Installing Cheap Wall Coverings

Installing cheap wall coverings is a fast and easy way to change the interior design of your home or office without remodeling or buying all new furnishings. Wallpaper, cloth, paint, painting techniques and tapestries are some common options for covering the walls.

Wainscoting is also another classic wall covering that most of us think of as unattainable. Wainscoting can be expensive and requires skills to use tools and experience to install. There is always another way to get that wainscoting look without paying hundreds of dollars to get it. Here is a great project idea to create a faux wainscoting look. To start this project, paint the wall the color of your choice before installing the faux wainscoting, at least twenty-four hours in advance. An additional idea for this interior design project is changing the look of a wallpapered room by dividing it and painting over the top or bottom section.

You will need:

• Quarter inch thick boards enough to cover the wall from end to end and cover the top of the boards making a frame.
• Cut boards to the desired height (three or four feet from the floor covers a pretty good portion of the wall.)
• Drywall or finishing nails
• Primer paint
• Paint (color of choice)
• Chair rail
• Clear, paintable caulking
• Caulking gun
• Masking tape
• Wood putty
• Nail Punch

Begin by spacing boards about twenty inches apart, for wide panels or fourteen to fifteen inches apart for narrower panels. Use a level to ensure they are equal and evenly spaced. Tape the boards in place to keep them from moving around while you are nailing them in your interior design.

Nail the boards to the wall and use a nail punch to gently tap the nail head into the wood. Put a touch of wood putty in the depression and smooth it over with your finger. Nail the boards across the top and sink the nails in as before and cover with a small amount of wood putty.

Install the chair rail across the top boards. With caulking, run a small light bead of caulking in the joint between the chair rail and top cross boards and the where the vertical boards meet the base boards.

Prime the area with a flat latex paint and allow to dry for about one or two hours. Then paint boards and chair rail with the same color as the baseboards - typically white, latex base semi-gloss. You could however create a contrasting look and stain the wood if the baseboards were stained wood. Paint the inside of the square any color you like. For a traditional interior design look, paint all white, with a sage or grey contrasting color above.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mob_Jarrock