How Picture Frame Moulding Transformed My Dining Room

How to add character and class to a dining room by installing picture frame moulding on the walls. This project is sponsored by Woodgrain who graciously provided the moulding.

Our living and dining room remodel is underway and a lot of changes have been happening in this big combo room. The floating fireplace that separates the spaces has been deep cleaned and whitewashed, and both ceilings have been painted. But the real wow-factor in the renovation is this picture frame moulding I installed in the dining space. Talk about impact!

Today I want to take you behind the scenes on how I planned this wall treatment, as well as how I installed it. Shoutout to my friends at Woodgrain for providing me the moulding so I could push my DIY skills to new limits, and their blog for teaching me how.

Here’s how the dining room looked before the remodel began. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. Kind of boring if you ask me. Those high ceilings weren’t being highlighted and the room didn’t feel like a special place to have family meals.

We use our dining room three times a day, and eat every meal in there, so it deserved a lot of love and custom touches. So I dreamed up a gorgeous plan to redecorate and got to work.

How I Planned The Picture Frame Moulding Layout

I would say that the planning process took almost as long as the actual execution. Planning picture frame moulding to wrap around a room is a really in-depth process with a lot of math, especially when you’re trying to figure out how much trim you need to buy.

I started by laying out painter’s tape in a couple of different layouts to see what worked best for the room. Once I decided on the winning layout, I measured each tape box to get the rough sizes.

Then I created a sketch of how the walls would look and labeled the boxes with a letter based on their dimensions. You can see in the photo above that some are the same size so they got the same letter. This made it really easy for me to figure out the measurements I needed. I added up all the lengths to get a final sum of length in linear feet.

The finger jointed trim I chose is sold by linear foot, so these measurements helped me calculate how much I needed and how much it would cost. This is really helpful for budgeting a project like this because you know exactly what you’re in for before you even get to the store.

Picture Frame Moulding Cutting

Once I had all my trim, I was able to use the same measurements from my shopping plan to cut each piece. I used this miter saw to cut the moulding at 45 degree angled corners. I started by cutting the trim to the length I needed, then went back and cut the mitered corners. I’m not sure if this is the “professional” way to do it, but it worked well for me because it made the process feel like an assembly line and I never messed up any of the cuts.

Then I organized them by size in labeled sections on my garage floor. This extra step of keeping them neat and organized made the following installation step way faster and smoother.

Picture Frame Moulding Installation

Installing the picture frame moulding was a lot easier than I expected it to be. As long as the bottom piece of each “box” was level, I was able to get the whole panel square. A couple of my corners didn’t line up exactly right and had a small gap, but I was able to fix that with the spackle so it’s not noticeable at all.

The thing that was most helpful was the spacers I made from scrap MDF I had in the garage. That kept all the boxes perfectly distanced. I just taped them in place with painter’s tape while I aligned the bottom and side pieces.

I’m very much a woodworking newbie and I don’t feel comfortable teaching you how to do this picture frame moulding installation process since I kind of flew by the seat of my pants. But my best advice is to head over to Woodgrain’s YouTube channel for tutorial videos. They were really helpful for me and I referenced them multiple times. I also referenced this article from Simply 2 Moms.

The last step of the install was to fill all the nail holes, caulk all the edges, and paint the trim. This took the longest out of all the steps, and was definitely the most tedious. But it’s imperative to do it right in order for the picture frame moulding to look finished.

When I finished, my husband said it looked like I hired a professional to do it, and my MIL was beyond impressed that I did this myself when she stopped by the next day. I really feel like the caulked edges gave it that professional feel and I highly recommend not skipping that step. It makes all the difference!

Dining Room Picture Frame Moulding Reveal

As a reminder, here’s how the dining room looked before…

And here’s how it looks now!

Can you even believe how much of an improvement this is?! It changes the whole look and feel of the room, and it looks like it’s been here for a hundred years. I still pinch myself when I walk in the room because I can’t believe I pulled this off by myself.

If you’ve been considering adding picture frame moulding to a room in your own house, take my word that it is beyond worth it. This type of wall treatment transforms a room instantly without even buying new furniture. And I’m no Realtor, but I’m sure it adds some value to a home somehow.

I’m a big fan of Woodgrain millwork and mouldings, which are sold all across the country. I used their Finished Elegance MDF in my son’s room remodel because it cuts so smooth. I am so grateful to partner with a brand that I really believe in, and I want to invite you to check out their products in person to see the incredible quality. You can find out where Woodgrain products are sold near you here.

PS: Want to see the full reveal of the dining room remodel? Head over to this blog post for a walk around of the finished dining room and all the deets on what we did during the makeover.

Supply List

Want to get started on your own picture frame moulding install? Here’s a quick list of all the supplies and tools you need, along with links to the exact materials I used. Feel free to drop any Q’s in the comments below and I’ll try my best to answer them. I definitely recommend heading over to Woodgrain’s website and checking out their project tutorials for more in-depth info. They’re the real pros here.

• 11/16 x 1-3/8 Primed Finger Jointed Base Cap Moulding
• Miter saw
• Brad nailer
• 1-1/4 inch brad nails
• Wood filler putty or spackling paste
• Paintable caulk
• Paint to match wall + angled brush
• Measuring tape
• Level
• Ladder

Slide The Arrows To Shop The Supplies Below

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Woodgrain, but all opinions are my own. I carefully choose blog partners and only work with those I would personally recommend. I have used Woodgrain products many times and can honestly say I stand behind their brand’s quality.