Opinions please!

[Mustang Gal]

We are about to remodel DS's bedroom. We are going to put beadboard wainscoting around the perimeter of the room, with a trim piece. My question is what to do above the wainscoting?

Do we fill in the strips? We did this in our bedroom remodel two years ago. It has worked out quite well, but we covered it with paintable wallpaper. It looks fantastic, but we want something simpler for a 3 yr old's room.

or do we just paint over the strips. I really hate them and would love to get rid of them.

The plan is to paint the wainscoting Thomas the Tank Engine Blue, the trim strip red and then probably a lighter blue for the top part of the wall.

FWIW, we live in NW Arkansas and have been in the home for almost 20 years.

[Yanita]

Hi,

Welcome to the site!

I can tell you from experience that under those batten strips the seams from one piece of wall board to the next can very from 1/4 to the full width of the batten.

There are pros and cons to removing them. Some folks have no problems with the removal and then filling them in and painting. Others are always wishing they had never removed them. If you live in a northern climate and your home shifts with the seasons then you are apt to get alot of cracking in the areas that you tape and mud.

If your wallboard has a slight texture to it then the seams that you fill and sand will be smooth and to me that is as noticeable as the battens.

If you do not like the looks of the battens you could always replace them with another decorative wooden trim. Or as you said wallpaper, or paint over them.

If you choose to paint make sure that you prep the walls properly and you will have no problems. LOL, I know I did not give you a definitive answer on removal, but at least you know what you might be in for.

I am sure others will contribute to this post.

Yanita

[Jim from Canada]

How about 1X3 strips nailed floor to ceiling where the batten strips are. Put your wainscotting on as you said, with a trim piece on top to look like a chair rail. You then have a kind of "timber frame" look. You could even extend the 1X3 ove the ceiling if it will lin up at the other side of the room. If the batten strips are 8' apart I would put the 1X3 at 4' spacing.

Jim

[mc_hudd]

Hi. I just repainted the LR & kitchen in our MH that we'll be moving into this spring.... Hopefully... Anyway, now I'm painting the MBR & MB, and there I'll leave the strips up! In the LR, I didn't have a choice, b/c someone had put contact paper over the existing wallboard & already taken the strips down. So, I had to use drywall mud & tape to do all of the seams & it was a pain! I would definitly recommend just leaving them up & painting over them!