DYI Board and Batten Wall

Do you remember how we were so gung-ho about finishing our basement? Then we did electrical and noticed a seam between all of the connecting drywall in EVERY ROOM?! Exhibit A:  

 So it was kind of a big set back as we needed to have it patched, sanded, repainted and then the holiday’s happened. So now we are finally, finally finishing and this home gym is one of my favorite rooms. Because the room is small, about 10 by 12 feet, I wanted to have a focal point. So I chose a board and batten wall. My sweet, sweet husband  decided to surprise me and did the first attempt while I was running errands. It was such a sweet gesture, but he didn’t put the outer boarder around it. And he couldn’t have added it after the fact because it would’ve made the inner boxes too small. So sadly we had to take it down and redo it. So this is technically round two of the board and batten and because of that, I had quite a few nail holes to patch. But here’s a good trick on how to do it…

When you rip a nail out of the wall, its not uncommon for it to bulge out, like so.By using the rounded side of a wrench, roll it back into the wall. Don’t push too hard, just enough to flatten out the surface.The finished result should be something flat that will be very easy to fill with putty.The next step to making your board and batten look like it was done professionally is to putty all of the nail holes and silicone all of the edges. Here is what it looked like before…
And after. Make sure you’re wearing gloves, when you putty and silicone, it will save your manicure and give you that professional looking smooth edge. Then once the silicone drys you’ll be ready to paint! Look at the difference the silicone makes (without even painting) on the edges. I’ve seen DIY board and batten jobs where the edges weren’t siliconed and when you go to paint, the lines can still be seen. SO believe me when I say, take the extra time and do it right, you wont regret it in the end!

I cannot wait to get this room painted and set up so I can start boxing more at home. Stay tuned friends, the next time you see this room it will be the prettiest workout room ever.

On another note, my husband is the best.