Styles range from simple coves to ornate ogees. Home centers usually stock profiles made from primed pine or MDF, though PVC is also an option for outdoor projects. Step 1 Pick Your Look Photo by Meg Reinhardtīase cap molding, which has flat sides that rest against the baseboard and the wall, is sold in 8-foot lengths starting at about $1 per linear foot. The base cap stock adds architectural detail and texture to the wall without busting the budget-it runs $1 to $2 per linear foot for primed pine, and comes in a range of styles to complement moldings you already have.įollow along to learn how to install wainscoting the easy way. Tom’s easy DIY wainscoting solution can finish 33 linear feet of wall in a day. Real wainscoting often calls for twice the work: building frames from square stock around a decorative panel. He builds rectangular picture frames from base cap molding, then spaces them evenly around the room for a custom look, attaching them to the wall with nails and glue. Tom’s trick to getting the wainscot look for less keeps the existing molding in place and uses the wall to stand in as the frame and panel. “Traditional stile-and-rail wainscoting is a nice detail,” he says, “but it’s expensive, and in a finished room it usually means making a mess of your molding.”

They thought about changing the look with wainscoting, but Tom Silva had a plan to get that look with less fuss.

When Lucy and Steve Crowley e-mailed Ask TOH, seeking help enhancing the dining room walls in their nearly-70-year-old Colonial Revival home in Cincinnati, the space already had decorative baseboard and chair-rail moldings.

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