It's beautiful. Very arts & craft style. I like the second one, with the additional fascia board. I would say definitely keep the panels consistent, whatever width you choose.

We did something very similar in the "great room" area of our FL house. I real like it, but we did a chair rail style on top. If you like the pic of mine, I can measure the spacing for you. Here it is:

Here is a close-up before it was painted.

I like the first example without the cap--- which is more curvy profile chair rail than flat profile arts and crafts trim.

Thank you for the responses. I definitely think this is the way to go. Beagle, thanks for your photos. I don't think I've seen any photos before of your FL home. Wish I was there now. Too much snow!

I think what I need to do about the spacing is go and measure and figure out what would work best. Of course, I'll probably tell them one thing and they will do something different. From what I understand, the finish carpenter has his own ideas of what looks best. I'm dealing with that now with the builders cabinetmaker. So frustrating.

I prefer it to be capped off. I like this example, that being said I also love the paneling to go up to around 3/4 point if the budget allows. Also I would consider how modern/traditional you want the outcome to be.

Wouldn't the spacing also depend on room dimensions, i.e. as even spacing as possible around the room, so you don't end with a substantially narrower or wider piece on one end?

Here is a link that might be useful: [Board and batten[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/board-and-batten-wainscotting-phbr0lbl-bl~l_1942)

I love this picture of wainscoating.

Definitely consider the direction of the style you're headed. The builders looks to be standard traditional while the ones you posted are mission or arts and crafts, also very nice but a complete different style. IMO, your furniture selection will determine your style.

I agree that it depends on what style/period furniture you choose and the room dimensions, etc. Have you spoken with a decorator? It might be a matter of someone just answering your questions which costs very little as opposed to shelling out a lot of money for wainscoting or furniture that did not work for you in the long haul.

Thanks again for all the input. Our dining room furniture is all natural cherry shaker. Does the board and batten go with that? I agree that the width with definitely be impacted by the dimensions of the room. I love the look of wainscoting going up 3/4 of the way. We're trying to stay within budget, which is for the lower, so I'm guessing it will be the shorter height.

We are meeting tomorrow with a designer at our local Ethan Allen store that helped us out in our current house. Will get her input on the wainscot.

"Shaker style" wainscoting

Looks like you're good to go :)

Perfect, nosoccermom!

I have so many decisions that need to be made, my head is spinning. This morning we picked out tile for 3 bathrooms (floor and walls for 2 of those), laundry room and mud room, plus carpet for 2 bedrooms. This afternoon we looked at lighting. This appears to be the place I'm having the most problems coming to a decision. Ready to hang a bare bulb from the ceiling!

That's not a bad idea... hanging a bare bulb from the ceiling...

maybe you can opt out of some things and just do them later and slowly as the decor starts coming together. The amount of decisions can be crazy.

Even the traditional molding.. if you don't like it, don't get it. They probably will charge you lots extra for the simpler batten just on principal that it is non-standard. Mine would have.

I took the builder's "standard" everything and will just replace as time and budget and urgency dictate. Every tiny thing you want non-standard they charge outrageous prices for. Drove me nuts!!!!!!! They also don't know how to subtract very well on opt-outs. what a racket... my blood pressure is going up just remembering the insanity!

Wendy--you are certainly right on the opt-outs. We are supplying the majority of the fixtures in our master bath and will see only a small credit. When I told them I didn't want to go with their standard Kohler shower fixtures, they insisted I had everything in hand well in advance to ensure my hansgrohe fixtures would fit their normal Kohler pipes...I think the copper pipe coming out of the wall will fit any fixture. They did put the shower head much too high for me. I asked that it be lowered. Found this note to the plumber when we stopped by today. I had to chuckle.

But I digress...

This house looks to be a good example of what you are thinking about. There are several pictures so be sure to check them all out.

[Eclectic Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2104) by Mechanicsburg Design-Build Firms Farinelli Construction Inc

In addition to the style of the furnishings, I would consider the style of the house. I would want the wainscoting to be appropriate to the architecture.

That picture of the bathroom with the glass enclosed shower, board and batten walls and the old tub just doesn't work for me. I'm all for making yourself happy in your own home but that bathroom lost all direction.

I love the board and batten look in a dining room. I am hoping to add this to my own one day. My house is a dutch colonial, so very appropriate for this style. In a dining room I really like to see it in a very different height, like 42" or 60" high. Then you can go with a very bold paint or wall paper above but not overwhelm the space.

Here is a link that might be useful: houzz ideas

I have board-and-batten paneling in my DR. It goes up about 5 feet. The upstairs unit has the same, but capped with a plate rail. The house is a 1911 classical revival style, and actually has a lot of traditional details, and I don't think the styles clash.

If I remember, I'll snap a picture this evening and measure the spacing for you.

I agree that you need to design the wainscot with the house in mind so you don't end up with something that clashes with its style.

The board style is used and looks good in cottage style too.

My pictures are of a cardboard mockup for wainscoting.
Should I paint the bottom part of the wall that is white, the same color as the upper part of the wall? I'll be doing picture frame wainscot, painted white.

The white boarder is wallpaper. Should I place my chair rail where the wallpaper boarder is, or below?

Would it look funny if I placed three 4 inch square tile pieces that are bronze, each with an edge to be used as a stand alone tile piece, that ties in the ceiling medallion and light fixture?

Would like to begin this project by March 22. What are your ideas.

Also, would those same tile pieces look funny to place along the bottom edge of my tray ceiling?

I have a whole folder of wainscot designs on Houzz
Here's one from Fiorella

[Traditional Dining Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2107) by San Francisco Interior Designers & Decorators Fiorella Design
From Siena custom builders in IL

[Traditional Dining Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2107) by Naperville Design-Build Firms Siena Custom Builders, Inc.
Next up is the inspiration we're using for the house we're building, it's by Court Atkins and is a house on Daniel Island, somewhere close to Charleston. If you click on the link the moulding throughout this house is outstanding.

[Traditional Dining Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2107) by Bluffton Architects & Designers Court Atkins Architects
and one more

[Traditional Dining Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2107) by Edmonton Home Stagers Revealing Assets - Home Staging Services

If you type wainscotting into the search bar on Houzz, then when the results come up narrow your selections by room and choose dining room over on teh left side of the page you'll have more than enough examples to choose from.
Good luck.

duplicate

This post was edited by mlweaving_Marji on Tue, Mar 18, 14 at 22:10

Almost 5 years from when I started this thread while building our home. Totally forgot about this, but it came up when I did a search. Too funny. Alas, we still don't have wainscoting in our dining room. Well, we did for a short time when the builders finished carpenter installed their 'normal' detail even after I told them to not install anything. They had to remove it and patch the walls on their dime.

We moved in 5 years ago this May. I'm still thinking a board and batten would work with our style. These are a few shots taken last spring.

Looking from the front entry into DR.

Looking out from DR.I love the look of having the wainscoting going up higher, then with a darker painted wall above. Actually would consider painting wall and ceiling, but I'm sure DH wouldn't go for that. There are 5 windows in the room, so it gets a lot of natural light. Would something like this work?

He would prefer wainscoting at a normal height as in the first photo I posted above.

Thoughts?

Love the room, and especially the lamp. As far as wainscoting, with the archway and columns and tray ceiling, I'm inclined to go wainscoting-less. Wainscoting is great, but I think it might be too busy in that room. Maybe not, just my opinion. If so, definitely normal height, not 2/3 height.

Thanks, WendyB, for your thoughts. You are probably right. Light is from Ethan Allen.

It's obvious I'm getting old, as I again did a search for threads on board and batten and came across my original thread from 2014 when we were building our home. Five and a half years later, I still do not have wainscoting in my dining room. The good news is I've narrowed the choices down to board and batten at a shorter height. I started drawing out how things would look and need advise on how to handle under a three window bump out we have.

This is what I'm I'm thinking. Of course the outside windows are not centered on the wall each is on, as you can tell from my mockup. Any suggestions?

What is the trim though out the house? Worried that the spec house will not have custom trim and the wainscoting will look out of place.

Generally speaking, I’m not a big fan of wainscoting anyway. It’s too much for a small room, and by that I mean a normal dining room size.

Go with great paint colors and beautiful fabrics instead.

Trim throughout the house is flat square stock. This shows entry from front door into DR.