Recently I was very inspired by a DIY Pinterest pin on how to make Faux Wainscoting. The link to the easy to follow directions can be found by below:
Fake Wainscoting
Originally my first thought was to do this project in the TV room. However, I changed my mind, and decided on a small bathroom that I had never finished painting. The two white stripes along the bottom wall were still drywall after only about 2 years!
Before heading up to Home Depot, I decided on how high I wanted the wainscoting to come up the wall. To avoid any complications I chose a height that would not interfere with the sink, windowsill, and switch plates. This measurement is needed to determine how many inches tall each 1/4" x 2" slot of wood should be.
The other measurements I needed were from corner to corner on each wall. This is so you know how long to cut your chair rail for each wall. If you are not going to miter the wood corners there are corner spacers that are available to place in the corners. If doing this ---- take away those inches from the measurement before cutting the wood! Home Depot cut my wood and they said they don't miter so that is something to ask if going that route.
. (This is where I made my big mistake. I forgot to get the pieces of board cut that lays horizontal across the vertical wood slots; just under the chair rail. To understand this better refer back to the pin that inspired me.)
So here are my supplies:
wood slots for vertical placing (2"x1/4") - enough to place one every 12". It's worked out well due to the fact the wood was thin (2" wide) and it was a small area.
Chair rail
Liquid nail stuff
Corner spacers (in front of paint cans)
Primer, paint
Several coats of primer were needed here as the colored stripes on the bottom were pretty dark.
wood slot ends rested on the lip of the molding which was 1/4" wide.
once wood and chair rails and spacers were secured by liquid nail stuff, everything was painted with a couple of coats.
Due to the fact I had forgotten about that extra board of wood that was posted in my "inspiration pin", my chair rail sat over the vertical planks of wood to avoid meeting up with the light switch.
That was 2 mistakes I made. Measuring for vertical wood plus the inches of the chair rail to the light switch and also forgetting about the board that would of looked much better under the chair rail.
Even with the mistakes, I am very pleased with the outcome! This was such an enjoyable DIY that now I am more knowledgeable for the next time I do this somewhere else in the house!
The last step was to caulk the walls where it meets the chair rails because of them sitting on the vertical wood there was a gap between the rails and the walls.
Come share your creations where I share mine!