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    Home » Home Reno » picture frame wainscoting

    picture frame wainscoting

    Published by Gail | Published June 7, 2012 | Updated May 14, 2021
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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    island after

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Hello! I am excited to be a guest here today with you sharing some how-to tips. I am Casey, creator of Yes to Lovely, a little blog that is my creative outlet in addition to being a wife and momma. After several life upheavals and some loss in our lives, I decided I wanted to focus on whatever lovely thoughts, moments or surroundings I could in order to not let life get me down. Hence, I daily choose to say, "yes!" to lovely and I compile lovely ideas and photos on my blog.

    My husband and I recently took out a half wall in our tiny galley-style kitchen, and the project I am going to share with you today is using picture frame wainscoting to make the half wall and lower cabinets appear like an island. I am excited with the low cost and the results!

    Our galley kitchen was claustrophobic. With two toddlers, the space was getting nutty with four of us in there at a time. We knocked out part of a full wall and half a wall. This left us with a half wall in order to plug in our stove. We opted to turn the area into an island, and it is still a work in progress with hopes of removing the carpet for tile, adding stools and getting a new stove.

    island before

    But in the meantime, in place of traditional wainscoting, to fool us all into thinking it looked like a real island cabinet, we mounted a board, stained it and to keep costs down, I applied plain white frames (available at any major home improvement store, I got mine at Lowe's). This was an easier project than I was expecting it to be. I was a little intimidated because measuring isn't really my strong suit. I sew, cook and do paint projects often with little measuring and (usually) it all turns out. That's just the way I think - but using the level and really measuring was quite fun, actually!

    DIY frames as wainscoting

    To start I made sure to purchase enough frames to fill the space in a design I liked. So I bought four of the large frames, measured to make sure they would be equally spaced and then taped them to the wall using painter's tape to keep them where I wanted. The measuring was a bit tricky because we have an old house, and the floor is a wee bit sloped. So make sure you use a level but sometimes, a bit of eyeballing is necessary to make sure it lines up with baseboard or chair rails.

    island after

    After taping the frames, I outlined each of the four corners with a pencil and took them off the wall. Originally, I tried using liquid nails to adhere them to the island, but you have to be an octopus to do this. It takes a while to stick and the frames like to pop off. So when the glue was not happening, I switched to finishing nails. Just pounded them in down the sides and on each corner. This step took only a few minutes. It does help to have a second set of hands, but re-taping the frame also works.

    island after3

    Finally, I took some latex filler and covered the nail heads, primed and painted our makeshift island in a rich taupe hue, a contrasting color from our other cabinets.

    island after 2

    This project can save you quite a lot of time, money and trouble if you want to use it in place of traditional frame wainscoting. I love how it turned out, if I do say so myself! Super satisfying project.

    It has been awesome sharing this today! Thanks for reading and I hope you can transfer this project to your own home's needs as well!

    Casey

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    Wow Casey! That is an awesome repurpose! I truly love how your “wainscoting” turned out! I know my friends are going to LOVE this project! Thanks for sharing it with us today. Be sure to hop over and say hi to Casey @ Yes to lovely

    gail

    Related Content: Picture Frame Ideas For Home Decor and More
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    1. Em

      March 26, 2016 at 11:20 am

      Where did you purchase the frames for the wain coting.

      Reply
      • gail@myrepurposedlife.com

        March 27, 2016 at 8:34 pm

        Em,

        I'm sorry--this was a guest post from another blogger, so I don't have the answer to that question.

        gail

    2. Belinda

      September 27, 2012 at 6:27 am

      That's a very nice design. You took out the previous boring look. Thank you for sharing nice idea. I might try this one.

      Reply
    3. Sandra Brown

      September 22, 2012 at 1:10 pm

      I love this idea. Cutting the frames with my plastic miter box is not easy. Were these picture frames or pre made Wainsctting frames? I haven't noticed them at home depot.

      Reply
    4. Decorella

      August 27, 2012 at 7:51 pm

      That looks amazing! Of all of the ideas on Pinterest, this I haven't seen. I must add it to my list http://www.decorellaknox.com/2012/07/not-your-typical-picture-frame.html

      Reply
    5. Patricia

      August 20, 2012 at 2:47 am

      I agree it is really cheaper that way. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
    6. Erin

      June 08, 2012 at 6:05 am

      Absolutely gorgeous!

      Reply
    7. Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co.

      June 08, 2012 at 2:07 am

      That is such a clever idea! And thrifty too!

      Reply
    8. Suzanne@Meridian Road

      June 08, 2012 at 1:24 am

      Wow! I love the frames on it, and that dark stained wood plank on top looks great, too.

      Reply
    9. Love Of Quilts

      June 07, 2012 at 6:45 pm

      Just Fabulous!

      Reply
    10. Toqua's Crafts

      June 07, 2012 at 3:48 pm

      WOW! What an AWESOME idea!

      Reply
    11. Paige @ Little Nostalgia

      June 07, 2012 at 2:22 pm

      Smart! It looks pretty convincing to me!

      Reply
    12. Anne

      June 07, 2012 at 2:00 pm

      Now THAT is a great idea!! Easy, quick and no mitering!!!!

      Reply
    13. Terri

      June 07, 2012 at 1:02 pm

      This is brilliant! I have seen other "faux" wainscoting done measuring out strips of molding, but this makes it a much simpler process and it looks great!

      Job well done Casey! Thanks for sharing~

      Reply
    14. ✿ⒹⒺⒺ✿@ A Lapin Life

      June 07, 2012 at 11:39 am

      Hi Gail,

      Wow! It looks amazing. Casey made it look easy to do. I love it.

      Dee

      Reply

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    Hi, there! I’m Gail Wilson, the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. I’m obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believe that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again—myself included! I hope you’ll enjoy the journey and pick up a few tools along the way… literally!

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