Easy board and batten in a bathroom!

Really, last board and batten post for a while..PROMISE!....at least until I do another one! :)

This is my girl's bathroom, it's in our basement, and it has a ledge...I know, kind of weird, but what do you do...SO, I wanted to do something with it, and I thought board and batten on this one little wall would be simple, and it was. This was my very first go at b&b. I just used regular old mdf... for my baseboards, vertical slats, horizontal piece, and then another mdf to finish it off as the shelf at the top.
The ledge makes it a pain to hang towels...I've thought about just putting some hooks right on the top board, but I'm not sure if the wall is tall enough...for now, a hook on the back of the door works fine.

I used a finish nailer (cause I had one), but a project on this scale could easily be done by just using small finishing nails, caulk it, paint it and you're good to go. If I remember right, about $15 to do this project...not counting paint.

Linking to:Workshop Series @Funky Junk Interiors

Playroom is done!

Disclaimer: these pics are not great, but I hope you get the general idea

Thursday morning during preschool I was looking around my playroom and was kind of disgusted about how bad my baseboards were looking...so I decided I was giving them a face lift!

Before...

so I pushed all of the furniture to the middle of the room so I could repaint them, and then my mind started working...

The Barbie house could use a fresh coat of paint too, and while I'm at it...how about red for the roof!

then, while I was painting said baseboards, I noticed all the dings in the wall...so out came the spackle...and since I'm gonna have to paint anyway, why don't we just change the whole color...

I love the green apple color...but I didn't love it in this room. It's a bright color, but it actually made the room dark...perhaps it was just a bit too much of such a bold color. So, I started at the bottom with white...

Then I did "baby bluebird" at the top...

When I first started this blue color, it honestly looked white, and I got scared that there wouldn't be enough contrast for me, but I just kept going

And since I was painting anyway, we might as well add some molding...yeah, that's how I roll!

On one of the walls I have a ledge, and I really DO NOT like it, it's a weird height, and so I was worried if I did molding below, it would look wierd, or even if I went right up to it, it would cut the room in half, so I decided on a pattern that I hoped would kind of camoflauge it, and still look good!

I used 3 1/2 inch mdf, and went all the way around the room, leaving a 9 inch space between the two boards ( It was originally going to be 8 inches, but then we were running into light switches, so I adjusted my plan, and we went 9.

Then I did the vertical boxes every 8 inches apart on the top section, and every 18 1/2 inches on the bottom. My vertical mdf were 2 1/2 inches...that's a whole other story!The idea was to have 3 top boards in the space of every 2 bottom boards.

Here is one wall, still in the spackling and pre-caulk stage

I had previously done the mdf baseboards when we originally finished this room 4 years ago, so at least that part was done.

And here is what it looks like after:

I know that ledge would blend in a little better if there wasn't something on top of it...but hey, if it's there, I might as well use it right?

A kind of hidden close up, and I'm thinking that shelf would be really cute red too, but then my buckets wouldn't show, and then I'd have to re-paint them, and then......................

it never ends.

so excited for Toy Story 3....

The freshly painted Barbie house...complete with new red roof! and the other side.

Seriously, this was a HUGE project...and the fact that I started Thursday afternoon, and had to be done by Tuesday morning didn't make it any easier.

Hubby helped a ton with this one...otherwise I'd still be down there working!

BUT, now it just seems clean, and fresh, and bright.

I'm still not sure if it was worth all the work, but maybe that's because the memories of caulking are still fresh in my mind. I figure it cost about $150.00 in paint (3 gallons), caulk (4 tubes), wood (6 16 footers, and 20 10 footers).

so worth it or not, yay, it's done, and I really do like it!

do it yourself day @ a soft place to land

Talented Tuesday @ My Frugal family

Workshop Series @ Funky Junk InteriorsFeature Yoursel Friday @ Fingerprints on the fridgeMetamorphisi Moday @between naps on the porch

A weekend project...

just a sneak peek of what I've been working on

still working on it...and it is turning out CA-UTE!
I PROMISE...more pictures when it's done!

My go at Board and Batten!

OK, so this is my only before picture of my project...this was little girl #1 and # 2's bedroom...but with baby #4...and finally a BOY on the way...something had to change.

Whew...see why that color was not all. around. the. room.!

I bought a gallon of a soft blue paint that I liked, and matched his bedding perfectly, I taped everything off, and just repainted the pink...blue! (My mom's idea...she's always trying to save me...or de-ter me from my hair brained ideas...well after having it that way for a couple of days...I just wasn't satisfied)

I took down the peg board and started the work...Oh, did I mention I was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time...OR the fact that my husband had to go out of town for A WEEK???

Well, whatever...I knew I needed something to take my mind off of both of those things...so board and batten...here I come! Every one told me I was crazy...I was going to put myself into labor...REALLY? HELLO, 38 weeks pegnant, August, AND while yes, hubby was indeed out of town...it was only an hour away...he could make it...so I said BRING IT ON!

I wish I would have taken pictures during the process...who knew anyone would have wanted them...umm, hello...me!

So, these pictures don't really show how I did it, but you can check

here

Staci did her dining area...after we met through blogland...and after I shared all my experiences with her...she did a great job! (not that I'm the reason she did this...anyway, moving on)

this is my little guys nursery...ummm after!

I wanted the "look" all the way around the room, I decided on 5 feet high. I wanted it to be high enough to not be hidden by furniture, but low enough I could still hang things above it.

I started by ripping out all of the baseboards...and used a 6 inch mdf as my new baseboard (I wanted the boards to be even, and I did. not. want. to cut. all. those. angles. If I would have left the original base) Then I used 2 inch mdf as my vertical slats.
After I measured one whole wall worth of boards and cut them all...I had a problem Houston
My top board would not sit evenly on top of them WHAT???...so even though my base boards were straight...apparently, my wall was not.
So I pretty much started over and had to re-think my plan. I marked my top board and attached it..( I used liquid nails, and a finish nailer) and then I measued every board (where it would go) and that worked much better! the boards were all only 1/4 to 1/2 inch different...but that is big at the top, if your top is off by that much. Actually, most were the same size...just those one or two that were off slightly.


And then there's caulk it become my bff...maybe more like my bitter enemy. This step is tedious, and time consuming, and tedious...but makes everything look oh, so nice.
Another thing I learned...a little too late I might add...is that I wished I would have painted the lower portion of my walls white BEFORE putting up the slats...it would have saved me A LOT of painting time...cause then I just would have had to touch up and paint the slats...instead I had to use a brush for the edges, and then use a roller in those little spaces...what works for one, may not work for another...that is just what I will do next time.

a close up of the base, and the slats.

And while I did take out the original baseboards...I left the door casings...and I think they look great. (And I saved myself some time)

No, I did not go into labor...dang...in fact I had to be induced two weeks later (I guess the little guy wasn't as excited about the new room as I was)

I knew I could do it...I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride! I worked those power tools, and made my home a better place...one room at a time!

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