Modern wainscoting kits make it simple to recreate the style and mood of a more gracious time when remodeling a house or apartment. The kits are widely available through hardware stores, online, and through specialized woodworking dealers.
Most wainscoting kits can be installed with only minimal tools and expertise. In most cases kits provide materials to cover set lengths of wall, along with installation instructions and in some cases specialized adhesives. Nails and common woodworking tools are provided by the purchaser.
Wainscoting, if you are unfamiliar with the style, is a functional and decorative motif that divides a wall into two portions, one upper and one lower. In its oldest form the lower portion of the wainscoting would have been wood paneled, usually topped with a simple decorative molding such as bull or s-curve. The upper section would often be plaster or wallpaper.
The reason for wainscoting was practical: wood was less expensive, and more easily reconditioned than plasterwork or wallpaper. To prevent damage to the lower walls the less expensive material would be used where scuffs, dents, and other forms of damage might occur, while leaving the upper levels free for decorative display.
Modern wainscoting design emulate the visual style, but are often more expensive than a plain wall would be due to changing economics: plaster and drywall are now often cheaper than even veneered wood.
Original wainscoting was made of both clear wood boards cut and matched with the style and precision of fine panel cabinetry, tongued and beaded boards, or even slender boards of poor quality, the last most likely to be painted from the first. These days wainscoting kits most often use modest grades of wood, or more often various laminated options, to imitate the various styles of wainscoting design common in previous centuries.
Installing wainscoting seldom requires more than a finishing saw or table saw, a hammer and finishing nails or a pneumatic nail gun, a level and measuring tape, a plumb line, and tools for dealing with adhesives. Baseboards and upper molding are often nailed in place, while upright framing elements and panels are most often held stabile with adhesives.
Styles of wainscoting design range from the old paneled variety with the appearance of \ paneled cabinetry to clever illusion wainscoting that uses baseboard, molding and uprights to frame portions of the wall itself, giving the impression of wainscoting without all the work or expense.
If you have been looking for a way to add classical elegance to your home, or character to otherwise bland rooms, wainscoting provides a fast and easy approach. The results are visually striking without being peculiar, they fit into a wide range of decors.
The wainscoting kits are easily bought, and can be installed by both amateurs and non-specialized carpenters and contractors. So as to say installing wainscoting is made a little easier with these kits. With looks that can range from quaint and cozy to dignified and stately, they offer great value for the money.
In an era that has seen a return to classic tastes for wood and paint, hardwood floors and carefully crafted cabinetry, wainscoting fits in perfectly, providing a visual link to past styles as powerful as that given by veneer flooring or beautifully papered walls.
Installing Wainscoting
Here are some step by step instructions for installing Wainscoting.
Wainscoting-Ideas
Are you on a modest budget? Check out this link for some good points and ideas on a budget.
These ideas may get you thinking about a unique style that is all your own.