Yo, yo!

Yall wanna see my  new office?  Or at least part of it?

I’m finally done with my dream project of Installing Faux Board and Batten somewhere up in The Bold Abode.

It found it’s way in my HOT office and man, it’s hotter than evah, baby!

And since there are a gazillion tutorials on how to correctly install board and batten, I’m going to just share my tips {and maybe a little of what NOT to do when you tackle this project your-bold-self…}

First, the before:

 

Pretty cool, but it started to get chlosterphobic with alllll that hotness.

So, the first thing I did was rejoice when Sherwin Williams contacted me about using their new Emerald Paint. I’ve used SW for a loooooong time… LOVE them and was super-duper-DUPER excited to work with them!

The next thing I did was pick my color with the help of the most awesome Sherwin Williams Paint manager ever, Robert.  He’s always been such a help and this time was not exception.

I wanted a really lovely white, and he said that Snowbound was the closest to a pure white that I could get.

And he was right!  It’s gorgeous.

This is after ONE coat… yes. One. Freaking. Coat.

Hallelujah. Thank You. Amen.

Now on to the Tips for Installing Faux Board and Batten.

 

Number 1

You defintiely want to paint before your add your faux board and batten. {As seen above}

That way, you just have to paint the trim and the major work of painting the wall is out of the way!

 

Number 2

Find your studs before you start. My old stud finder croaked, so I bought this new one.  It works really well and will tell you, not only where the center of the stud is, but where the edge is. Bonus.

Number 3

Measure, Measure, Measure.

Measure the walls for the boards. Measure every single batten. The lengths of my battens vary almost 1/4″.  Go figure…

Then measure again. And maybe again if your name is Gwen.

Number 4

Here’s a good one.  Every time I measured a board, I drew a little diagonal line to make sure I was mitering it in the correct direction.  This is for the boards that go the length of the wall and meet at interior corners.

Some people just put the boards up straight and don’t miter, but I have this awesomeMiter Saw from Ryobi and wanted to test it out.

It worked like Einstein and Mark Zuckerberg’s spawn. Genius cubed.

Number 5

Here’s another good one!  Every time I measured a wall and marked a board, I  wrote  the measurements on the back of a board to keep organized.

This was a lifesaver…especially with the multiple smaller boards I had to cut.

Number 6

When you install two boards, install the longer board first.  Then gently slide the smaller board into place.  I had to tap a couple in gently with a small hammer.

I also had to trim a couple until they fit.

Number 7

Speaking of trimming boards…When you start cutting, you might want to give yourself some room and err on the generous side.

Then go back and trim it down if needed. You can always make a board shorter, but you can’t make it any longer!!!

Number 8

Here’s a super important tip… use a level when installing your boards. Also, have some extra hands on deck to help you with this one.

Just make sure they aren’t watching the Mentalist when you ask…oops.

Number 9

After you have measured every batten… yes, every one, tape them up to make sure you like the spacing.  I went with 16″ apart.  That’s the standard stud placement.

Be it known, however, that that is not always the case, ahem.  So my battens didn’t end up on studs. Ever.

Instead, I angled my brad nails in opposite directions to keep the batten stable.

Number 10

Speaking of brad nails… Having a nail gun makes this project rock and roll like Elvis in Vegas.

My Ryobi AirStrike was BANANAS for this projects!!!  I’m not kidding… I’m not. I pinky-promise.

It’s super cool, too because when you put it up to the board…

A light comes on.

I blasted those boards and battens in place lickity split. It was illin‘.

Of course, once you get it all installed, you’ll want to paint a couple of coats on the board and batten.

Here’s a sneak peak of my office update:

It’s slowly coming together!  I have a few details left to finish and then I’ll start sharing all the cool stuff I’m doing to make it really fun…

Thanks for stopping by. I hope these tips for installing faux board and batten will help a sistah {or a bruthah} out!

See more DIYs in my DIY Project Gallery.

Thank you to Sherwin Williams for providing the Snowbound Emerald Paint and to Ryobi for the super snazzy miter saw and AirStrike Nailer… I love them both. And that’s the freaking, honest truth.