It’s Wednesday the 27th, which means it’s time to share this season’s unofficial Pinterest Challenge project. This challenge isn’t sponsored — it was dreamed up to encourage people to stop just pinning and start doing, and this season we took on a big one: adding board and batten to our formerly plain hallway.
This round was the largest project we’ve attempted for the challenge so far. We installed board and batten along the lower portion of our hallway walls to introduce architectural character and depth where there used to be none.
Now, a week after finishing, the hallway looks completely refreshed. It feels more finished and thoughtfully designed — a simple addition that makes a daily high-traffic area feel more special.
I keep finding myself sitting on the floor just staring at it.
Photos don’t capture the full effect. Several people who previously installed board and batten warned us that pictures would flatten it out, and they were right: in person the panels cast subtle shadows and create real dimension. The white lower panels now provide a crisp contrast to the soft painted walls above, and the hallway feels more polished and intentional overall.
We followed techniques and tips from a handful of trusted home-improvement bloggers and then adapted the process to our space. We still have some artwork to hang and a bit of trim painting to finish, but the core installation is complete and already makes a huge difference.
Before we started, we reviewed several tutorials to learn common approaches and helpful tricks. The posts that inspired us provided guidance on measuring, spacing, and finishing details, and gave us confidence that this project is achievable for DIYers.
- A thorough DIY board and batten guide with detailed measurements and layout tips
- A step-by-step installation walkthrough that emphasized careful leveling and consistent spacing
- An illustrated project guide covering priming, caulking, and painting for a professional finish
- A progress-focused post showing real-time adjustments and helpful shortcuts
We’ll post a complete tutorial soon, including video of our full process and a detailed budget breakdown. For this post we hurried to take after photos, so we didn’t have time to finish the video editing or compile all receipts yet. The good news: while the whole project took almost a week, each individual step was manageable. If you break it down and work one phase at a time, anyone comfortable with basic tools can tackle this.
Here is the general order of steps we followed:
- Measure the space and gather materials
- Mark reference lines, use a level, and attach the top rail
- Nail and glue the vertical battens in place
- Fill nail holes and caulk seams
- Sand patched areas and prime all wood
- Paint the wood and the area below the top rail white
- Paint the walls above the rail your chosen color (it can be easier to paint the wall color first)
For our wall color we chose a soft platinum gray (Moonshine by Benjamin Moore) to create a cohesive, airy feel with the adjacent framed hallway. We wanted to avoid anything too dark that might close in the narrow space. The light gray complements the white trim and helps the board and batten stand out without high contrast — a subtle, tone-on-tone look that’s elegant and restrained. Note: we still need to paint the trim in the adjoining frame hallway to match the pure white of the board and batten.
We’ll share a full budget breakdown and the video tomorrow once everything is edited and organized. The paint was still drying when we took these after photos, so we couldn’t capture every finished detail yet. But the takeaways are simple: this project takes time and patience, but not advanced skills. With careful measuring and a methodical approach, it’s a very doable upgrade that delivers big visual impact.
Also, other participants in the challenge have shared their projects this week. Check their blogs and posts to see different takes on seasonal Pinterest Challenge ideas and to gather more creative inspiration.
Finally, we’d love to see what you tackled for this Pinterest Challenge. If you’ve posted about your project, add a link to your specific post or leave a link in the comments. If you don’t have a blog, consider sharing photos on a public image gallery so others can view your work. We’re excited to see the variety of projects people completed — it’s motivating and fun to share the results of actually doing the things we pin.