Amazing what simple picture frame moulding can do for a room isn't it? Instantly transforms a an ordinary rm. into one of grandeur.

A question: if you have a small room, would that same beautiful molding (or tile, in my case--a powder room) make the room feel smaller? It doesn't, here, as far as I can tell, but I'm just trying to decide what the cutoff is for a wainscot to make a positive difference vs. a negative one.

Really beautiful work, btw. Did you do it the oldfashioned way or with that new product?

We did it too in our piano /living room. We did the long rectangles. Yours is lovely. c

flyleft,
I honestly don't think there is a cutoff - wainscoting ALWAYS looks fabulous to me. I have seen it in powder rooms to ballrooms and it is always a winner! In my case, the first comment I received about it was that that the room looked so much bigger. I had a trim carpenter come in and just make the frames out of regular wood moulding (it only took 2 guys 3 hours total...one cut the wood while the other measured and nailed them right to the drywall). It was actually very inexpensive to do, and I think it looks just as good as the real thing. Of course, yours truly did all the painting! Good luck with your powder room!

kimbo...it looks wonderful! I've always liked that look too, it adds so much.

Sample homes have "picture frame moulding" in many of their rooms and you can't tell it apart from real wainscoting. Does anyone do the real thing anymore?

I have picture frame moulding, but I have slightly textured walls. Would it look silly to paint it white to match the moulding and chair rail since it is textured? Seeing your pictures REALLY made me want to paint it...it looks FABULOUS! Love the color too...can you share what color it is?

Here is how ours looks. Very large room and 12 foot celings so we did the bigger rectangles.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Really lovely work -- and a wonderful transformation!

Very well done indeed! :)

Wow, you really did a fabulous job...the color and molding really transformed the room. I remember your prior posts. What color did you end up painting the walls? Cant wait to see it when the furniture comes.

Oh, I love that green and your molding looks great. Good job.!

Just wonderful. Gave the room a whole new feeling!

Thanks for your thoughts on room size (i.e. no limits :)), kimbo. It's a splendid job and creates such a restful atmosphere.

Stunning! Was it difficult to do? I'm half tempted to do it in the office, but since the room is tiny, I'm not sure it will work. That room is actually a bedroom, would it be appropriate for a child size bedroom?

What is the gorgeous green wall color?

This is gorgeous and I love the paint color and your art work also!

Beautiful job!! *So* worth the time it takes for such a great addition to your room!!

Thanks for all the great feedback! For those wondering about the color, it is BM 1495 October Mist. I agonized for weeks over the color, and I know most people use that color in kitchens or laundry rooms, but based on the light this DR gets, it really was the perfect fit. Plus, I think the contrast with bright white makes October Mist look more crisp (versus using it nest to, say, cherry cabinets, which is also beautiful). As for painting textured walls in semi-gloss white, I think it depends on how textured it is. Of course, semi-gloss is going to even out the texture somewhat, but I don't know if it would look odd or not. I doubt it. This picture frame moulding would be easy for an experienced DIYer, but I just spared myself the pain and hired a trim carpenter. Shop around - there are many good ones that will do this type of work for just a few hundred dollars (depending on how many walls you have) - well worth it.

I absolutely love it! It looks fantastic. The paint color is beautiful as well.

I want to do this in my own home but with all our current over head I just couldn't warrant spending the $. I am considering learning how to do it myself and giving it a go. Worse comes to worse I'm out the cost of wood and need to do a bit of patching & painting on the lower part of a wall...hmmmm....

That looks outstanding! I love it. Now I need to add that to my list of things I want to do. :) Congratulations and enjoy it!

I apologize I didn't mean to hi-jack . Your room is lovely as I said and the color is beautiful. Caroline

trailrunner,
No need to apologize! I didn't know I was "hi-jacked" :) By the way, I really love your moulding as well - it is so elegant and the color combination is great!

Gorgeous! I want to do this in my dining room. Thanks for sharing your beautiful room transformation.

That is beautiful, Kimbo & Trailrunner! Just curious about proportions -- May I ask how tall your ceilings are & how far off the floor the top of your chair rail is? Someday, I'd love to have that done also, especially after having seen such gorgeous examples! Thanks for sharing!

The LR is 20x20 and the celing is 12'. The chair rail is 36" from the floor. The basebaords are 10" deep. The picture frame is 16" tall and is 4" from the chair rail and 2 1/2" from the baseboard. It is 4" from the end walls. The windows and the fireplace break up the run . I was lucky my painter suggested it as I had not thought of it.

Sorry the room is a mess...DH has his music out all the time :). c

hoosiergirl,
My dining room is a perfect 13' X 13' square and the size of the picture frames was dictated by the moulding that was already done in the adjoining entry. My chair rail is also 36" high (meaning the botoom of the chair rail rests 36" from the floor) with 10" baseboards. I have a 10 ft ceiling. The moulding boxes were mostly 17.5" X 24", but you will notice that other areas that couldn't accomodate that size were just made smaller. The key is in planning - the edges of the boxes should always be the same distance from the chair rail, baseboards and each other (in my case, it was 2" apart all around). Notice in the pic with my 2 windows how different size boxes are are 2" from each other, the window moulding and the chair rail...that is the hard part! Good luck!

Kimbo,

It looks lovely! I'm with you -- I'm crazy about wainscoting, whether beadboard, or plank, or Craftsman, or Colonial, or whatever style, it's all good. You must be SO pleased!

Trailrunner,

Yours looks wonderful too. Love it!

Krisfl,

I have the same question as you and my best estimate is that it would look a lot better if we sand the texture off the walls below the chair railing, then do the faux wainscot treatment. The other option would be to cover it with MDF or something.

Thank you so much for the detailed info, Kimbo & Trailrunner! That is VERY helpful! Enjoy your beautiful rooms!