Hi everyone! We finished the chair rail this weekend... actually I am halfway through the second coat of paint if I'm being honest - lol! Guys, It was so simple and as always... I wish I would've done it sooner! I have gotten a lot of questions on my Instagram asking what materials we used. We actually used some materials that are not completely normal for a chair rail, but cut the cost a little!
What you need for this DIY:
Our entryway before!
- We used Utility Paneling behind the molding to cover the wall behind the trim. You could just apply the molding and lattice trim directly to the wall, but I didn't want the texture of the wall to show through. In my opinion this is the difference between having a polished, professional looking out come and a blaringly obvious DIY. However, I am kind of a perfectionist, our walls are pretty heavily textured and I don't think the normal person would really notice - so I will not judge if you skip the back pieces. The utility trim is super affordable though and a cheaper version than the alternative backing. The second way we cut down on the cost is by using Lattice trim as the vertical pieces. I use lattice trim literally whenever I can because its such an affordable option! If you were to buy molding pieces for all of this it would double the cost! I also like the way ours looks with thinner vertical pieces. Lastly for the material we used 4" trim for the horizontal pieces. We have 6" trim and had a couple pieces of 4" and 6" and I visually preferred the 4" and because its cheaper it won out, you may want to decide what fits your space best.
- We pinned all of the utility backing and 4" molding with a pinner. We measured and cut out all outlets that we would be covering with a circle saw bit.
- We then mapped out where we wanted the vertical pieces, this will take some forethought. We wanted to make sure to miss all the outlets and we wanted to cover as many seams of the utility backing as we could just to make life easier on ourselves. We played around and did a lot of math (ahem my husband did a lot of math-lol) to figure out the right distance between the lattice trim. It is possible to cut the lattice around these things but we just wanted to avoid this if possible.
- We applied the lattice trim by using liquid nails and pinned it in the top middle and bottom to make sure it was super flush with the wall.
- Then I caulked every nook and cranny - another step I believe will make your DIY look most professional! It takes a while but it is so worth it in the end! I also spackled all the pin holes (caulk shrinks so it is not the best product for filling holes)
- Next and finally - Paint. I decided to paint it the same color as our walls - Panda White by Sherwin Williams. I really wanted to add some interest and texture, but not really have it be a statement wall. I loooove dining rooms with a dark chair rail and some wallpaper though.
- This whole process is soooo simple and easy and honestly makes a big difference. It is tedious with all the caulking, spackling and painting but I promise it is worth it and you can get it done in a very scheduled weekend!
If you want to see the behind the scenes of our chair rail adventure you can view it on my highlights on my Instagram here.
If you have questions or comments leave them below!
No comments:
Post a Comment