DIY board and batten walls (and yes, the paint choices were questionable!)
UPDATE: This bathroom is now finished! Want to see how it all turned out?
Check out the bathroom reveal.
We made more progress on our bathroom updates thanks to a Home Depot gift card. Progress is slow but steady, and I’m excited to share the updates so far.
Before I dive into the kids’ bathroom, you may recall I already shared plans for the powder room. Recently we also picked up a simple, classic tilt mirror from Home Depot for that space, which I love.
Then, one of those Murphy’s Law moments hit: our master bathroom toilet stopped flushing, so a new toilet might be in our near future. That means working on three bathrooms at once — fun times.
Back to the kids’ bathroom — progress is happening, just slowly.
The wall color is bright. Don’t adjust your monitor — it really is vibrant. I plan to balance it with accessories since the space is fairly dark; a lively color will help bring energy and light into the room.
Swine Swine Everywhere Swine!
Yes, some of the woodwork is oddly pink — another paint choice from our contractor that needs fixing. It’s on the to-do list.
What I’ve done so far
I’ve painted the walls and ceiling (before I bought a ladder, so I painted standing on a chair), started on the board and batten, and changed the cabinet hardware.
Yes, I painted the ceiling
I painted the ceiling the same color as the walls because 1) I like painted ceilings, 2) there’s no crown molding to define the edge, 3) in a small room painting the ceiling helps the room feel cohesive, and 4) I’m not a precise painter when cutting in, so painting the ceiling makes the project simpler and cleaner.
Board and batten — the easy way
I was nervous about adding board and batten since our previous homes already had it, but Home Depot was really helpful. They cut the battens to my measurements. I chose 2-inch primed MDF battens so I didn’t have to cut, sand, or prime — just glue and nail. That made the job much faster and less intimidating.
Primed board and batten.
You can install battens without a nail gun
We don’t own a nail gun, but my husband has a nail-set tool, so we installed the battens using a hammer and nails. The nail-set sinks the nail heads below the surface so they can be filled and painted. The trickiest part is accurate measuring and ensuring everything is level and evenly spaced. We also used construction adhesive on the battens before nailing for extra hold.
Disclaimer: We only used battens, no backing board
We skipped installing full boards behind the battens this time. I prefer the look of boards behind the battens, but since this is a second-floor kids’ bathroom I chose to save that step. Once painted, I expect the result will look cohesive. If this were a main area, I’d likely install the boards to improve the finished appearance, especially over textured drywall.
I’m also not a big fan of MDF aesthetically, but it’s affordable and easy to work with, so it was the practical choice for this project.
I painted the ceiling too. The pinkish woodwork is still an issue that needs fixing.
What’s next?
I need to pick up another piece of MDF for the top molding near the door. After that, we’ll fill nail holes, caulk seams, and paint the board-and-batten and all the woodwork a crisp white to cover the pink tones. Right now the pink and blue combo looks rough, but sometimes things look worse before they look better.
The other side of the room
This side feels chaotic right now — a mix of pink, blue, and clutter that’s not pleasant to the eye.
I haven’t decided whether to run the board and batten around the cabinet area. I’ll need to remove the small side backsplash and cut battens to fit around the counter if I go that route.
UPDATE: I completed the backsplash on that side of the wall and documented the steps for the faux tin ceiling tile backsplash.
The toilet/tub room
More pink woodwork here that needs repainting. I debated paint color for the small toilet/shower room and decided a soft white will help calm the bright blue from the main part of the bathroom and keep the suite from feeling overwhelmingly colorful.
A quick confession:
I accidentally posted the wrong paint color in an earlier update. With so many blue samples, I mixed them up and shared the wrong name. Lesson learned — I’ll double-check paint cans before publishing color details in the future.
The bright blue we used in the main area is Lagoon by Martha Stewart (available at Home Depot). It’s a great color; I just want the adjoining spaces to balance with white trim and woodwork.
*****UPDATE: See how this bathroom evolved in a later makeover post.
Three cheers for Home Depot!
Thank you to Home Depot for the gift card that helped us get started on these bathroom projects.
More progress reports to come. Hopefully everything will start coming together soon.
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Note: Home Depot has provided product support for this project. The views expressed here are my own.