Board & Batten Tutorial & Reveal

I am 99% finished with this project. I ran out of nails before I got all the lattices attached to the wall. I still need to address a couple places, do a little more sanding and touch up some paint, but you can get the idea from these pics. 

Here is the before:

And the after:

And here is how I did it:

Materials:

- 6' Lattice wood ($7.86 for 10, I needed 33 so I got 2 packs, got them at Lowe's)

- 3 1/2 inch MDF board (8'). I needed 5 pieces and they were $6.82.

- Finishing screws (already had)

- Finishing nails (already had)

-Level (already had)

- Caulk (already had)

- White Semi-Gloss Paint (already had)

- Primer (already had)

- Circular Saw (already had)

Step 1: 

Design your layout on paper so you know how far apart to put the lattice strips. I was going to do 14 inches, but I quickly found that I would have run into an outlet so I decided to go 15 inches in between each piece of wood). You also need to measure how high you want the rail to be. I didn't want to bother with light switches so I decided to put mine 39.5 inches above the top of the baseboard. The top of the MDF would be at 39.5 which left me with 36 inches to fill. This worked out perfectly because I was able to get 2 vertical strips out of each peace of lattice wood because they were 72 inches. 

Step 2: 

After I completed my plan I started to cut my MDF boards. I used full length boards where they would fit. I cut 45 degree angles on the outside corners to give it a flush finish.

Before hanging, I marked the studs with "X's" so I would know where to put the screws. I pre-drilled a little shallow hole before drilling in the screws...

This allowed the screw to be buried without splitting the wood and will make for a much cleaner finish after spackling. 

I then held up the piece of wood and used my level to make sure it was straight before I screwed it in place.

Step 3:

After all of your rail boards are in place, it is time to cut your lattice wood. I thought that because I measured 39.5 inches from the top of my baseboard that I would have the same amount of space to work with everywhere, but this was not the case. Unfortunately I had already cut all of my lattice pieces to 36 inches so so fit better than others. 

Step 4:

To attach my lattice wood I used liquid nails on the back and finishing nails.

Use a level to make sure your lattice is straight and be sure to put them in on an angle on the top, bottom, and middle of each board to securely hold it in place.

Step 5:

After all your boards are in place, it is time to whip out the spackle and caulk. Fill all the holes and caulk on all the edges. I thought paint would fill the little spaces between the lattice wood and the wall, but caulking made it look so much cleaner so I recommend taking the time to do every edge (including the top and bottom of the rail).

Step 6:

Time to whip out the paintbrush! I used one coat of primer and two coats of semi-gloss paint. I rolled it on and used a brush to get all the edges.

Ta-daaaaa!