How To Make a Recessed Wainscoting Wall From Scratch
Recessed Wainscoting Wall
I’m excited to say we’ve finished the recessed wainscoting wall. The last part of this project I shared was the DIY Transom Window Entryway Before and After.
We started this last project for the wall in much the same way as when we built the entryway. There are certainly many ways to make a wainscoting wall. A lot of techniques are complicated and can get expensive. The wall we built is simple and inexpensive. Total price: $83.00 plus paint that we already had.
Before and after. Ignore the front door that sticks out like a sore thumb now. I’ve known from the start that we’d need a new door. Pretty soon the door will be white with a beautiful decorative glass window.
Jump straight to the wainscoting photos by clicking the below links. Watch the 3 How-To Videos.
Here’s a list of how we did the wainscoting project:
- First we drew the recessed wainscoting pattern on the wall with a pencil using precise measurements being square and level and to get an idea of how it would look.
- Next we used the wall measurements to draw the wainscot pattern on the birch plywood for exact cuts.
- Cut four exact rectangular openings in the 1/2 inch birch plywood to create the recessed appearance.
- Cut molding pieces. We used base cap pieces and made miter cuts to fit inside the rectangular openings.
- Installed the 1/2 inch plywood using glue and nails.
- Glued and nailed all miter cut molding pieces.
- Added chair rail
- Primed and painted using painter’s caulk on all the seams.
DRAW PATTERN ON THE WALL Humor me because I know it may be hard to see the pencil drawings on the wall and plywood below.
DRAW THE SAME PATTERN ON THE BIRCH PLYWOOD We used a 1/2 inch 4×8 sheet of birch plywood.
After making all the cuts we laid out on the driveway and placed the molding pieces to make sure they fit.
An easy way to organize the miter cuts is to number each group. Here we’ve numbered them 1-4 to correlate with the openings. This made it super easy to grab and install, as you will see in the video below.
Wainscot WallNailed and glued the recessed panel to the wall.
NEW WAINSCOT WALL The fun part after painting was standing back and admiring our new white wall.
We are really pleased with how it all turned out and happy to finally be done. The wall color is Palladian Blue by Benjamin Moore.
The next project is the front door.
A new fiberglass door with decorative glass is around $1200. Our DIY idea is to order just the glass window that is about $327.00, saving at least $800 dollars. I think I’m more excited about the door now than the entryway. The idea is to cut out the opening in the door and insert the decorative glass window and then paint the door white. So stay tuned.
- Click to see the finished Fiberglass door with decorative glass project.
That’s what is on our list. What’s on your list of to-dos?
It all started here:
Gray Paint Colors with Wood Trim
Paint the Dining Room and Build an Entryway
DIY Transom Window Entryway Idea
