Though it still serves this practical purpose, people often choose wainscoting now because of the way it can lend instant character and elegance to a home. Happily, the advent of pre-fabricated kits has provided an affordable DIY alternative to hiring a carpenter to create the wainscoting from scratch, an involved and prohibitively expensive process.

The panelling is available in several styles – including flat panel, raised panel, beaded panel, and appliquéd – and you can select from a range of veneers or paint it a solid color to complement the wall above. Whichever you choose, wainscoting promises a dazzling décor upgrade sans a major investment of time or money.

A Weekend Project that Won’t Break the Bank

Frame-and-panel wainscoting installed from scratch can be both expensive and time-consuming, but prefabricated kits widely available today make for a project that can be completed in a matter of days, depending on the size of the room.

According to costhelper.com, which tracks what consumers are paying for a range of products, prefab wainscoting materials average $7 a square foot for paint-grade poplar veneer, $11 for red oak, $18 for maple, and $22 for cherry. Material costs to wainscot a 45-square-foot bathroom, for example, would be between $300 and $600, and materials for a 15-foot-by-20-foot dining room would come in at between $1,750 and $5,500. You can choose to install the materials yourself or hire a carpenter to do it. According to DIYornot.com, carpenters on average will charge about $500 to install prefabricated wainscoting in a 10-by-12-foot room.

Kits Are Your Friend

Basically, prefabricated kit components include base custom-cut raised-bevel panels and the top and bottom rails and vertical stiles you’ll use to frame them. Kits are available in a range of veneers or in unfinished wood, which you can paint to your liking. To determine the number of panels you will need, measure the perimeter of the room you plan to work on and divide by the width of the panels. Standard heights for wainscoting are usually 32 or 36 inches, though some reaches as high as 54 inches.

Choose the Right Panel for the Room

Wainscoting adds different things to different rooms. For example, raised- or flat-panel wainscoting, especially panels that reach up to the middle of the wall or even eye level, can add formality and elegance to a dining room. Beaded wainscoting painted a crisp white, meanwhile, can add brightness and cheer to a bathroom or child’s room, especially when set against a light and playful contrasting wall color or paper.

Getting Down to Work

To begin, remove any existing baseboard and chair rail moulding, as well as any outlet covers, and establish and mark a level line for the top of the panels. Starting from one corner of the room, lay out your panels to establish proper fit and mark and cut for any electrical outlets.

Once you have established your final layout and trimmed and painted all panels, installation is quick and easy. Using construction adhesive, attach the panels and stiles to the walls. Finally, install the shoe moulding and decorative cap rail and touch up any joints or scratches with a paint brush.

Voíla! A designer makeover on a DIY budget and schedule.

Article: Better Homes & Gardens / Image: via

1. Defend your garden against weeds by laying down a weed cloth or a plastic weed barrier, suggests www.associatedcontent.com’s expert Kathryn Nichols. Easy Gardener, Inc. produces an eco-friendly roll of weed cloth called Weed-Block that comes in rolls as large as 3’x100’ for only $27.97, available from The Home Depot.

Installing weed cloth is easy- simply roll the weed cloth over your garden area, cutting holes out for plants you want to keep. Shape the edges of the cloth to your garden, and then cover it with mulch, bark or gravel.

2. Mow your lawn correctly. While you may be tempted to keep your grass as short as possible (by removing more than 1/3 of the blade height), scalping weakens the integrity and defense system of your grass. That allows weeds to come in and take over.  To prevent this, set your lawnmower’s blade height to a level that only the top third of your grass blade’s height can be removed.

3. Aerate your lawn. Aerating is a simple process where you punch holes in heavily trafficked soil to alleviate congestion and allow for better air and water flow. Allaboutlawns.com says this process helps with weeds like crabgrass, chickweed and plantain.

4. Be careful introducing new plants to your garden. Weed seeds sometimes like to ride in on perennials or in the roots of new plants, says expert Russell Hancock of ezinearticles.com. Hancock recommends potting the plant to see if anything unwanted weeds start to grow before you add the plant to your garden.

5. Keep your yard weeded. Pluck weeds out of the ground as soon as you spot them, preferably before they come to seed.  Remove the entire root ball, reminds mahalo.com, as doing so ensures that the weed will not be able to reproduce.

Prevention is the best cure, so save yourself hours of backbreaking work by using these five easy steps.

Article: Better Homes & Gardens / Image: Flickr

• 4 Bedrooms
• 3  Bathrooms
• Finished Basement
• Fenced-In Yard

Select Your Tiles and Plan Your Design

The first and perhaps most fun step in backsplash installation involves mapping out your design and selecting your tiles. You’ll want to measure the length of the wall you intend to tile and the distance from countertop to cabinet. Calculate the total area you plan to cover, and use graph paper to scale and draw your pattern. Then visit a tile supplier or home improvement store to consider your options for tile choices. You may be surprised by how much of a selection you find. A huge range of tiles in varying colors, designs, sizes, and materials awaits you. In general, you’ll want to stick with glazed tiles, because unglazed tiles are more susceptible to stains from moisture and grease. But otherwise, just let your budget and personal taste be your guide. As you calculate how many tiles you will need, it’s a good idea to add about 10 percent, which will provide for any cutting mistakes or breakage.

Prepare the Wall

With your design mapped out and your tiles selected, the next step is to prepare the wall. Remove the stove, range hood, outlet plates or anything else that will be in your way and shut off power to all outlets and switches along your workspace. Sand the entire area to rough it up, which will help the mastic – the adhesive you will use to attach your tiles – to bind. Find and mark the exact center of the backsplash with a straight vertical line. Lay out your tiles following your design on the floor or another flat surface so that you can follow the pattern.

Apply Mastic and Set Field Tiles

Next, beginning at the center line, apply a thin layer of mastic for the bottom row of tiles using a grooved trowel. One by one, place the tiles that will form the bottom row of your backsplash, beginning from the center and working out to each side. Leave an 1/8”-gap along the bottom and between each of the tiles using temporary spacers, which you’ll remove later before applying grout or caulk. Continue in this fashion until the field tiles along the bottom of the backsplash wall are all installed.

Cut and Set Decorative Tiles

Depending on your design and any outlets or other wall features you need to incorporate, you will need to cut tiles to fit as you move up the wall toward the underside of the cabinets. The easiest means of cutting tile is to use a scoring cutter, which you can rent for between $15 and $20 a day or buy for around $50. First, you’ll mark the tile where you want to cut it. Then you’ll place the tile in the scoring cutter and score a mark on its surface. Finally, using the scoring cutter’s handle, you’ll break the tile along the scored line. Be sure to cut tiles as you reach the places where you need them rather than leaving a hole and going back.

Grout, Clean, and Caulk

Once you’ve installed all of your tiles, removed your temporary spacers, and allowed the mastic to set up overnight, it’s time to grout. Select a sandless grout, which will prevent any scratches on the tiles you’ve just worked so hard to place. Mix the grout according to the manufacturer’s instructions and apply it using a rubber float. Push the grout well down into the spaces between the tiles and scrape any excess off of the tile surfaces. After the grout has had a chance to set up for about an hour, use a sponge and clean water to wipe away any film from the surface of your tiles. Finally, add a line of caulk in the same color as your grout along the bottom row of tiles where they meet the countertop.

Article: BGH Real Estate / Photo: houzz

• 3 Bedrooms
• 3 Bathrooms
• Full Finished Basement w/ Bathroom
• Gas Fireplace
• Screened-In Porch

Click Here to View a Virtual Tour.

• 3 Bedrooms
• Option 4th Bedroom
• 2.5 Bathrooms
• 2 Car Garage
• Sprinkler System
• Walk-Out Family Room
• Cathedral Ceiling

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2. Cut the phone cord: No one needs a land line anymore. (This blogger hasn’t had a traditional phone in five years and has never missed having one.) This one could save an average of $35 per month – more if you make a lot of International calls.

3. Use your kitchen: The average American eats out six times per month, spending an average of $172. Cook at home more.

4. Ditch cable: Renters pay, on average, $100 per month for cable television. Does anyone really watch television shows when they actually air anyway? Plus, think of all the extra time you’d have. And you can always catch a show or two on Hulu.

5. Pull the plug: By unplugging appliances and electronics when you are not using them, you can money on energy. Unplugging one fax machine, one monitor, and television can save $70 per year.

6. Skip the hot water – Do your laundry in cold water instead of hot and shave energy usage by 90%. This can save $72 per year.

7. Work out in comfort: Skip the gym membership and save, on average, $775 per year. If you need to exercise, take up running or walking.

Article: WSJ