and smooth, I did two coats of paint.

 Here's how it sat for about a week. This was my original vision besides the chunkier molding on the top. I didn't mind it, but kept feeling like something was missing. 

 I then laid some boards up to break up the big squares and loved it! So, I measured out the middle of each square and placed a new 1x3 board in the middle of each one. 

Here's a look at the before:

 I think a big problem with the before is that it just didn't match the rest of my house. It always felt like a kitchen in someone else's house. Now, I feel like it somewhat blends with the other rooms.

 That being said, I'm not in a hurry to paint the cabinets. I'm not sure I would like them all white or not. :) Never thought I would say that. I think it's okay to have beautiful wood cabinets in an all-white cabinet world. I guess you can say, that my itch has been scratched with doing the island this way :)

 As for the other side of the island? Yep, it still looks like this. I need to paint it, probably :) Here's a good angle too at what the molding looks like on this side too.

 I have a couple more changes I'll be doing in here in the next few weeks that I think will make a big enough difference where I won't feel the need to paint all the cabinets. Can't wait to share!

What are your opinions, should I paint the rest of the cabinets to match or leave as is?

Other board and batten tutorials throughout my house:


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

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