Wainscoting adds interest to boring dining room walls.
Wainscoting, when added to your walls, adds texture and visual interest to a dining room by covering the lower portion of the walls with wooden paneling. Originally designed to protect the walls from damage, modern wainscoting is generally decorative. In your dining room, depending on the style of wainscoting you choose, the look can be casual, formal or dramatic.
Types of Wainscoting
You can purchase wainscoting panels in a number of styles. For a casual, "beach cottage" feeling, install bead-board wainscoting; paint the grooved panels in bright white to evoke a feeling of summer days on the shore. For a more formal look, choose wainscoting with raised panels in a deep wood finish such as mahogany or cherry. Or create custom wainscoting, for a fraction of the cost, by installing frames below a chair rail instead of full wainscoting panels. Either paint the entire wall below the wainscoting one color to create the illusion of wainscoting, or paint the wall one color and the frames another to highlight the texture and contrast.
Paint
Once your wainscoting is installed, customize the look of with paint. One common approach is to paint the wainscoting white to contrast with a bolder color on the walls above the . For example, white wainscoting applied to a deep red or green wall in the dining room keeps the room bright and adds a casual feeling, instead of the dark and dramatic effect that painting the whole wall a dark color creates. For a country or farmhouse effect, stain the wainscoting instead of painting.
Fabric and Wallpaper
For a truly dramatic look in your dining room, cover the center panels of the wainscoting with fabric or wallpaper. This approach works best with the illusion wainscoting, in which the frames are attached to wall instead of panels. Cut pieces of fabric or wallpaper to fit inside of the frames and attach to the wall before installing the frames. Use materials with a large or bold print to create drama, or create subtle texture by using linen or raw silk in the same color as the wall. Bring a piece of the fabric or wallpaper to a paint store and have a custom paint color made to ensure a perfect match.
Nontraditional Uses
While traditionally wainscoting is only applied to the lower portion of the walls, and is generally only 30 to 40 inches high, you can add interest to your dining room by using wainscoting in an nontraditional way. Install wainscoting that covers more of the wall; panels that are 5 or 6 feet tall are a fresh addition to your design. Or combine wainscoting styles -- top off bead-board panels with a row of raised or recessed panels.
Tags: your dining, your dining room, dining room, dining room, chair rail, , illusion wainscoting