Checking In With Chelsea

DIY ideas, crafts, and tips for your home

subscribe and never miss a thing!

Receive Free Email Updates

  • About
  • Videos
  • Projects
    • Indoor Projects
    • Outdoor Projects
    • Craft Projects
  • House Tour
You are here: Home / Indoor Projects / Simple Dining Room Improvements

Simple Dining Room Improvements

January 25, 2019 By Chelsea Lipford Wolf 1 Comment

How to Update Dining Room on a BudgetAdding Wainscoting and Paint to a Dining Room

A little paint and some molding goes a long way in updating a small-looking dining room!

One of my goals for 2019 is to invite people over to our house for dinner. I love cooking. I love feeding people, especially people I don’t have to beg and bribe into eating like 2 certain toddlers who are frequent diners at my house…And I love having friendships we can nurture.

And where do meals and dining take place? The dining room, of course! But since I’ve already shared several updates we’ve made to our dining room over the years (like adding trim to a cased opening, installing board and batten, and other small updates), I thought I’d share another way to update your dining room on a budget!

This project was completed on Today’s Homeowner, so watch the full episode online now for more details about what we did!

Paint Goes A Long Way

Navy Blue Dining Room Before Inexpensive UpdatesNow I’m not totally against a deep, rich color. I think the right color can add depth and class to a room. Unfortunately for this dining room, this particular blue was a little too bright and not deep enough. Plus with the dark wood china cabinet and oversized light fixture, it made the room feel so small!

Dark Dining Room Before Budget UpdatesSo changing the wall color was the first priority for these homeowners, understandably! Not to mention painting a space is about the cheapest improvement you can make. And sometimes it has the biggest payoff!

Adding Wainscoting and Paint to a Dining Room

Add Molding

Another priority for this homeowner was adding chair rail and a wainscoting-look beneath it. I think wainscoting is so classic and never goes out of style! Plus with the modern, classy look they’ve created in the rest of the house, this type of molding update fits right in!

Wainscoting Faux Panels on Wall in Dining Room

This is actually ‘faux’ wainscoting since we just adhered molding frames onto the wall. It’s a pretty easy process once you get past the math! (Here’s a video on how to do it.) You want the panels in each wall section to be the same size as each other and equally-spaced top to bottom.

One thing we did a little different is use PVC molding. Since it’s so thin, a wood molding in the same shape would be prone to splitting when nailed together. Instead, we were able to use PVC glue and our nail gun in each corner to create the frames before attaching to the walls with construction adhesive and a few nails.

Assembling Wainscoting Panels on Table Before Installation

We used a small block cut from scrap wood as a spacer. Leigh Dale (the homeowner) held the block on the underside of the new chair rail while I slid the wainscoting panel up to it and used 1-2 nails to hold it in place while the construction adhesive dried. As with most DIY projects, it was easier with 2 people but can be done by yourself!

Once all of the panels/frames were secured to the wall, we came back with a semi-gloss trim white paint and painted everything from the chair rail down to the baseboard to make it all cohesive and look like real wainscoting.

Corner in Dining Room with Faux Wainscoting PVC Panels

Change Molding

One thing that was kind of weird in this house was the molding around the pass-through opening into the kitchen.

Outdated Fluted Molding Around Opening to Kitchen

It’s called fluted molding and is more traditionally seen on the exterior of a house around a front door. And mostly on older homes. It was out of place here and oversized. So we removed it to make way for new molding that matched the rest of the house-colonial casing.

Removing Old Molding with Trim Puller

While we were at it, we also widened the horizontal surface in the opening with a pre-primed 1×8 to make it easier for passing dishes into the dining room.

Cased Opening into Kitchen with New Molding

Lighting is Important

I’ve already mentioned that the light fixture was too large for this room. It was actually wider than the table itself. The homeowner, Leigh Dale, brought it to this house from their old house where they had a foyer with 12-foot ceilings.

White Beaded Chandelier in Blue Dining Room

No doubt it was a beautiful fixture, but in this case it was only contributing to the room feeling small. So a more streamlined fixture was in order. And the one Leigh Dale choose was perfectly light-weight in that you can see through it and it doesn’t have a lot of ‘stuff’ that adds visual weight and fills up the room.

Lightweight and Simple Exposed Bulb Chandelier from Linen di Liara Lighting for Dining Room

I don’t think anyone can deny that the new version of this space is so light and refreshing compared to its darker, former self! I simply L-O-V-E it! And I’m guessing Leigh Dale does too.☺️

Have you ever installed wainscoting? In which room? It used to scream dining room to me, but I’ve seen it in other rooms of a house and love it pretty much anywhere now!

Thanks for Checking In! ~Chelsea

PS-If you live in or around Mobile, Alabama, you can apply to be on Today’s Homeowner! Fill out this form and you may be contacted by our awesome producer, Allison! But be warned-I’ll eat all of your snacks and drink all of your coffee!

Subscribe for Free Updates!

Stay up-to-date on Chelsea's latest projects, tips, useful resources and more.

Previous Post
Bathroom Planning: Closets
Next Post
Fireplace Mantel Printable Plans

Related Content

Completed Hand Painted Pennant Flag Banner Kid BedroomDIY Pennant Banner for Kids RoomCompleted Girls Bedroom Makeover Pink PanelingPink Girls’ Shared Bedroom EvolutionCompleted Large Lighted Two and Zero NumbersDIY Lighted Marquee NumbersCompleted Updates in Modern Master BathroomHow to Make a Pink Tub Look Cool

Comments

  1. Debbie says

    January 26, 2019 at 12:31 pm

    When I purchased my home it was so plain and the foyer was a long boring, dark hallway. I added wainscoting at 43″ (odd but I had to allow for enough room between the lower crown and the chair rail to accommodate a large mirror). I also ran wainscoting up the staircase bringing it right above the handrail. What a change it made. My dining room is on the smaller side so I want to add one wall of shoulder height wainscoting capped with a picture rail and add crown moulding mimicking that which is in the foyer. It’s amazing how a little wainscoting dresses up a home and can take you from a builder’s grade box to a warm retreat.

    Reply

Please Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome!

I’m Chelsea. DIY
enthusiast who loves
sharing my victories
and mishaps!
Learn more
here.

CHECK IN WITH CHELSEA ON INSTAGRAM

Pure joy! I put her in the crib so I could do some Pure joy! I put her in the crib so I could do something to her window and she was happy as a clam in there!
.
All of her windows have been blacked out for good sleep purposes. It was refreshing to open all the curtains and see my favorite room in the house aglow with daylight for a change!🙌🏻
.
Happy Monday!✨
Life keeps going and babies don’t keep! We enjoy Life keeps going and babies don’t keep! We enjoyed a quick little trip to New Orleans to meet up with family.🥰
.
I hope they remember these little trips like I do from my childhood. I’m definitely a more fun mom on vacation🤣You want candy? Sure! Beignets for breakfast? Let’s do it! Happy memories all around!👏🏻
.
#sundayfunday #sundaybest #nolalove #neworleanslife #ourbackyard #siblingsgoals #babiesdontkeep
BRB, going to close my curtains. It’s true! Clos BRB, going to close my curtains. It’s true! Closing your curtains during the day while you’re away can keep the heat of the sun from warming up your house and costing you money. Less heat coming in means less energy used to run your air conditioner!👏🏻
.
Check out my profile for the rest of the summer hacks I put together with @theduckbrand, including one for a window AC if you’ve got one!
.
#sponsored by @theduckbrand #summerhacks  #savemoneylivebetter #duckbrand #southernsummer #itshotoutthere
Which room in your house is the hottest during the Which room in your house is the hottest during the summer? It's the baby's room for us.😕
.
Luckily we can just pop an air conditioner in the window to supplement our HVAC system on the hottest days and keep her comfortable!
.
And you might as well make it as efficient as possible by installing AC insulating seal from @theduckbrand at the same time. You only need scissors to install!
.
#sponsored by @theduckbrand #summerhacks  #savemoneylivebetter #duckbrand #itshotoutthere
It also keeps the boogie man out!🤣 I'm a big pr It also keeps the boogie man out!🤣 I'm a big proponent of doing little things that add up to make a big difference.
.
Locking your exterior doors when you're home is one small way that doesn't cost you any money but can help keep your home more comfortable this summer.
.
Check out @theduckbrand if you need to replace your weatherstripping and follow for more quick and easy summer hacks!
#sponsored by @theduckbrand #summerhacks  #savemoneylivebetter #duckbrand #southernsummer
My dad always played this song for us on our birth My dad always played this song for us on our birthdays and what a fun tradition to carry on!🥰 Happy Birthday to the most delightful baby I’ve ever known! This has been the best year of my life knowing and loving you!😘 Here’s to many, many more!🎉
.
.
#happybirthday #firstbirthday #firstbirthdaydress #birthdaygirl #fourthkid #bigfamilylove #bestbaby
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Indoor Projects Outdoor Projects Craft Projects
Facebook Pagelike Widget
  • Contact
  • FAQs
  • Advertise with Chelsea
  • Media
  • Today’s Homeowner

Search This Site

Receive Free Updates Via Email

Copyright © 2023 Checking in With Chelsea • All Rights Reserved