Board and batten (AKA wainscoting) is an easy DIY to customize the look of any room in your home. But which rooms does board and batten look good in? I’ve gathered 12 of my favorite examples to inspire you!
Batten wainscoting is an excellent way to add a modern element to any room. And it gets bonus points for being a fairly simple DIY project! All you need are a few simple trim pieces or MDF boards from the hardware store, a brad nailer, and a circular saw or miter saw.
Today I’m sharing ideas and examples for how to incorporate this modern trim into your home. If you’d like to learn more about the actual nuts and bolts of installing beautiful board and batten, check out this post for lots of tips and answers to frequently asked questions.
I’ve gathered up a dozen modern board and batten ideas for you! It’s really inspiring to see all of the different ways this modern trim work can be used all over the house….in the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and office just to name a few. Where would you add a pop of color or texture?
Looking for more DIY ideas? Take a look at these blog posts:
- Everything You Need to Know About DIY Board and Batten Walls
- Modern Green Bathroom Makeover
- DIY Closet Shelving | Replacing The Wire Shelf In Our Nursery Closet
<<PIN THE IMAGE BELOW FOR LATER!>>
Where should I add Board & Batten?
Board and Batten walls are a great way to add custom features to your builder-grade home. PLUS it is super easy!
One thing you'll notice about the examples below is how many different styles and layouts you can choose from. There really are no rules in my opinion! A grid pattern taken all the way up to the top of the wall is a classic board and batten look, but it's also very common to see this trim style done on the bottom half or third or a wall.
Some are pretty simple, others are capped off at the top with crown molding, while others add extra decorative trim alongside the wide boards to create more of a formal wainscoting look. It's really up to you and what will look best in your space!
A popular choice is to make a grid with square boxes, but you can also play with the distance between both vertical and horizontal boards. Or, like you'll see in a few of the examples here, you can even skip the horizontal boards altogether and only use vertical pieces. Anything goes!
Mudroom with Hooks
Create the perfect board and batten wall in an unused portion of a hallway using vertical boards. It can be the best out-of-the-way organization spot for our coats, backpacks, hats, purses, and more! This is an especially good idea if you have a narrow space to work with in your entryway or mudroom.
Half Bathroom
I added board and batten about two-thirds of the way up the walls in our half bath. Moody walls combined with a pretty wall treatment really elevated the look of this small room! I did this project a few years ago now and it's still one of my very favorites.
Living Room Accent Wall
This board and batten feature wall gave the living room a big refresh and it feels like a brand new space. Using both vertical and horizontal boards helps make a whole wall the focal point. Living rooms are a perfect place for adding trim because there are often larger blank walls that could use a little visual interest.
Kid's Bedroom
When your toddler outgrows the crib and is ready for a real bed, a bedroom makeover is the perfect way to celebrate this milestone! This big boy bedroom makes over a blank wall to have shark decor, a DIY board and batten wall, and a custom shark tooth stenciled wall. And kids' bedrooms are really awesome places to experiment with different colors if you want to try something more fun and colorful in your home!
Small Entryway
Our blah beige entryway is now a modern navy showstopper! This blog post is packed with before and after photos of our small entryway makeover complete with navy board and batten, brass decor and lots of functionality. This was the first time I DIYed board and batten and one of the first times I'd ever used a miter saw or nail gun. Four years later and I'm still so happy with the look of this accent wall!
Master Bedroom
Adding a pop of color with a board and batten accent wall in the master bedroom can be a fun addition. Primary bedrooms are one of the top board and batten installation places because they're an easy way to give your space character and an especially great element for an accent wall behind your bed.
Modern Dining Room
Adding board and batten in the dining room is a great option! The white board and batten adds a classic look and this is a great example of taking the trim up higher on the wall...I'm guessing they went 3/4 of the way to the ceiling here.
Garage Accent Wall
Keeping your garage organized has to be a little easier when it looks this cute, don't you think? Check out this tutorial for adding board and batten walls in the garage. Using long boards will help take your boring white walls to the next level. This is an example of simple DIY board and batten painted white but made a little extra special by staining the horizontal trim piece. Incorporating wood tones adds a lot of texture and takes the look up a notch.
Hallway
This 10-step batten tutorial shows how to add this professional-looking board and batten in your hallway. Hallways are often overlooked spots to decorate in a home and can be a little tricky to decorate when you're working with limited wall space broken up by lots of doors or windows. One of the easiest design elements to add to a boring hallway is inexpensive board and batten--I'm a huge fan of this modern look and it's definitely on my project list for our second floor hallway.
Nursery
I'm in love with the simple board and batten in this nursery! The crisp white looks great topped off with that dark wood top piece and provides great contrast with the dark green wall color. And how smart to make your top horizontal piece wide enough to serve as a little shelf! It's really simple to incorporate a narrow picture ledge or shelf into the top of a half board and batten wall.
Kitchen Island
You can transition your builder grade home into a custom masterpiece with the addition of board and batten to your kitchen island. What a great idea for adding character to an all-white kitchen. You could also totally paint your island a bold color if you wanted to!
Study or Office
Adding board and batten molding really took this room makeover to the next level. I love the monochrome look of painting the walls, bookshelves, and trim all the same color. If you have a big plain white wall, vertical batten pieces can be just what you need to add some visual interest.
I hope you’re feeling really inspired by all of these board and batten wall ideas! As you saw, there are so many different styles you can go with when adding this popular wood trim to your home. I’m a huge fan of adding character to our plain builder-grade home and this is an inexpensive way to do just that!
If you are ready to start your board and batten project, I have all of the answers to your questions! Check out my Everything You Need To Know About DIY Board And Batten Walls tutorial. You’ll find simple steps, a full tutorial, plus all of the questions I researched when I first started including what supplies you’ll need, how to plan in your space, installation advice, and more. I also talk through some common questions including if you can do this on a textured wall and how to handle light switches.
Looking for more DIY ideas? Take a look at these blog posts:
- How To Paint Doors (The Complete Guide)
- How I Stained Our Deck Quickly (And The Thing That Saved My Sanity)
- How To Trim A Window (Our New Modern Craftsman Trim!)
Have a fantastic day!
