Get ready!
Today I’m going to introduce you to one of the biggest-bang-for-your-buck projects I’ve ever done!
I LOVE the look of wainscoting, don’t you? It makes a boring builder-grade cabinet look upgraded and customized. Wainscoting gives a simple elegant look that I had to have in my kitchen.
This summer, The Hubby and I painted our kitchen cabinets white. We wanted our cabinets to have more character so we decided to install traditional wainscoting to all the cabinet ends.
My Hubby went to the local home improvement store to research our wainscoting project. As a result, he noticed several problems.
The Problems With Wainscoting:
- It’s expensive!
- The cuts have to be perfect
- There’s almost no room for error
By this point in our cabinet makeover, we were both tired and ready to be done with it. That’s not a good place to be in when perfection is expected.
Determined to figure out a way around the problems, the hubby went back to the home improvement store & came home with the perfect solution!
This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. See my full disclosure here.
The Solution:
He brought home some beadboard paintable wallpaper. I loved the idea from the start because it’s:
- Much less expensive than traditional wainscoting
- Looks just like the real thing!
- A lot easier to work with!
An entire roll of beadboard wallpaper covers up to 50 feet and it costs about $20.00!
We changed the game plan and decided to use the paintable breadboard wallpaper instead of the traditional wainscoting.
We weren’t really sure if it would work. The paintable wallpaper was so cheap–would it really look like the real thing?
The good news is it DID work!
We love the results! It adds a lot of personality and character & now our cabinet ends are no longer boring!
Our family and friends were pretty impressed with the results, too. Most people look at it and think it’s the real stuff.
The one downfall is that the texture of the wallpaper is a little soft. We have two little ones that love to run all around our kitchen and they’ve both left little “dents” in the wallpaper. They’re not too noticeable so we’re okay with that.
If you have a project involving wainscoting, this may be a great solution for you!
If you like this idea, feel free to pin any of my images!
This post linked to Link Party Palooza, Saturday Show & Tell, Create and Inspire, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Work It Wednesday, Moonlight and Mason Jars, Thrifty Thursday, Inspire Me Please, Serenity Now, Inspiration Monday, Give Me The Goods Monday, DIY Sunday Showcase, Whimsy Wednesday, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Skip The Housework Saturday, Summer Celebration, and Strut Your Stuff Saturday.
{A version of this Easy Wainscoting post originally published at One Krieger Chick and now I’m excited to share it with my readers!}
So smart to use the wallpaper! I love the detail it adds to your cabinets. Looks so great! Thank you so much for sharing with us at The Makers. 🙂
I take that as a big compliment coming from you! Thanks Alexis!
The surface of my cabinets are grainy. Will it show thru the wainscoting wallpaper?
How does it stick. Regular wallpaper glue? I’m not real handy, but it look great so I might try it.
Thank you.
I don’t think the grain of your cabinets would show through the cabinets since the wallpaper is thick. This wallpaper has glue already on it that’s activated by water so the installation is easy. I would try to install the wallpaper on a practice piece of wood first to get the hang of it. Then when you do the real part, you’ll know what you’re doing. I hope this goes well for you!
Hi Carrie! You know I think this is an Awesome idea! Thanks for sharing at the Hit Me With Your Best Shot Link Party last Tuesday! Hope to see you again tonight at 7EST! Excited to see what you’ve been up to!
~Ariean
Looks great! Such a good idea and budget friendly to.
This could be a meal replacement if you increase the serving size, and in that case it would really be a budget friendly option. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Wow! I would never have guessed! It looks quite authentic.
Thanks, Susan! You can’t tell it’s not the real stuff until you touch it. Easy wainscoting is a good trick on the eyes!
Love this idea!
Thank you, Stephanie! It’s a great money saving option that looks fantastic!
Hi Carrie! LOVE this idea! You were one of our featured picks this week for wine’d down Wednesday! Thanks for linking up and hope to see you again this week!
Yay–that’s so exciting! Thanks for letting me know! I love sharing this idea since it made such a huge impact with so little money!
Your cabinets, along with your entire kitchen, are beautiful! I have seen lots of other bloggers/DIYers using this paintable wallpaper, is it really that easy to use? I have NO experience with wallpaper, but would love to use this in our home. I’m just too nervous to try it!
Thank you so much, Jessica! It is very easy to use when compared to using regular wainscoting. Even though you don’t have experience with wallpaper, I think you can still use it and get good results. I would just practice with it first to get a feel of how it works. If you have a big piece of wood or drywall, use the wallpaper there first to build up your confidence before putting it up on the cabinets. The great thing about this stuff is that if you do mess up, you just take it off and try again! I hope this was helpful–let me know how it turns out!
Looks great Carrie! I actually have this pinned from another source, but it looks beautiful in your kitchen! I am totally planning to do it as well…as soon as I can get the energy to paint my cabinets first, sigh!
Yes–painting the cabinets is a huge job so it’s worth gathering up as much energy as you can! Thanks so much for stopping by!
It looks fantastic! I always love the look of wainscoting, but it is expensive. This is a great alternative. Thanks for sharing and thank you for the visit and sweet comment at The Dedicated House. It means the world. Feel free to share this post or any other at my Make it Pretty Monday party which is currently live. Here is the link if you want to check it out. http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2013/11/make-it-pretty-monday-week-74.html Hope to see you at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thanks for your kind words, Kathryn! I was really pleased with the results and the low cost! I’d love to check out your party–I’ll try to make it over soon! Thanks so much for the invite!
Amazing. It’s hard to believe it’s not the real thing! I love wainscoting and I’m going to have to do it this way. A must-pin!
I was so excited when we saw the results! I’m glad you like it too!