Living Room Makeover Part 3: How to Caulk and Spackle

I’m still working on my living room board and batten project and making steady progress. I’m holding back a bit on the final reveal because I want everything to be truly ready, but I’m happy to share the steps I’m taking right now and how the room is shaping up.

All of the vertical boards are now installed on the walls, which feels like a major milestone. I still need to purchase, prime, paint, and install the top ledge across each wall, but that should be relatively quick compared with the initial installation. There are also about five small trim pieces left to prime, paint, cut, and install around the kitchen bar area. My priority has been finishing the living room first so we can move the furniture back into place and stop living with everything clustered in the center of the room.

Today’s allies in the finishing work were two products I’ve been using nonstop: Alex and Dex. They’ve made the last stages—filling gaps and smoothing seams—so much easier.

I spent the day caulking and spackling seams and nail holes. It’s repetitive work, but it makes a massive visual difference. Caulking the joints between the boards and the wall, and where the boards meet each other, removes visible gaps and shadows and gives the whole installation a unified, finished look. After I applied caulk, I smoothed it with a damp finger or a caulk tool to create clean seams ready for touch-up paint.

During the process I managed to irritate the pad of my finger a bit from wiping caulk off the rough MDF edges—note to self: wear nitrile gloves next time. Aside from that, the transformation is really rewarding. Once the caulk cures and the spackling is sanded, the boards look like they were always meant to be part of the room.

You can see the difference clearly in the before-and-after photos: the left side shows the raw boards with visible seams, and the right side looks much more finished after caulk and spackle. I used a pink spackling compound that turns white when it’s dry; that color change is incredibly useful because it tells you exactly when it’s ready to sand and paint. It’s a small detail, but it saves time and prevents sanding too early.

My workflow for these final stages has been: apply caulk to seams and joints, fill nail holes and gaps with spackling, let the spackle dry fully (watching for the color change), sand smooth with fine-grit sandpaper, then prime and paint. For the tops of the boards I’ll install the ledge pieces, prime and paint them, and then complete touch-up painting around the edges. Once that’s done I’ll be able to move furniture back into place and start hanging artwork and shelving to complete the space.

I’m excited to get to the decorating phase—hanging pictures, arranging lighting, and styling shelves will make all the effort feel worth it. For now I’m concentrating on the crisp finish that caulking and careful spackling provide; those steps are what elevate a DIY installation into something that looks professionally done.

Thanks for following along with this update. It may not be 100% finished this weekend, but we’re very close. I’ll share more photos and tips as I complete the final paint and ledge installation. In the meantime, have a relaxing weekend and happy DIYing!

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