Can you believe that October is ALMOST over? Crazy how fast 2020 has flown by! Today I want to share with you our DIY Chair Rail and Picture Frame Moulding in the dining room.
If you’ve been here for a bit, you’ll know we recently built this built-in seating in the dining room.
That was part one of our three part series to update the dining room.
Part two was to put up DIY chair rail and picture frame moulding. We also put up some really pretty art and some sconces too!
I’m going to do my best to walk you through the process of how to put chair rail and picture frame moulding in your home.
Ready?
Shop List
- Moulding. We got skinnier pieces for the boxes and a thicker more decorative piece for the chair rail. There are a ton of different styles to choose from!
- White Silicone
- Sand Paper
- Wood Filler
- Table Saw
- Paint ( We used Simple White to match our walls )
- Paint Brush
The Process
We started by putting the chair rail on the wall first. There is no “right” place to put it. We wanted larger boxes at 44″ high, so we put the chair rail down lower. I actually really like where it is as it looks like it’s connected to the built-in bench, almost like it’s the top.

We then took a pencil, level and measuring tape and mapped out where we wanted the two boxes on each wall, as well as the smaller boxes on the far walls.
This sounds complicated and scary, but it isn’t. Measure twice and use your level to draw a straight line where the moulding will go.

Our boxes are 44″ H x 26″ W. We only have 8′ ceilings, so this size of box worked perfectly for us.
Glen cut all of the mouldings at a 45-degree angle so it would seamlessly fit together and we used our trusty nail gun to get the job done.
FYI, nails from a railgun are SO skinny and leave the teeniest holes. It’s bar far one of our favourite and most used tools!
Here’s a video of the process of building the DIY chair rail and picture frame moulding. I’m not joking when I say we started at 4:30 PM ( right before dinner ), took a break for dinner and then I finished the last coat of paint at 11:30 PM. Our dining room is really small – but what I’m trying to say is, even in a larger room, this would only take a few days!
I really wish I had taken more pictures of the process, but I’m hoping the above video helps you see how easy this project was.
Anddddd, drumrollllll… Are you ready to see the finished DIY Chair rail and picture frame moulding??

It actually wraps around the other side too, but I only photographed this side as the other side is lacking art!
The two photos can be found here and here and the sconce can be found here. We’ve also had this rug for a while and LOVE it for kids. it’s super durable in high traffic areas and hides stains pretty well.
I really love these simple picture frame boxes as they make the whole room feel high-end when in reality it’s a 1979 home.


In our dining room, I really wanted a big impact and some eye candy, without it feeling too busy. I originally picked out wallpaper, but that would have felt a bit suffocating in such a small space.
For a refresher, here’s my moodboard for the space

We have the chairs in the above mood board on the way, you can find them here.
As for that gorgeous table, that is stage three of the dining room makeover and we will be partnering with a brand to teach you how to build it from SCRATCH!


If you have any questions about our DIY chair rail and picture frame moulding, please drop them below. It’s super straight forward and I did try to be as descriptive as possible above.
Thank you for your continued love and support on here!

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