The Wall & The Drill

Well, over the holiday break Rob was a gem and repainted our living room, front entry, upstairs hallways and kitchen. We once again used our favorite colors of Anonymous Gray and Amazing Gray from Sherwin Williams. I swear you never realize how dirty life, children and pets make walls until you put a roller to the wall with the new paint. Yuck! Here is what our finished project looks like, and we have just a bit of touching up to do along the edges. But, that will happen probably when we are stuck at home this weekend as we are expecting a lot of snow.

Thankfully, Rob was in the full on redo mode and decided to do a full wall of wainscoting/paneling or whatever you feel like calling it. I was all for it. It had been on our wish list of things to do for a few years now, and he thought after four kids and being stuck inside with cold temperatures was the perfect time to take over the kitchen area. Here is the wall before from another project we did.

It started out with painting the wall in the darker Anonymous Gray.

 Rob drew up this design on Wynn's sight word practice sheet (whoops) and headed to Lowe's.

 He pulled out the floor trim, and began by placing boards all along the outside edges of the main wall.  Then he cut the wood to make 24 squares on the wall. Well, after square #1 was built he called me upstairs. I was holding the baby, and was not paying attention and did not see the drill with the long drill bit on the floor until the last second. Needless to say I then noticed some pain, because a few inches of the broken off bit was now lodged in my foot. Excuse the mess in the picture below. This is how we left the kitchen prior to leaving the hospital, and then I took a picture a few hours later when we got back and Rob had finished up.

 I yelled for Rob who had just gone in the garage, and then gave him the baby.  I hopped upstairs got a change of clothes & diapers for the boys , and then hopped around finding just one shoe for me.   Our neighbors (the third set of grandparents essentially) came to the rescue and took all four kids to their house. My mother in law came over after we left. We were at the ER for three hours, and they were able to remove it fairly simply. I am still in some discomfort, but oh well I still have my foot.


When we got home my mother in law graciously stayed an extra few hours to help, and Rob then finished the cutting of the wood and framing of the squares. I told him this better be the best project yet, or else the drill bit into my foot wouldn't be worth it.

To make the squares on the wall Rob used 1 x 6 foot pine boards  at the top and bottom of our wall.  Then he placed boards 18 and 3/4 inches a[art going from left to right vertically using 1 x 4 boards pine.  Then he split up the remaining 1 x 4 boards to go across horizontally to create the squares.  

Then he used drywall mud and caulk to fill in any gaps, and then gave it all a good sanding. Finally, he primed the wood boards and painted them in the same Anonymous Gray.  

Framed Out Living Room Wall by Amy & Chris

As you all know we have been working on our living room for two years! lol I just cant stay away from re doing it.  We wanted to give the room some character. I love the wainscoting look but not the price, so we came up with a cheaper and different alternative.

We bought MDF board to frame the wall. Once we determined how big and how manys boxes we wanted, Chris started by framing the border of the wall first.  Then he placed the mdf boards vertically and then finally horizontal to complete the boxes.

Once the framing was complete, Chris covered any holes and gaps with putty to give a seamless look. Then he completed the project by painting the entire wall and framing. I would like to eventually put big, funky frames with pictures in the boxes. I will update when that portion is complete!

Total cost and Material:

MDF board $50

The rest of supplies we already had from previous projects.

Paint color: Raffia Cream (Home Depot)

Thanks for stopping by, we couldnt be happier with the finished product!

Amy & Chris