Weekends Are For Wainscot!

I love a good wallpaper and a wainscot! Nothing transforms a space more than adding wainscot! Here are the supplies you will need! 

Wainscot Supplies:
Plywood underlayment 4' x 8' sheets 1/8" thickness
Base trim  6"
Top trim  4"
Top cap trim  1" tapered
saw to cut trim and plywood
adhesive for plywood to drywall
Nail gun
Caulk
Sandpaper
Wood filler for nail holes/seams
Spacers for electrical outlets
Paint of choice

Okay lets take a look at the before picture below!

I thought wainscot would be the perfect way to freshen up the living room. I also had the idea to  cut off the bottom portion of the wallpaper and wrap around the column. I thought, no worries I can do all this in TWO days RIGHT?!?! Well you better believe I knocked this baby out lickity split two days, with my hubbies help cutting wood! First step was cutting the wallpaper off the bottom portion of the wall, so I could wrap the column with the excess! When I wallpapered before I stopped at the outside corner. I thought it would give a finished look if I could continue around column. Good thing peel and stick wallpaper is so WORKABLE. This wallpaper is Chains of Leaves from Coloray www.coloraydecor.com/search?q=chains%2Bof%2Bleaves. 

Okay next step. Attaching plywood. Lets talk about panel of plywood or no plywood panel! If you have FLAT walls you can get away with NOT using plywood as the base. I have textured walls and I wanted this wainscot to look really clean. To figure out how much plywood you need, measure wall and decide how tall you want your paneling. I bought two plywood boards that were 8' x 4'. I had them cut off 8" horizontally off the top so that the plywood would be at 40" high. Height is pure preference. 

Measure to cut for any outlets or areas that plywood would cover. I got lucky and only had to cut the end of one board...lucky me! Use a nail gun and some adhesive and slap that baby up!

Now that the plywood is all up it is time to do the trim. I like to start with the base. One long piece of base trim is ideal. I had to get two smaller pieces so it is always better to cut the trim at a angle so there is less of a noticeable gap. One MISTAKE I made with this wainscot was not laying both of the base boards together before I attached the first piece. There are ALWAYS irregularities with floors, walls, and trim boards from the store. We do our best on site to figure out the best way around these! Because I nailed the top board in first we had to lay the second one down NOT fitting together the best at the seam. Make sure to see how pieces fit together before attaching!

Next time to add the top rail. I like to get out a level and make sure it is straight before attaching. I find it easier to attach the base, and top rail first then cut the vertical boards to fit at the end. I feel it makes for more accurate cuts for the rails. 

Time to attach the trim cap. This is completely preference and I have done wainscot previously without a top rail at all! This is actually the first time Ive done this top trim piece but I LOVE how it finishes off the top so nicely (pic above).

Now it is time for the vertical rails. They are the same size as the top trim (3  1/2").  I placed the cut rails along the wall to get an idea for spacing. I did some rough math in my head. total length divided by number of rails. I then laid the rails out to make sure spaces was good. Here is another area where I made another MISTAKE! looking back I should have put the vertical rail over the seam! This way you cover the seam, which now you can notice up close. Let the seam determine your spacing. I will FOR SURE do that next time!!! Hoping I can save you the trouble! Learn from my mistakes! 

Now that all my trim is up it is time to paint! And let me tell ya...that WHOLE other topic for next weeks BLOG! Man picking a white paint for this area was tough.  The color I picked out My usual wainscot go to colors just didn't look good here. I went on a hunt for the perfect white! Stay tuned for the final color! 

Final step for the DIY wainscot is pulling out any electrical outlets and using spacers before screwing back in. This allows for the outlet to be pulled out and secured to the new depth that the wainscot wall added. Make sure to turn off any electrical before doing this. And consult with an electrician if you don't feel comfortable. 

I found this project to move pretty fast. We finished the wainscot built in one saturday afternoon. I measured and installed and my hubby did the cuts! I saved painting for Sunday. All in all an amazing transformation for this space. Weekends are for WAINSCOT!!!