Dining Room Status Update

June 8th, 2012

Thought it may be helpful to bring all of our readers up to speed on what we have left to do in our raised panel wainscoting project in our dining room. Just yesterday, I was able to get another small wall section installed.

(via my instagram: john_ohfs)

That leaves one more long wall section.  This last one will be made of four panel sections similar to our longest wall, which had six.

So far, we’ve..

1. Removed the existing trim
2. Decided on the look, layout and panel spacing
3. Moved an outlet and added an additional one
4. Repaired the holes in the walls from the outlet install and trim removal
5. Installed panel sections (here, here, here and here with one wall left)

Still to do…

6. Build a simple router table
7. Rout the MDF panels with a raised panel profile
8. Install the MDF panels
9. Install the bolection trim
10. Make and install the cap trim
11. Sand
12. Prime
13. Paint

Does that seem like a lot?  I notice we’ve only got 5 items out of 13 done to date, but that’s okay.  I can say with some certainty that the hardest part is behind us.  The rest shouldn’t be too bad.  I’m thinking we’re a little more than halfway done.  Wish I could just take a few days in a row off here and knock this out.  I may get the chance, but not for a few more weeks and then who knows how far along we’ll be by then.

After the wainscoting is all done and painted, Lisa and I have to decide how to finish decorating the room.  We both really like the look of quatrefoil.  I prefer the stencil approach like I’ve seen at Drab to Fab and Lil House that Could.  Both of those projects came out great.  Plus, I like the idea of not having any seams or paper to deal with.  Lisa is more set on wall paper.  The advantage of that is we may be able to bring in some texture and depth to the walls that we wouldn’t otherwise have with just paint.  To be frank, wall paper is a little intimidating to me.  The process to hang it seems maddening.  So, at some point we need to make a decision there.  We’ll be asking your opinions on that once we have the options in front of us.

For the time being, it seems like this dining room paneling is going to be the biggest project both financially and in terms of production time we’re going to be attempting all summer.  There are a lot of small 1-2 day things we can work on the rest of the time.  I’ll have a bunch of scrap wood left over from this wainscoting project and I’ve already got a few ideas for some small projects I can use it in.  We also have a TON of room painting to do, lighting… a good amount of outside work like planting and more irrigation… plenty to keep us busy.

To top if off, I’ve got some boat and car work to get done.  I promise not to do too many posts on that stuff since this is a Home DIY site, but a lot of it will be a learning process for me, so I don’t think it will hurt to share some of that work.

Have a great weekend!  I’ve got to get caught up on my blog reading now! 

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