Wainscoting Ideas for Dining Room
Is your dining room beautifully decorated, but it still feels like something is missing? You have your elegant table, custom-designed drapes, and pristine lighting but your dining room just doesn't have that unique feel you are searching for.
Sometimes it may be difficult to put your feelings into words but you know your dining room just doesn't feel complete. Perhaps you are looking for a dining room that feels more elegant or solid, with more of a focal point in your home. Remodelling your dining room requires you to set some goals and a cash allowance, which will help determine how elegant your design will be.
Wainscoting can quickly turn your incomplete dining room into the the elegant focal point you desire while remaining within your budget. Traditionally constructed of wood, Wainscoting is customized paneling applied directly to your walls, adding texture or visual interest by either covering the lower portion of the walls or the ceiling for a unique touch.
Wainscoting adds a distinctive style to your dining room, implementing the use of repeating patterns on a panel with a top rail, two side pieces, and a bottom rail within a frame. Traditionally installed on the lower portion of the wall below the chair rails, wainscoting is now used to decorate ceilings, stairways, and walls. Before you can start the remodel of your dining room, you need to sit down and figure out what style of wainscoting you want to implement and the material you wish to use.
Many homeowners covet beadboard wainscoting for its elegant design and stately décor. Constructed out of tongue-and-groove boards, wainscoting beadboard panels are highly decorative panels with recessed ridging that add a touch of distinct refinement to your room. Depending on your needs and desires, beadboard planks come in several different sizes, materials, and shapes – from medium-density fiberboard to hardwood planks.
When purchasing beadboard wainscoting, you can choose between single panels or full sheet panels with milled vertical grooves. If you are paneling a small section of the room, then the single panels will be a better purchase; however, if you are paneling large sections of your dining room, the full sheet of wainscoting will reduce the amount of caulk you will need to use as well as will reduce the cracking that can occur from your home expanding and contracting with the change in weather.
Wainscoting is traditionally timber paneling used for wall surfaces and chair rails, but homeowners can now implement the use of wainscoting as a textural treatment for the ceilings. Slim strip wood paneling will help create an exotic sea-side atmosphere in your dining room while adding another dimension for eye-catching appeal. Installing a wainscoting ceiling can be extremely expensive and complicated, requiring the use of wainscoting, shoe or crown moulding, and wood beams to complete your tropical look.
Also known as Shaker style paneling, flat panel wainscoting is a popular design that dates back to the 19th century. Flat panel wainscoting provides additional protection for your wall and is constructed out of rails, panels, and stiles. A simple and classic look that can be found in family homes, flat panel wainscoting consists of central panels that are recessed against the wall and are extended partially up the wall, with crown moulding accenting the panels.
If you wish for that elegant feel of wainscoting but are on a budget, flat panel wainscoting is an inexpensive, customizable option to choose from. Providing the same rails and stiles as regular wainscoting panels, flat panel wainscoting is constructed with 1/8-inch high-density fiberboard, which allows you to keep your installation costs down while providing a beautiful accent to your dining room décor.
Providing you the maximum amount of savings and design control, faux wainscoting allows you to implement a variety of materials instead of expensive panels to help complete the elegant appeal of your dining room. Once you have decided on the material needed, you can choose your wainscoting color and style. If you are looking for alternative material to use in your dining room, bamboo is an environmentally friendly material that will give your room a fresh appearance.
For a budget-friendly option to give you the appearance of wainscoting, you can roll vertical stripes with alternating colors on the lower portion of your wall and top the stripes with a horizontal band, mimicking the cap rail. Installing stain-grade wall veneers is another affordable alternative to wainscoting, with the hardwood plywood affixed directly to the wall. By gluing nail rails, cap moulding, and stiles directly to your walls, you can mimic flat panel wainscoting. For an attractive and finish to your dining room, caulking allows you to seal the wood joints for a polished feel and prevent future cracking.
Perfect for high walls and vaulted ceilings, tall wainscoting will give your dining room a cozy feel. During the 19th century, wainscoting ranged from 48 to 54 inches in height; whereas nowadays wainscoting panels range from 50 to 60 inches in height. Measuring approximately five feet high, tall wainscoting will take up a large portion of your dining room; so if you have a high ceiling, painting your tall wainscoting a light color will draw the eye up the wall and to the ceiling. If you have a low ceiling, applying a darker stain to your wainscoting panels will make your walls appear taller.
Picture frame and crown moulding wainscoting bring a dimensional feel to your dining room. To add unique architectural detailing to your dining room, you can implement the use of picture frame wainscoting, which is a series of shadow boxes created using strips of moulding.
While many homeowners want their wainscoting to stand out, others want it to blend into with the rest of the décor. Each option calls for the appropriate type of paint. If you wish for your wainscoting to blend into the rest of your dining room décor, you need to coat your entire room in a satin latex paint. The satin latex paint emanates a low sheen, keeping your wainscoting from dominating the entire room.
 However, if you wish to make your wainscoting the primary focal point or a complimentary accent for the décor in your dining room, you need to paint the drywall with a satin paint and the wainscoting a different shade of gloss latex paint. The gloss latex paint will provide a beautiful sheen that will make your wainscoting pop.
If you are on a budget and wish to install your wainscoting without the aid of a professional, you need to practice in a small room before taking on a larger project. Before you decide on your materials, make sure that all your equipment is in working order, including saws, measuring tapes, shaping holes, and levellers. Once you have decided on what type of wainscoting you wish to install, choose the exact materials and paint you wish to use, but be sure to measure the walls several times to ensure you purchase the correct size of paneling. Then, you can visit several stores and choose the paneling and moulding that will complement your dining room décor. Not only will the do-it-yourself wainscoting project save you money, but it is also an enjoyable way to complete your elegant dining room.
Whether you wish to accent a single wall in your dining room, create a divider between your decorating schemes, or make your ceiling the focal point of your room, wainscoting can provide you with a wide range of design schemes. Just open up your imagination and let your ideas flow.
It also adds an accent to a plain wall or creates a divider between two decorating schemes such as paint and wallpaper. Often made of paned glass, they can be used to separate two rooms such as a living and dining room, or often as exterior doors leading to a deck or patio. Some households choose to keep the wall above the wainscoting the identical color for a subtle uniformed glimpse although other individuals decide to paint it a contrasting coloration. If you’re lucky enough to have hardwood flooring beneath that old green carpeting, then simply re-finish and stain it in a deep rich tone. They can be at the front, side or back of a home, over dormers and bay windows. In older homes these are constructed solely of wood, but newer models reconstruct the same look by creating a wooden drop ceiling or by bordering a textured drywall ceiling with decorative trim or molding. Here is a list of some of the more common terms to help you get a clearer picture of what you’re buying.
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