With the plaster work done, we started installing picture frame molding below the chair rail in the dining room yesterday.  We’re only about half way done, but I really like how it looks so far:

Picture Frame Moulding in the Dining Room

Picture Frame Molding in the Dining Room

We were initially a little uncertain of the scale and dimensions to use since our chair rail is uncommonly low.  Given the dimensions of the room, though, we finally decided it would be best to do a smaller number of long, skinny boxes rather than a bunch of square ones and we decided to use 1″ trim pieces.  The measurements we decided on were a 2″ gap between the bottom of the chair rail and the top of the picture frame molding, a 2″ gap from the top of the baseboard and the bottom of the picture frame molding, and 4″ gaps on the sides and/or between boxes.

We were also a little concerned about how to attach the molding to the wall.  We were concerned that the nail gun would cause the plaster to crack and thought we might have to screw the molding to the walls instead, which would be a lot more time consuming.  We tested a spot in the kitchen closet and there were no signs of cracking, so we decided to go ahead and use it in the dining room and we haven’t had any problems so far.  For good measure, we also decided to use construction adhesive to make up for the places where the walls were a little wavy or there wasn’t an appropriately located stud to nail into.  So far, the installation is going pretty well.

We still need to do some sanding to knock the edges off of the the trim pieces before we paint and we probably need to put some caulk along the edges of the molding to fill in some small gaps between the trim and the wall and then I think we’ll be ready to paint.  I’m excited to see what the room will look like once all of the molding is the same color.

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