Guys, my fingers are tingling as I get ready to type this post! My brain activity is all fired up with happy chemistry cos this is one EPIC DIY Board and Batten transformation! A month ago we started this project and I really wanted to finish it in a weekend. Alas, real life isn’t always as smooth as we want it to be. With Halloween and Thanksgiving, things just got super busy!

But over the past weekend, Travis and I hauled a** and got it all done in time for the holidays!

Just take.a.look.

That’s right!! What a HUGE difference wall paneling makes! I never thought I’d say this, but whoa, I love green! I’ve always been a true blue fan. Not once did I feel pulled towards green. But in the last year, I found myself saving images and projects with green cabinetry. And from there I admired designers who used green freely.

I can barely write this without pinching myself! In case you don’t know what my room looked like before, here it is one month ago.

As you can see, it’s very airy and bright. The textiles and furniture provide a wonderfully minimalist yet colorful vibe. Now that we added true architectural detail on the wall, I can see how flat the room seemed. It wasn’t bad at all. But there was that sumthin’, sumthin’ that was missing. I never could put my finger on it until now.

Our Why

Before I delve into the how to’s, it’s really important for me to share the “why” for this project. Travis and I work really hard every day to produce high-quality content that you love. And we love sharing our home with you!

Reality is that we are pulled every which way 24/7. Sometimes it feels like we are two ships passing in the night when it comes to interface and deeper communication and connection. By evening we’re both so exhausted we do what we need to do. Then we instantly start snoring into la la land.

I’m acutely aware that the bedroom is a very sacred place for partners. Not only is our bedroom for restorative sleep and rejuvenation, but it’s also a safe place for us to be vulnerable. Whether it is physical or emotional vulnerability, our bedroom is literally the only place on this earth that consistently invites us to be in this very precious state of being.

So why this project? Travis and I are committed to keeping the connection no matter how tired or frustrated or overwhelmed we are. And sometimes a change of pace in the bedroom is good for partners. So that’s what we did!

With the DIY, we found ourselves chatting late into the night painting and catching up with our thoughts about parenting and upcoming plans. It really was fun! It sure reminded me of the early days when we were dating and life was so much simpler. Ahh, if you aren’t married yet with kids, ENJOY! And if you are married with kids, ENJOY and connect with your partner! And if you don’t have a partner, update your home with friends and connect with yourself, too.

In fact, I’m a firm believer that if you connect with yourself well, your other relationships will benefit and it will lead to deeper connections. Very rarely is it the opposite. In therapy, the rule of thumb is for individual therapy to be the first choice in healing and resolving issues. Couples and family therapy are secondary or enlisted at the same time as individual therapy.

The Anita Yokota Method

All in all, I’m extremely passionate that our journey in making our homes function better and prettier to our visual desires is a reflection of our journey to self-discovery. If you think about it, DIY projects really test your mental stamina and grit. You have to want it bad to follow through and finish it. I know for a fact that Travis and I are tested all the time during a DIY project. The success of a project requires clear communication, humbleness to say I’m sorry and definitely a sense of humor!

I could go on and on about my Anita Yokota Method of finding wellness in your home. But I’m also very aware you want to know how Travis and I made the board and batten. So here we go!

How we DIY’d it

One morning I got the burning itch to paint our bedroom wall. But I decided color wasn’t enough. We needed to add board and batten. I wish I could show you Travis’ facial expression. It was a mix of “yes! I’m” in to “oh dude, another DIY so soon?”

Thankfully before he could change his mind, we all headed to Home Depot. Our new baseboards are beveled so we were extremely limited to how thick the batten could be. I was really worried! All kinds of doubts and fears erupted. We never have taken on this type of DIY before. What if the batten we used wouldn’t have the impact a thicker batten shows?

My burning itch to DIY this wall overtook those fears and we forged on. Before we bought the batten we turned to my friends Young House Love’s blog posts on board and batten. In fact they wrote two very helpful posts  here and here.

One day I was so nervous I Dm’d them on IG and Sherry reassured me that it only took them a day to do. Well I doubled that time for us since we totes haven’t done a project this large before!

Mr. Meticulous aka Travis researched the technicalities of the batten due to our beveled basboards and 1/4″ batten was the answer for us. From what we could see online, batten were usually at least 1/2″ thick. But it would stick out too much and look funny on the bottom.

So we used 1/4″ batten and got a top rail for the ceiling piece.

And then we measured the width of the wall and evenly distributed the batten in two’s. If you’re wondering how I came up with this design, I  scoured Pinterest and in one of Emily Henderson’s blog posts about adding wall paneling to basic walls, I saw this image:

 

Image Credit: Emily Henderson Blog

I instantly fell in love with it because I’m obsessed with the Mid Century Modern slats. And this reminded me of it. In fact, before seeing this image, I wanted some kind of rendition of slats as a batten. So this was perfect! Another true reminder that if you throw it out into the universe, things will respond back to you!

So we got busy and used a nail gun to nail all the batten in.

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: we decided to cheat and not use boards with our batten. There were a couple of reasons: 1) Our walls are lightly textured and when we put up the batten, it really looked fine. If Mr. Meticulous approves, its fiiiiiiine. 2) Due to time and budget, we decided to take a risk and try it without.

DIY b and b time lapse

Once we finished the actual board and batten, it was time for deciding the paint color!

Talk about nerves! My home is 75% white walls. But I knew that painting it white wouldn’t do our hard work justice. The board and batten demanded color. And the color that I intuitively knew would work, scared and excited me at the same time.

As a lover of blue tones, green was never on my radar. Until recently I started seeing lots of muted green-gray tones used as kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Here are a few examples from Sarah Sherman Samuel:

 

I just realized I think it’s Sarah Sherman Samuel that I need to thank for my newfound love of green! She really enjoys incorporating this fresh and modern color. And now so do I!

Here are the three choices that Travis and I had to agree on.

 

Although slate tile is the obvious choice, I decided against it. We always do blue in our home. The why of this project is to infuse some excitement and renewal for Travis and me. After all, green is the color of renewal. Sherwin Williams Jasper Stone was too light and leaned into the pastel family. So it was decided: Sherwin Williams Under Seas it is!

Guys, I was so hesitant painting on the first stroke of paint. But something magical happened! I felt a release of endorphins in my brain and then my body and heart pumped up! The first stroke was GORGEOUS. Simply GORGEOUS!

With obscene levels of adrenalin pulsing through my veins, I found the energy and courage to painting our first-ever DIY board and batten wall! How cool is that?

Gah! Just look at this green! It has blue undertones so it makes sense I love this color so much. Ready for the “after” shots? WEEEEE! Let’s go!

 

 

Have you noticed I didn’t cover up the carpet??? I mean this is HUGE for me! I usually feel the need to cover it up with an area rug. But due to time and budget, I decided to let the wall be the star. And what a star this wall is! Visually I don’t even notice the floor anymore! Do you?

 

Since the holidays are upon us, I added organic elements into the room to celebrate December. Faux garlands and trees even made it in here! The Sill has their new faux collection and Travis couldn’t be happier that I didn’t add anything live for now. At least on his side of the bed, I’ll make sure he’s comfortable. For me, I love plants in the bedroom. Hence the Fiddle Leaf Fig on my side!

Lots of cozy throws, benches, hooks, and full length floor mirror all add lovely layers and texture to the design.

 

All in all, we couldn’t be more proud of this project. I’m convinced that wall paneling should be on everyone’s to do list at home. Especially if you live in a cookie-cutter builder-grade home! Saving up for it or better yet, DIY-ing it elevates any space.

We also got new nightstands from West Elm! This is unsponsored but I love sharing incredible furniture. And these Penelope nightstands with a marble top are AH-mazing! Right now it’s 30% off!

The contrast of marble and wood in a small piece of furniture with clean lines is truly classic yet modern. Wow, the best of everything in one cohesive table design.

A follower on Instagram DM’d me and asked if the walls in my bedroom were super high. I said no! They are 9 feet. But due to the wall paneling, the eye is drawn all the way up with vertical batten. Voila, the room seems bigger instantly! This is another reason why I’m so emphatic about vertical anything. Whether if its tile or shiplap or board and batten, I prefer to go vertical than horizontal.

Whoa,  this turned out to be a long post! But if you’re like me, you’re still in awe this is the same room as before. I’m really excited that the holidays are just beginning so that we can enjoy this green room to the fullest! The color green resembles renewal and it sure has renewed Travis and me!

The whole point was to elevate our relationship and give us a good jump start. Travis agrees that this transformation definitely jolted us to a great place! I hope this encourages you to continue to think about what spaces in your home can set you and your family up for relational connection and success.

 

Happy day!

Anita