At Home with Dani

A home decor & lifestyle blog

Board and Batten Half Bath DIY Reveal

A few months ago, we wanted to spruce up our half bath in our home. Oftentimes, people will say your half bath should be a statement when it comes to interior design as that’s the first room, and sometimes only other room, guests see in your home.

If you follow me on Instagram Stories, you saw we were trying to decide between wallpaper and board and batten prior to starting this project and welcomed feedback from you all on which route to go.

As our style has evolved, we have been trying to incorporate more earth tones, neutrals, and black into our home. We decided to make our half bath a dark and moody space. We went for board and batten, and since this was our first time, we went for a simple and achievable design.

We do have textured walls. Although some people online recommend not doing board and batten on textured walls, we did and thought it looked fine. Those who recommend otherwise suggest wood paneling the wall before doing board and batten designs. If you’re contemplating trying this at home, it really is up to you and what you think looks best. After all, it is your home. 😉

Because of our textured walls though, we chose not to pursue wallpaper. We were interested in wallpaper with a design or pattern, so it would’ve been difficult to obtain a flat look. Some of you also said that wallpaper in a bathroom is usually a no-go because of the moisture – it may come off the wall or deteriorate quickly.

The Process

If I’m being frank, my husband did most of the work. He loves woodworking, so this was a fun task for him. He measured and used a miter saw to cut the wood. We purchased 1/2 inch thick wood from The Home Depot for the board and batten.

My husband used a staple gun to adhere the wood onto the wall. After the wood was placed, he caulked the seams and taped the edges so we wouldn’t get caulking on the other walls. He recommends cutting a very small hole for the tip of the caulking as that will minimize the chances of getting it everywhere.

After this, it was time to prime and then paint. This is where I was able to contribute the most. 🙂 We primed the wall with a gray primer called KILZ from The Home Depot, which works for both interior or exterior jobs. We used roller and paintbrushes to get in all of the crevices. After priming, we were ready to finally paint. We used Glidden’s Black Magic Satin paint to make the room really pop. We chose satin paint because they tend to be easier to clean, and the guest bath tends to get utilized a lot in a home.

The Finished Product

After a few coats of paint, we caulked again and did touch-ups. My husband had extra wood in the garage from another project, and we decided to repurpose it for the light wood shelves above the toilet. We also found a few items at Home Goods to decorate them. I also purchased this canvas from The Canvas Hut to complete the look, if you use my code ATHOMEDANIO, you get 20% off. I will say their shipping is a little delayed, which is why waited to do our reveal so just keep that in mind when you make your purchase. During a grocery trip to Walmart, I grabbed this matted frame to match.

Below are also some of the items we used and sources for the items in our half bath. I linked what I could for you. As always, let me know if you decide to try a board and batten project at home. If you have additional tips, let us know in the comments.

Home Building Selections

Hi there! I thought I’d start by explaining why we selected the colors we did during our home building process. If you’re building a home, this can be the most enjoyable part of the whole process. I do recommend taking your time in making selections, seeing other inventory homes, or houses that are in construction to see the colors in person. I also suggest taking pictures of every selection and being very specific in relaying any changes to the builder.

During the color selection meeting, the builder encourages you to drive around and see what kind of brick and trim colors you like before making a decision. After driving around, we noticed lighter brick showed dust more and most likely needed to be power washed more often. We decided to go with a dark color brick and trim.

We chose PPG’s Knight’s Armor for our exterior paint for the trim and the garage. For our brick, we also went with a darker tone called Flint Ranch mixed with white limestone.

For the interior, we wanted to brighten the space up. We love bright spaces with natural lighting and wanted to make sure the interior of the home gave us that vibe. We decided on PPG’s Elusion which is a soft and warm gray. Eventually, we’d like to paint other walls with accent colors throughout the home, but for now, we love it.

On the kitchen cabinets, the master bath, and half bath, we decided to go with white cabinetry throughout. We just felt it was a timeless color that could brighten the first floor even more. For the upstairs bath, we picked Sherwin Williams’, Gauntlet Gray. Knowing we eventually plan on having kids, we knew we wanted a darker color that could uphold sticky fingers and all.

The countertops we chose for the kitchen were quartz from India. They are a beautiful white with gray undertones, called Dreamy White, they really are dreamy! During the building process, we did some research to figure out if we wanted quartz vs granite in the kitchen. We decided to go with quartz as they’re more durable, and because they aren’t porous like granite, they’re easier to keep clean and bacteria-free. They also don’t require much maintenance, unlike granite countertops that are recommended to be sealed once a year. For the bathroom, we decided to go with granite from Spain called White Shore and opted to splurge in the kitchen rather than the bath.

For the flooring, we chose wood-like tile throughout the first floor and carpet upstairs. We chose a tile called Hatteras Cedar which was actually in the model home that we toured. We loved how easy it looked to clean and the color tone.

I hope to show more off the color through pictures via Instagram and this blog soon! In the meantime, if you’re currently building, maybe you can get inspired by some of our selections.

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