The Dining Room: Board and Batten

Board and Batten

Believe me, we could not have done this without the phenomenal work of a good friend. Kevin offered to come help us put the board and batten up on the walls, and I'm sure glad he did because it's my favorite room in the house. 

Before

After searching Pinterest for ideas to add character in this characterless house(if you exclude the wagon wheel embedded in the brick fireplace wall), I settled on this for my inspiration:

What drew me to it was the contrast between the dark and light. Being a lover of deep colors on walls, I knew I needed something to balance it out so the dining room didn't feel like a dungeon each time you walked into it. 

TIP: If you're ever in need of paint, check out the mistinted paint at any home improvement store. Lowe's has them for $5/gallon and Home Depot has them for $7/gallon. Almost all, if not all of my paint was purchased for an insanely discounted price throughout the year prior to buying our house. Don't be afraid to mix colors. 

The process was easy, but time consuming because all the boards had to be spaced just right. 

It took 2 days and $150.00 total to transform our Brady Bunch eating space into an inviting dining room....

After

Thanks for reading! 

Move over, Jonses. The Common Senseneys moved into the neighborhood.

Just a brief intro about our family: My husband, Joe, and I met when in high school. We began dating while I was a junior, engaged when I was a senior, and married just on September 2' 2006, just 3 months after my high school graduation. 

We had our first child, a boy, Ashton Joseph, almost exactly a year later. Then or second followed a little over two years later, another boy, Harrison "Harry" Lee. Then two and a half more years passed and we had a daughter, Shiloh Eleanor. 

We had to relocate for Joe's job and I left my dream farm behind to embark on this new adventure with him. We're about 2 hours from friends and family, so, while I'm making new friends, I'm also renovating our 1978 ranch style house in the most inexpensive way I can, even if it means rolling up our sleeves and doing most of the work ourselves. It was well built, just needed some updating. And by updating, I mean it looked like the Brady Bunch just moved out. Yeah.