The Millwork Wall Finishing System includes contoured wall base, chair rail, a corner guard, quarter round, and shoe moulding. Designed to coordinate with each other and with other elements in the space, they help simplify the finishing process of rubber flooring or vinyl flooring. The true beauty of Millwork, however, could be the cost savings versus real wood. Lower initial costs combined with ongoing maintenance savings makes Millwork a high-performance solution that helps boost productivity and ROI.000A wainscot of painted blind-nailed planks dates to the 1700s. Before the age of gypsum and drywall, interior plaster walls were vulnerable to all sorts of potential damage. Hence the wainscot: a protective and decorative covering for the lower third (or so) of the wall. Early ones were always wood, but later innovations would introduce many alternatives. Wainscots have a habit of popping back into style in fresh and unexpected ways.A posh early American interior before 1750 might have had a wainscot of horizontal or vertical boards against the plaster.
As the makings for paint became available or affordable, the planks might be smoothed over with rich color. Plank wainscots in First Period dwellings tend to look ancient, so it’s a bit surprising that the plank wainscot was under constant reinvention throughout the 20th century.A favorite treatment for the main room in late-18th-century houses, paneling often covered the wall around the hearth, even entire rooms. Formal raised-panel wainscot consists of a floating wood panel with beveled edges, held in place between vertical stiles and horizontal rails. Beveling the panel’s edges creates a three-dimensional surface. A variation, the flat-panel wainscot, is probably a Shaker invention.Custom raised-panel millwork in creamy white is a new addition to a Colonial Revival-era house. Today, modular paneling systems create the look without the labor. These new materials are made of dimensionally stable composites of wood or resin easily cut by machine. They also install in sections, and, like tile, come with interchangeable trim components like cap rails.
Formal Victorian rooms of the late 19th century demanded treatments that began at the baseboard and rose to the ceiling like a classical entablature. By then, wood paneling had become too expensive for all but the wealthiest of homeowners. Looking for ways to expand the market for linoleum, Frederick Walton created Lincrusta, a linoleum-based embossed wallcovering, in 1883. An embossed cotton rag-based paper, Anaglypta, soon followed. Embossed papers were ubiquitous as treatments for the dado—the section of the Victorian wall below a chair rail. Competing treatments included real and imitation embossed leathers and textured fabrics.Board-and-batten siding is composed of wide planks laid vertically at a height that covers approximately two-thirds of the wall. Narrow strips of wood called battens cover the joints. Capped at the top with a molded plate rail, board-and-batten paneling was a suitably austere alternative to the perceived excesses of Victorian wallcoverings.Batten paneling (over paint) in a new house in Portland, Oregon.
Not every Arts & Crafts aesthete could afford solid wood, of course. Variations included “paneling” the walls between battens with other materials—leather, faux leather, an embossed wallcovering, and especially burlap. (This was called skeleton wainscot in period millwork catalogs.)A product of late-Victorian millwork, beadboard was (and still is) a low-cost alternative to fancier wall cladding. In the decades around 1900, it was the paneling of choice in back-of-the-house rooms like the kitchen, and was a cheap way to finish walls in seasonal cottages.About ProportionOriginal, reclaimed, or newly manufactured, beadboard spells charm. Wainscots need to be installed with some sensitivity to the proportions of the room. Generally, the wainscot should be either one-third or two-thirds of the overall height of the room. It’s OK to add a few inches if you want a more imposing presence, but don’t deviate on the low side, or your wainscot may look skimpy. For a room with 8' to 9' ceilings, for example, the wainscot should be at least 32" and up to 42".
Go proportionately higher for a room with a taller ceiling. Taller wainscots finished with a plate rail—in an Arts & Crafts dining room, for instance—should be at least 60" to 72" high. Never install wainscoting or a chair rail exactly halfway up a wall, or you’ll visually cut the room in two.For sources, please see the Products & Services Directory.Photo by Tim Street-Porter While retaining an air of regalness, plum also adds a sly wink of whimsy to historical rooms. (Just imagine how much more buttoned-up this room would look clad in navy blue.) Painting the ceilings and molding the same color as the walls is a designers’ trick to make rooms look taller. It’s also a smart way to disguise uninspired, inconsistent, or uneven trim. Less overtly feminine than pink, plum remains a fab backdrop for glam furnishings such as chandeliers and four-poster beds. Enliven your walls by painting them not one but two shades of plum—a split personality never looked better. When buying paint it’s all about keeping it in the same color family: Decide on a darker color that’ll complement your floorboards, then buy a second that’s the same hue but a shade or two lighter.
Don’t have a chair rail? You can easily DIY it with molding from Home Depot or Lowe’s. Where black or gray might feel stark in a loft-style space, bluey plum is a less-than-obvious choice that warms up the room but still looks, well, cool—no beyond-bright Barney purple here. It offsets furniture in warm tones and natural wood and is still hip enough to match the design-forward mood of a Mid-Century Mod decorating theme. Photo by Tim Street-Porter If you’re not convinced you can rock a full-on plum room, ease in by using it as a kicky accent color in a bookshelf, closet, or window-seat nook. One plus of sticking to a small space is that you can opt for an even bolder, verging-on-fuchsia shade that might otherwise overwhelm an entire room. Ah, how easy is it to fall into a design rut in utilitarian rooms like bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms? Though we love a white bathroom, colorphiles would do well to consider plum. It’s warm and serene (shouldn’t every bathroom be an oasis?), and it makes for one classy combo when paired with silver hardware.
Photo by Kate Warren News flash: Plum can be boho. It leans rock-and-roll royalty (even if you don’t have a piano) when used as the backdrop for rough-hewn wood, Southwestern blankets, and antlers. A pared-down palette—black, white, browns—makes for a room that’s earthy and approachable. Consider painting a single wall if you want to create a vignette that has a defined purpose, be it the music corner or a reading nook. If color overload is a turn-off, consider the dynamite duo of plum and white. Plum highlights the clean crispness of white, and white brings out the heady richness of plum. In a dining room, they look upscale yet inviting when paired with dark wood and set off by glass details. Deep plum walls elevate rustic accents like stained-wood floors and well-loved vintage pieces. If ceiling height isn’t a concern and you’d like your molding to pop, leave it white. Pure white looks best if your plum has brown undertones. These pieces are just the ticket for accenting your newly plum walls.