nailed it

We've been busy in the dining room. It used to look like this:

Then it looked like this:

Stay classy.

It's definitely going through an awkward phase. Over the past few weeks we've primed the trim, ceiling, and lower wall. Then this weekend, we put up the base for our wainscoting, which we hope to have completed by Christmas (or New Year's).

We wanted to start with a completely fresh slate, and we definitely wanted wainscoting to update the chair rail but keep the classic look of the house (sans 80s). Painting the trim was a hard decision, because we love the cozy warmth of it in other rooms on the main floor. However, the stain in the crown is weird and mottled, and we'd have to at least do the chair rail if we wanted wainscoting.

So, we decided to keep the trim of the thresholds, window, and staircase and paint the rest. We can always paint those later if we change our minds.

Next, we had to do our homework on how to pretty up those walls. There's a picture frame method out there, where people simply buy picture frames and glue them to the wall, then paint everything white below the chair rail. You'll need some awesomely smooth walls for that. We decided to do the hybrid route: board and batten with trim for a recessed panel (i.e. the wall). To save some money and because we're painting it white, we used quart-inch thick MDF board cut into 3-inch widths at Home Depot. This was the thickness with the smoothest transition from chair rail to board.

The first thing to do, of course, was figure out our measurements. Since no single wall is like the other in this room, we were a bit stumped and stressed. We figured the wall space on either side of the window would be our guide, but what worked there didn't seem to work anywhere else.

Then we found Designed to Dwell's tutorial and several other blogs saying, "It's okay to fudge!" The rule of thumb is simply to keep each panel on a wall the same, but the width can vary wall to wall. Designed to Dwell also has great examples for dealing with stairs or tricky, off-centered obstructions like doors, windows, tiny corners, etc.

Gary Katz also has a nice formula for figuring how many panels and width for each wall. We worked off that formula, but did some of our own tweaks.

The only "full" wall is 134.5 inches. We decided to work with 3 inch boards after sketching different widths on the wall. First, we nailed the bases. Since it's so straightforward (no obstacles), we figured this would be the best place to start and get some confidence.

This part got a little tricky, as the chair rail trim is sloped. I wound up holding the boards while Mike made a lot of noise with the nail gun. You will probably lose some of your hearing after this project.

Now we had 128.5 inches to figure out. Using Katz's formula, we knew we were looking at 6 panels and might need to fudge a little. We would up doing 18.5-inch panels and fudged a half inch on the end panels. To make sure it would work, we sketched it out using the stiles (vertical pieces) and using a level. It's also how we learned our walls aren't exactly square and have a little curve. 

Then the fun began.

While Mike went to town on the stiles while I took over sanding and tapping duty. Since we weren't doing a true panel, the walls need to be smooth, so I lightly sanded them down with 220 paper. I know this is fascinating and you're all going to want to spend your Saturdays and Sundays doing this, along with tapping nail heads flat.

Some of the nail heads were recessed and some stuck out a bit. With a chisel and hammer, I went around tapping them flat -- and sometimes making new divots along the way. My other task involved filling those divots and recessed nail heads. I had the tedious fun task of squirting little holes with caulk and smoothing the glops out with a wet finger. As I was doing this, Mike became a little more conscientious about how many nails he put in the wall.

Our first challenge involved the window wall. You might think the builder would center the window in the room ... but you would be wrong. It's about an inch off. Ssshh ... don't tell anyone. We took the easy route and simply made one box on either side of the window. Then we split the difference underneath the sill.

We looked for examples around the web of similar window situations. The consensus seemed to be to keep your 'scoting around the trim and then do two or three boxes below (depending on your width). It helps to make peace beforehand that your outlets aren't going to be perfectly centered anywhere. Just try to avoid needing to cut your stiles out around anything. You'll need to save your patience for more important things, like staircases.

We saved the best for last. Designed to Dwell tackled stairs in spectacular fashion, but we were hoping to keep it a little simpler. 

Designed to Dwell

I wish I could tell you we were true geniuses in our decision making, but it really came down to luck, the last MDF pieces left, and Mike's cutting and improvisation. First, we did the horizontals and Mike made a clever cut for the top, angled corner.

He used the diagonal board to trace the cut out on the horizontal board. We will use some wood filler for that little curved gap.

So now we had our base and needed to figure out our box and triangle sizes. All we had left were four scrap pieces of MDF, all different lengths. 

"How's our luck these days?" Mike asked, shuffling the pieces like a dealer at the casino.

Once piece was just about perfect for the diagonal. Another fit nicely as a vertical style, but the third and fourth piece were too short. Together, however, they would be just what we needed. So, we first created the triangle stile. Then the far right stile in the corner was created using the two "wrong size" pieces. Then we simply split it down the center.

Yes, the room's in a little disarray right now, but we're already loving it. It's our favorite project so far. Now we need to figure out our trim, paint, and find us a new chandelier. Then maybe we can furnish it one of these days ...